Alternative Sleep Remedies

My best advice is to ALWAYS consult with your physician or pharmacist on whether any herbal or natural remedies would interact with your prescription medications. There are several known common contraindications out there that we medical providers are already aware of. If there are any that relate to your meds, it will only take a few moments to reference and counsel.
Death is permanent. Be patient. (smirk)

This is simply for consideration. I do not personally endorse any of these alternative remedies, as I have yet to try them at home. But Im willing to give a few a try. I have a certain someone who doesn't sleep well, and I was researching natural, homeopathic, and alternative sleep aids. We gave Ambien CR a try - ONCE. One time. And someone was in a stupor, sleepwalking and fell ass over tea-kettle. So I felt we needed something a little, ummm, less harsh and less synthetic.

Some I have heard before, several area totally new to me. If you have experience with them, feel free to go to share your *constructive* comments.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

1. A combination of 200mg Magnesium with 600mg Calcium before bed to aid with more restful sleep. The site advises that a (personally known) effect of Magnesium is increased bowel activity. It also advises that should you experience diarrhea, to (obviously) reduce the mg's of Magnesium. (duh)
**My own personal caution with these two medications is that they are important minerals are which together can directly effect the cardio-vascular system. If knocked too far out of balance, it can have serious and potentially dangerous effects.

2. 30-120mg of Wild Lettuce. I am assuming that since this is listed in mg dosage, it is available in capsules at an herb shop. The photo depicted what is called Green Leaf Lettuce in the produce isle. Ask around. How bad can lettuce be?

3. 30-120mg of Hops. Yes, the hops used to make beer. But NOT the beer. That would increase your need to go potty during the night, unless you slept through, and that is really bad, right? You find hops at herb shops.

4. Wild Lavender. A couple of suggestions here. Using an all natural spray, derived from the true essential oil - not the synthetic, drug store body spray type. Spray on your pillows or bedding before going to bed. Another suggestion was to make a sachet containing the raw lavender pods and tucking into or around your pillow. Lavender has a well known effect to induce calm and peaceful sleep. Also available at herb shops.

5. 3-5mg of Melatonin. While your body produces Melatonin naturally, the thought is that an insufficient production leads to restless sleep and even insomnia. I know this is available at herb shops. My recommendation is to consult with the herbalist for their recommendation.

6. 12-48mg Jamaican Dogwood. Another herbal sleep aid available at the local herb shop. Consult the herbalist for further information and their personal recommendation.

7. 50-200mg "Suntheanine". This is a brand of L-Theanine (an amino acid), and is supposed to be the best form to metabolize for the specific purpose of sleep.

8. 200-800mg Valerian. For some folks though, Valerian has the opposite effect, and will actually work as a mild stimulant. It is suggested that should this be the case with you, that the Valerian should be taken in the morning, and will have you ready for peaceful sleep when you go to bed. It may also take some experimentation to calculate the dose time in regards to when the desired "sleepy" effect comes on.

I have more research to do on these remedies, as my hunny is on a few medications for her back injury. The last thing I want to happen is to have some freakish interaction with her prescription medications. Your experience, expertise, and comments are very welcome!!!