Sleep aids?

Currently I am Sick, just a minor cold, but unfortunately I’ve noticed since I got sick five days ago I’ve had a lot more issues sleeping. I take 5-10 MG of melatonin every night before bed and in about half an hour to an hour I’m tired enough to sleep depending on if I’m tired already or not. I’ve been diagnosed with mild insomnia which really means that only some nights it affects me but lately it’s been if I don’t take melatonin I don’t sleep all night and I’m overly tired but still can’t sleep by the time morning rolls around… I was wondering if anything has worked for anyone else to help sleep within reason and that doesn’t cost much money. I’ve heard aromatherapy with Lavender helps but I can’t afford anything at the moment especially a 30$ diffuser and essential oil. (I’m struggling really bad with Money…) Medications, natural sleep remedies, anything will help. Meditation I’ve already tried as well and it doesn’t help either… Thank you in advance!

A hot shower helps me fall asleep more than anything.

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I shower nightly as well and because I just dyed my hair I don’t take very hot showers anymore. But I even found that hot showers don’t help much sadly.

Darn, sorry to hear it doesn’t help you! I’ve tried a lot of different stuff to try to help me sleep but haven’t had a lot of success. Reading something boring that’ll help wind you down is helpful I believe. I’ve heard avoiding blue light a couple hours before sleep is supposed to make a big difference, but I’m addicted to the internet so I’ve never successfully implemented this to see if it works or not.

Rigorous exercise that’ll make you physically exhausted helps.

You could take benadryl on occasion to help fall asleep, but it’s unhealthy to take benadryl every night long term. I personally feel worst taking benadryl then if I wouldn’t of slept at all, so I avoid it.

A lot of people swear that having a beer or a shot of vodka helps then fall asleep. Given the nature of this forum though I’m a bit hesitant to recommend that since many people here have had substance abuse problems in the past.

Would you be willing to try plain old Benadryl? That’s what is in OTC stuff like Tylenol PM, Advil PM, etc. It seems like you’re looking more for natural remedies, but I thought I’d throw that out there.

@Bipolar_Bear, haven’t seen you in a while, hope you are well.

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Oops, @Bipolar_Bear beat me to the Benadryl suggestion lol. Yeah, I used to knock myself out with alcohol every night, but that’s a terrible way to do it, especially for us (but really for anyone).

I appreciate it! I’m unstable as always but feel like I’m slowly making progress. Anyways, enough about me, I don’t want to highjack her thread! :innocent:

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@freakonaleash and @Bipolar_Bear Hah, not necessarily looking for purely natural remedies, I am willing to try other stuff. Just being bad on money right now it’s hard to get other stuff. Due to my seasonal allergies though I think I’ve build an immunity to the drowsiness of benadryl. I’ve attempted doing it though and did find it doesn’t help so I’m not just throwing out a guess.

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By all means you two can have a conversation if you’d like on the thread. I don’t mind one bit. :slight_smile:

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They prescribed me trazodone. I don’t know if it helps me anymore but I sleep for now.

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I’ve tried getting a sleep prescription but due to my schizophrenia the only things the doctors in this town offer is Seroquil because it’s supposed to help with the schizophrenia - all that jazz… And I’m allergic to it. Lmao. Bad experience left me in a sleep coma for over 24 hours and I was terrified of taking it again. Woke up in the hospital a day and a half later.

Trazodone is an antidepressant though.

The last time I was in a hospital I was there for four days (three nights), and they gave me Restoril (temazepam) the first two nights and trazodone the third night. I think Restoril is fine for in the hospital, but not long-term, since it is habit-forming. I did sleep well those nights, though. Trazodone is safer when it comes to not being as likely to develop dependence. A lot of doctors are not willing to prescribe drugs like Ambien or Restoril, but will prescribe trazodone.

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@SP2342 @freakonaleash That’s odd why they wouldn’t prescribe anything else to me… Although I live in a small town and all the doctors feel very stupid from past experiences I don’t feel that’s something they would do for the sole reason of my doagnosis.

I deal with really severe insomnia for about 1 month out of every 6, so it’s not constant but when it comes on it’s devastating.
Try drinking some valerian tea before bed. A lot of “sleepy time” teas you can find in the grocery store contain valerian and I’ve found it helps me personally.
As far a the lavender, I’m a huge fan. I actually have a tattoo of a lavender bunch on my back but that’s beside the point. You can usually find cheaper lavender oils at general stores like CVS or Walgreens, and you don’t need to invest in a diffuser for them to be effective. Just rub a little on your fist or under your nose if you don’t sleep with your hands close to your face.
On really bad nights I’ve used binaural beats, there are videos on YouTube that will play them for a few hours of you have ear buds and a phone that’s capable of it. It’s sort of like really intense meditation, so you might want to give it a shot even if you’ve already tried mediation.
This is going to sound a bit corny, but try lying on your back and making up a crazy story, something that makes you happy and relaxed. Sometimes it’s just a matter of occupying your brain with non-stressful activity so it can have a chance to sit itself down for the night.
If all else fails, I honestly just pull an all nighter and hope that I’m exhausted enough to sleep well the next night. Sometimes doing that even stops an insomniac episode in its tracks. I really don’t recommend this though, it’s always my last resort for stubbornly restless nights.
I really hope I was able to help you! Good luck and sweet dreams!

I have heard that oil diffusers, oil reed diffusers and oil lamps are pretty helpful to calm down. But I`m not sure if it works with shizoprenia well

BTW if you want to try it, you may try to make your own oil reed diffuser.
-To begin with, you’ll need a container. Any bottle you liked or a jar, from honey, for example, or old perfume.

  • Rinse it thoroughly. The neck of the jar should be narrow, but sufficient to accommodate several reed sticks in it.
  • In addition to cane, you can use the usual twigs, but reed is best - because it has a fairly porous structure that will allow it to be well-oiled.
    -Now it`s time to fill your diffuser with oil - either buy ready-made aromatic oils or try to make them yourself. You can find the recipes on the Internet :slight_smile:

Such a diffuser should be placed in a place inaccessible to children and animals, and it is desirable that there would be a flow of air.

I think this is happening due to your anxiety.

Just take a bottle of lavender oil and spread some of the oil in the space of skin above your upper lip and below your nose. You don’t need a diffuser. A bottle of lavender oil doesn’t cost that much.