[Hannibal]

ZMA - has to be about 450 mg of Magnesium and 30 mg of Zinc. Take it 30 minutes before bedtime and it'll knock you right out.

[Razgriz]

I personally try to make it as dark as possible. I want my room like a dark cave. That means no lights from the windows or even an alarm clock. I meditate for at least 10 min and use nature sounds app on the phone called “rain rain”.

[Mikan]

This: https://www.amazon.com/Marpac-Classic-Wh...B000KUHFGM

Meditation and breathing exercises.

Trazadone.

I’ve had weapons grade insomnia since puberty, pushing 30 years now. Without medication I can stay up 2-3 nights in a row no problem. I’ll be so sleep deprived that I hallucinate, and still won’t be able to fall asleep. I’ve been to many doctors and sleep clinics. If I run out of Trazadone, Benadryl + alcohol can do it in an emergency.

[SeaFM]

I find that if I keep thinking about something I eventually doze off.

Where do you guys find ZMA? I've never seen it anywhere.

[dosequis]

(04-08-2018 05:23 PM)SeaFM Wrote:  

I find that if I keep thinking about something I eventually doze off.

Where do you guys find ZMA? I've never seen it anywhere.

ZMA can be bought in most supplement stores where you buy your protein powder etc. but I would recommend buying it online to get a better deal and more for the buck.

But it just contain zinc and magnesium and usually the vitamin b6 so you might as well just buy zinc and magnesium from the pharmacy (even though I again, recommend buying online) and get the same results. Vitamin B6 won't do much since it's likely that you're not deficient in it anyway.

All zinc and magnesium aren't created equal though, there are many different types of zinc and magnesium that vary in how much the body absorbs it. You probably want to make sure you buy good zinc and magnesium where it says it's chelated on the label. The absorption will be significantly higher than compared to most other types.

Most pharmacies over here just sell zinc oxide and magnesium oxide which is complete crap and I've read it's actually bad for you and I've felt ill sometimes afterwards.

Can read more about different types here:
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natur...s-of-zinc/

[CleanSlate]

I’ve been taking what I thought were zinc and magnesium supplements, then I read the above article and checked the label on mine.

It’s gluconate. Crap. Might as well toss it down the toilet. Gonna have to order something else.

Thanks for setting me straight!

[FPT]

gluconate is ok. What makes you say otherwise

(04-08-2018 06:10 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

I’ve been taking what I thought were zinc and magnesium supplements, then I read the above article and checked the label on mine.

It’s gluconate. Crap. Might as well toss it down the toilet. Gonna have to order something else.

Thanks for setting me straight!

[Gmac]

(04-03-2018 08:29 AM)Marcus187 Wrote:  

Make sure you're very tired at the end of the day.

I have the same problem as you. For some reason I get the energy and motivation to do things during the night. Probably because of the silence and peace I experience when it's all dark and quiet outside. But I do fall asleep when I'm very tired.

This. ^

I'm worn out by the end of the day already, 99% of the time.

If I'm really having trouble sleeping, meditation helps calm my nerves further, though usually I'm half way there by the time I'm home from my work commute.

[MMX2010]

I don't shut off my brain at bedtime.

As soon as I lie in bed, I try to tell myself a story. When my body is ready to fall asleep, my brain will take over the story-telling process, and I'll begin to dream.

These stories should be as fanciful and disconnected from your real world worries as possible, otherwise you won't be able to fall asleep.

[teddy bear]

Well, I'm recently experiencing some problems with falling asleep - for example at this very moment, tried to fall asleep, but couldn't for an hour, so had to wake up. This may come from a pretty stress-heavy environment, basically working + studying, which consumes 80-100 hrs/week and very little time for relax apart for weekend nights. I may have just fucking terrorized myself for too long as I feel like once I get 7-8 hours of sleep, I'm just too energetic and often can't fell asleep. It's only when I'm really tired, that I easily get to sleep. Exceptions are during the day - I feel like I can always fall asleep during the day, few minutes on bed and I'm in there already, but nights are tricky.

There is one always working solution though - smoke weed. It literally isolates my mind, completely getting rid of all the shit that is bothering me, and allows me to chill. Once I'm high, it's just a matter of getting through 30 minutes when I don't feel like falling asleep, listening to music, hitting bed and boom... I'm gone for good 8 hours - that is when it's night and I'm tired of course.

But, relying on drugs to get a good sleep is a last thing I'm gonna do, so I only smoke on weekends, and that is when I do not go out.

Anyway, everyone is different and we all react to stuff differently. From what has always helped me is to get some fresh air, exercise a bit - swimming, cycling, anything apart from gym though, but that is because I'm hitting it frequently and going for some heavy workouts lately, so it's far from stressing me out. What I also feel like helps me - take break from gym when you feel overworked, don't get overworked for a long period of time (not possible for me yet), try to balance both physical, mentally not demanding job with the one, that requires you think - grinding numbers or sitting before the screen for 80 hours a week with 80% of this time spent on using my brain to the max makes me feel miserable and tired, but then again hyperactive and makes it hard to shut down my brain - probably the main source of my problems with sleep. <--- even my writing looks like shit, even though I can't get a single yaw out of me after being awake for 21 hours >.<

So, anyway - healthy work - chill balance ratio and smoking pot seems like the best way to relax for me, but of course the latter may get replaced with all kind of other activities than tend to relax you.

Ok, fuck. I will try to go to sleep.

[dtpilgrim]

Different things are going to work for different people. What work(ed) for me was three things.

1. The most important: covering every single window in the room, as well as the window above the door, with three layers of black plastic garbage bags. Now, if I turn on the lights in broad daylight the room become pitch black, immediately triggering sleep cycle.

2. Ear plugs. Doesn't have to be expensive. I have very cheap rubber/foam ear plugs, when I put them in, all sound is gone. Since I'm incredibly sensitive to sound for sleep, I fall asleep instantly with no auditory stimulation.

3. A good bed. Doesn't have to be insanely comfortable, just comfortable enough.

4. And as a bonus some times, if necessary, I have a few supplements to "calm down" though I find zero light and zero sound works better. My stack is: melatonin (works within 2-3 hours provided there is no light); valerian root (relaxes muscles); magnesium (relaxes muscles).