Melatonin Dependency
I have been taking 10mg of melatonin sun-thurs for probably 6 months. I am 100% dependant on it to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. It works very well for me but I still end up waking up pretty groggy.
What have yall found that helps you get to sleep naturally? Working out before bed, essential oils, etc?
Curious to hear what works for yall that isn't melatonin.
I'm sure there is some science behind this, but I haven't looked that deep into it. But what I do is I tell myself stories from my past in my head. Like I think of a life experience - there is one event in particular that always works - and I pretend I am giving a Ted Talk on it and make some grandiose speech on it that I tell myself in my head. For some reason that always seems to work and puts me to sleep naturally. The story I have is about 15 minutes long but I get no more than 5 minutes into it and I doze off. It also works if I wake up in the middle of the night and want to sleep again. I discovered this about a year ago and I haven't had any problems getting to sleep since then.
A lot of times I go to sleep thinking of being a batter just hitting home run after home run in batting practice at the stadium. There is usually an MLB scout there and he is always impressed - haha. 😂
CBD
Reading a physical book is the ultimate sleep aid
Work out before bed and it doesn’t have to be a gym. Knock out 4 sets of 25 push-ups x squats as fast as possible. Will raise your heart rate significantly which then brings it back down to rest quicker, and you won’t get that sweaty before getting in bed. Plus gains
I’ve found it harder to fall asleep after working out in the evening
I started takin 10mg of Melatonin to start a better sleep cycle. I would suggest getting a sun lamp/indoor sunlight, or better yet, naturally light when you wake up in the morning to reset your circadian rhythm again. "All" tech drains your natural melatonin away (blue light filter used for all technology as backlight - former engineer for a chip company here) so it makes it difficult to fall asleep.
I would read a book, low lighting in the area if when you. Use a yellow/dim light bulb (do not use white). Exercise will help, but doing something considered boring (reading, organizing, etc.) does it a lot better.
You'd want to slowly get off the melatonin pill by reducing dosage slowly, then let the rest happen. Oh, and make sure you are exercising daily or at least walking. Melatonin production is highly crucial for our health, and production in our systems to fall asleep at the right time is important.
This is inaccurate. Blue light has no more or less impact on your melatonin or energy levels than any other wavelength of light. And being an engineer at a chip company makes you in no way qualified to make this statement, or any for that matter on biological processes.
Go listen to Andrew Huberman's podcast. He's a Stanford professor of neurology and ophthalmology and has spent most of his career studying light impact on the eyes and downstream biological impacts. He himself has said the blue light jargon is a myth at worst and entirely unproven at best.
Adding on here high level takeaways from Huberman:
Morning grogginess:
-hold off on caffeine intake for 30-90 minutes after waking up so you body can clear out the adenosine receptors, otherwise they get backed up and you get a build up of adenosine in the system
-get 30+ minutes of sunlight/natural light outdoors after waking up
-exercise in the morning
Nighttime sleepiness
-don’t eat for 2 hrs pre bed time
-no caffeine past 2/3pm
-bedroom should be cold, very cold
-limit all light exposure 2-3 hours pre bed time
Try a smaller dose. You should only need 1mg, maybe 2mg. Past that it's overkill and stays in your system longer. I was used to taking 10+ as well and thought forsure that 1-2 mg wouldn't work for me but turned out it worked just fine.
Excercise. Work out hard then sleep comes easy.
What is your work schedule like? How many hours of sleep can you get a night?
I was in this spot not long ago, and actually was taking melatonin every night for years, especially during school.
I realized I was taking way too much and likely did not need it at all. So I simply went cold turkey and after the first two or three days, I could fall asleep at midnight and get a good 8 hours through the night, with no issues.
One that has been mentioned is CBD and if you want, THC helps as well. But I've also noticed if I smoke too much before I fall asleep, I wake up just as groggy as if I took 10mg of melatonin.
I work out hard during the day. By the time it’s 10pm, I’m ready to sleep. Also no coffee after 11am
I did melatonin in the past and found it useful to fall asleep, but not useful for getting a great sleep. I now take magnesium L-threonate which I think helps notably for a deeper high-quality sleep.
Other things that I think are beneficial which people have touched on - workout in the morning, no coffee/caffeine after 12 PM, blue-light blocking glasses a few hours before bed, no screen time an hour before bed (read, write, listen to podcast).
No caffeine after 10am
fuck if you can
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