Alternatives to Melatonin?

I don't have a problem falling asleep, I have a problem staying asleep and melatonin works great for that for me. The problem is melatonin gives me vivid nightmares without fail.

Any suggestions? No benzos please.

 

Phenergan (promethazine), mirtazapine (Remeron). I do take a temazepan once a week also.

 

Valerian Root
Agar 35
Magnolia Bark

 

- Valdoxan (a melatonin receptor agonist, not melatonin in itself).
- Passion flower.

 

Lemon Balm, Valerian, Hops, Catnips, Passion Flower, Chamomile, Lavender, Kava etc. You can google search each of them to know their use and see if you can take them as a supplement. Check out this site on using natural herbs for helping to sleep or to calm the nerves.

http://www.christopherhobbs.com/lib...ealth/herbs-and-natural-remedies-for-insomnia

 

thanks for the suggestions

 

Hey, can I ask how much melatonin you were taking?

 

5 mg. I've taken it on and off throughout the years and it's always the same effect. Sometimes I wonder if I took it everyday the vivid dreams would subside, but I don't want to try and find out.

 

I think 5 mg is way too much.... you might want to try .5mg and if that doesn't work maybe try 1mg. I wouldn't take it everyday though. It is possible that the dose is too high and that is why you are having very vivid dreams.

Sometimes I will take .5mg to .75 mg and I have no vivid dreams but it usually helps me get to sleep.

 

an alternative to consider is learning how to lucid dream and tackling this that way. I've learned to mostly enjoy melatonin nightmares. In fact, vivid dreams are the main reason I still take it sometimes...

 

Vivid nightmares every time? I'm jealous. Love all intense dreams, even scary ones.

 

I'm trying chamomile tea tonight. Hope it works.

@linearb, I've pulled off a lucid dream once with melatonin and it was pretty fun. The dream that inspired this thread was pretty close to a lucid dream and may borderline have been. I won't write the whole story, but in the end I was drowning in a flipped bus in a lake, and when the water was up to my neck my last words were, "Ok, wake up!" and there I was laying terrifed in bed.

 

I have very vivid dreams on the stuff. 3mg nightly. I don't mind it at all.

Try half a Benadryl (25mg). It's much more boring but worse hangover

 

Just wanted to post an update that I've had success with chamomile tea. Tastes great, too, especially with a splash of honey. I should have tried drinking it years ago.

The bright side to those melatonin nightmares at least is that tinnitus doesn't exist in dreams. So even in the worst nightmare, you get to experience the silence again. Pretty cool, but I'll stay away...

 

Hi Jacob - Thank you for the update. I posted a new thread about my experience with Melatonin.

Question to you and all the members - Did the chamomile tea or any of the other mentioned substances have any effect on your tinnitus?

Thanks again!

 

@Stephen1144 , neither melatonin nor chamomile had an effect on my tinnitus.

 

Nortryptaline 50mg works well for me.
Melatonin wasn't strong enough...lots of love glynis

 

Thanks Jacob for the reply.

 

Thanks Glynis for the reply.

I'll check out that Nortryptaline. My guess with this tinnitus thing, is that we are all 99.999999 percent alike, but that small DNA difference might mean the difference with something as baffling as tinnitus. So i'm beginning to understand that there likely isn't going to be a "one size fits all" solution to this thing. It's going to take some experimentation to find the best results. But the guidance from the good members in this forum certainly leads us into a good direction, and hopefully one day the right direction for us as individuals.

If that made any sense?

 

Well, the moderator deleted my thread for some inexplicable reason. This will be my final post on this forum. Tinnitus is a big enough problem without getting helpful threads deleted, and being aggravated putting over an hour of time into writing it to help myself and help others. I mean tinnitus is aggravating enough, right?

Goodbye...and best wishes and best of luck to everyone.

 

@Stephen1144 , sorry to hear that. I did look for your thread but didn't see it. I've seen other compaints here about threads being deleted or renamed. Moderators are probably having a bad T day Good luck to you as well. There's more tinnitus boards out there, so don't feel discouraged to reach out if you feel the need

 

@Stephen1144 ,
It may have been moved to another place if has a post already covering the same topic.
I'm sure you would have been told why by PM.
Not read your post ...lots of love glynis

 

Melatonin is natural and doesn't have the side effects, many other pills have. I take that each day and I sleep well. I rarely get nightmares, just get a good sleep.

Other pills can bring on strong addictions and some horrible side effects....

 

Yes, Zquil or benadryl. Don't take it every day because you will encounter problems down the road. But you should try to avoid prescription drugs because they are even worse.
Chamomile tea might also be good to get you really relaxed at bed time.

Most importantly, if you can avoid blue light from electronics the minutes before you fall asleep.