I have suffered from insomnia and sleep apnea at times. Fortunately both are cured, now. For years I suffered from difficulty in getting to sleep, waking up in the middle of the night and feeling groggy all day. The sleep apnea and excessive snoring was eventually cured by a series of operations, but the dramatic improvement in my well-being after the operations gave me a clear view that not having good sleep was a serious health concern.
So over the last decade or so I have experimented with a wide variety of methods to get a good night’s sleep. Many of them involve herbs or vitamins, but I have tried meditation and exercise as well. Nothing beats a good eight hours shut-eye, and I find problems are much easier to deal with when I am refreshed.
Here’s a brief guide to sleep: it comes in around 90 minute cycles – essentially you go from light sleep to REM (dreaming) sleep – the deepest phase, then the cycle restarts with light sleep again. So normally you would have 4-6 of these events in an eight-hour night. Your mileage may vary: everybody is different and you need a different amount of sleep per person. If your norm is six or nine hours – that is right for you. Listen to what your body is telling you.
On napping during the day: that is fine, but you can only rest for 10-20 minutes – set an alarm clock or you will start going into the deeper sleep cycles and be very groggy if you wake up. Some people drink a coffee, then take a nap and the coffee wakes them up after about 15 minutes.
The sleeping room should be dark and cool. The curtains must block out the light, or you can wear a sleep mask – there are some very comfortable ones on the market now. Human beings are programmed to wake up with the dawn. Even stray light while you are asleep actually disturbs the sleep rhythms I described above.
Stop watching TV or using screen devices an hour before bedtime. The blue light they produce suppresses melatonin in your nervous system and makes getting to sleep more difficult.
Exercising during the day is very good for helping you sleep well. It is probably best avoided after the early evening – doing a hard workout at 9 pm will mean most people are overstimulated and will have difficulty switching off. Some friends do yoga, and that is less intensive which can relax you in the evening.
I like a drink but I find that alcohol also disturbs my rest. So I have cut down.
Meditation helps, particularly if you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get to sleep. There is an app called Buddhify, which has a variety of audio-guided mediations, which are soothing. You need to use it with the screen under the pillow, or with the screen brightness turned right down, but I have found it helpful to tune out intrusive thoughts.
Herbs, vitamins and nutrients I find sleep improving
I have experimented with a wide variety of “nutraceuticals”. I’m going to divide this into “sleep latency”, that is, getting off to sleep, waking up in the middle of the night and general sleep quality.
Sleep Latency
The herb Valerian, either as tablets or tea, is soothing and assists you in drifting off. Melatonin, a major sleep-related hormone is really worth looking at – only use a very small dose like 1 mg (which might mean cutting-up tablets which are usually 3 mg) before bedtime. Large doses make you feel groggy in the morning and give you vivid, sometimes unpleasant dreams. Recently medical cannabis – Cannabinol – has become available in various forms, including gummies! This works to get you to sleep and also if you wake up in the middle of the night.
Waking up in the middle of the night
Taking GABA (it has a very long name, so just call it GABA) is a neurotransmitter. This seems to have a good effect on keeping you asleep for the whole night. Although it doesn’t cross the blood-brain barrier, it does affect your nervous system, so is effective. Usually found in superior health food stores or online.
Better Sleep Quality
I take magnesium and vitamin B6, which improve the all-important REM sleep. I also recommend 5-HTP, which produces the calming neurotransmitter serotonin in your brain. 1-3 50 mg tablets seem to work. More than that and you will feel quite “up” and euphoric the next day – it has powerful positive effects. However the body gets acclimatised to it quickly so it stops working. It also can be quite expensive.
Waking Up
Because I work from home, I have long given up on the alarm clock, and only use it if I have to go to an appointment. Waking naturally is effective as your body decides when it has had enough sleep.
I must stress – everybody is different, but by mixing a few of these techniques and seeing which ones are best for you, you will have elevated sleep quality, which will significantly improve your general health.