what natural sleep supplement do you recommend?

[Peyt]

Hi Guys,

I have been battling with Sleep Apnea for a few years now,
Unfortunately, I am a very light sleeper due to anxiety.

I am trying this new device for the last 2 nights and for the life of me I can not sleep!

Can you suggest any natural sleep aid medicine?

Just to give u an idea, the pharmaceutical drug that always worked for me when I wanted to sleep was Xanax!
Xanax is technically for anxiety and not really a sleeping aid. but I slept with it and no side effects the next morning either.

I tried several sleep drugs that never works and gave me bunch of side effect.

But I have been trying to stay away from pharmaceutical drugs and want to take the natural path.
I have tried Melatonin, and it did not work for me. It only gave me a bad headache the next day.

I am tempted to try some Valerian tea tonight, but wanted to ask any suggestions from you guys??
Thanks so much

[EH]

magnesium, tart cherry extract (melatonin content), L-tryptophan (when you get amino acid test you'll see your levels), L-theanine, there are several things you can try.  exercise is one of the best ways to improve sleep quality. 

[Peyt]

magnesium, tart cherry extract (melatonin content), L-tryptophan (when you get amino acid test you'll see your levels), L-theanine, there are several things you can try.  exercise is one of the best ways to improve sleep quality.

I currently use Magnesium, it does calm me.
Did not do well on L-tryptophan,
I will give L-theanine a shot.... I read some reviews and it looks promising,
Thanks so much

[EH]

Just FYI, I was one of the rare people to not like L-theanine.  It made my brain foggy and I really did not like it's effects.  The reviews are mostly overwhelmingly positive though.

[Festus]

You might investigate GABA also

[PeakT]

I have tried Melatonin, and it did not work for me. It only gave me a bad headache the next day.

How old are you and what dosage did you try?  I'm asking because if you're not over 40 and if you tried over 200 or maybe 300 mcg, then you probably had way too much.  The 1 or 3 mg tablets are "steroid dosages".

[PeakT]

Also, I have a page with a bunch of Sleep Aids on it based on some of the reseach I've come across:

http://www.peaktestosterone.com/sleep2

[spiderman]

ZMA in a small dose about 30-40 minutes before bed ...magnesium,zinc and B6  so good for your T to!

[Peyt]

Also, I have a page with a bunch of Sleep Aids on it based on some of the reseach I've come across:

http://www.peaktestosterone.com/sleep2

Hi, I am 42.
I thow away the bottle, so I am not sure what the dose was.

I take B-6 and Magnesium on regular basis.

And the funny thing is, of all the supplements, the one that makes me sleep well is L-Arginine. I mean it does not put me to sleep right away, but if I take it in the morning, I notice I sleep real well at night time... The problem I have with L-Arginine is that after a few days of using I start getting cold sores!

[EH]

Evidence shows L-lysine prevents herpes viruses, and L-arginine makes the breakouts more frequent.  So perhaps you could try adding L-lysine into the mix to counteract the negative side effect from L-arginine.

[PeakT]

Evidence shows L-lysine prevents herpes viruses, and L-arginine makes the breakouts more frequent.  So perhaps you could try adding L-lysine into the mix to counteract the negative side effect from L-arginine.

I got an outbreak a couple of years ago, took some Lysine and it stopped it dead in its tracks.  However, this advice is a little scary to me, because some outbreaks are pretty severe/painful and not so easily treated from what I have read.  Maybe that's just the elderly or sick, but you might want to check with a doc first?

[Peyt]

Evidence shows L-lysine prevents herpes viruses, and L-arginine makes the breakouts more frequent.  So perhaps you could try adding L-lysine into the mix to counteract the negative side effect from L-arginine.

I got an outbreak a couple of years ago, took some Lysine and it stopped it dead in its tracks.  However, this advice is a little scary to me, because some outbreaks are pretty severe/painful and not so easily treated from what I have read.  Maybe that's just the elderly or sick, but you might want to check with a doc first?

I have tried Lysine before for that purpose, but it gives me a real bad headache,

I have a feeling the reason why L-Arginine helps with my sleep is that it improves blood flow. I have also noticed other supplements such as Korean Ginseng and Cordyceps do the same. But oddly enough I get mouth sores from them as well, so I suspect they have a high content of Arginine in them.

I am going to try L-Citrulline to see if that will help me in any way. Even if it just boosts my energy so I can do vigurous workouts I can improve blood flow that way and induce better sleep.

Last night I slept well. But during the day I lifted weights, did a Yoga Class, and went out and danced Salsa for a couple of hours. That all helped I am sure. I can't always take that much time out of my busy schedule but I did it yesterday and it proved to me that I can improve my sleep if I exercise enough.

[PeakT]

I have tried Lysine before for that purpose, but it gives me a real bad headache,

I have a feeling the reason why L-Arginine helps with my sleep is that it improves blood flow. I have also noticed other supplements such as Korean Ginseng and Cordyceps do the same. But oddly enough I get mouth sores from them as well, so I suspect they have a high content of Arginine in them.

I am going to try L-Citrulline to see if that will help me in any way. Even if it just boosts my energy so I can do vigurous workouts I can improve blood flow that way and induce better sleep.

Last night I slept well. But during the day I lifted weights, did a Yoga Class, and went out and danced Salsa for a couple of hours. That all helped I am sure. I can't always take that much time out of my busy schedule but I did it yesterday and it proved to me that I can improve my sleep if I exercise enough.

Supposedly the Citrulline will not leave you vulnerable to herpes outbreaks.  But let us know if there seems to be issues.

You've got to really watch the high arginine foods, such as certain protein powders, nuts, etc.  I have fooled myself into thinking a supplement was causing issues only to realize I had been pushing up my argine/lysine ratio more than likely.

[Peyt]

Well I have started to try a combination of Arginine/Citrulline (just 3 days so far)
I take a 750mg Citrulline cap(NOW brand) along with half of a 500mg Arginine (GNC)
Basically I just open the Arginine capsule and use 1/2 the content per day.
I have noticed my energy for work outs is not any more than taking Arginine on it's own, so the Citrulline does not seem to do anything
in the short run.

I am hoping Citrulline is one of those supplements that takes a while to kick in. Arginine on the other hand I can see a difference in
my energy from the 2nd day of usage.

[Peyt]

Just wanted to give a report back,
Even at 250mg of Arginine after 1 week I had a small cold sore break out, so I stopped it and took extra vitamin C and this morning when I woke up I feel better...

I did notice as soon as I stopped the Arginine my sleep reduced. But maybe that's good because when on Arginine I was in a need of taking a 2 hour nap in the afternoon on top of sleeping at night which would not be possible most of the time since I am working in the afternoon.

I am continuing on Citrulline, and so far my sleep at night is still okay. I wonder if Citrulline does help sleep slightly... I don't expect it to help me as much as Arginine, but since I see no side effects I will take it a little longer to see if it has any positive effects... however if it does not help with sleep I will most likely stop it soon too because there is no point to taking it. I don't feel Citrulline is boosting my energy for workouts, at least not on 750mg.