Has anyone tried 5HTP for insomnia

I use the Nerva App. I started it for IBS and the completely unexpected side effect was much better sleep. The initial programme is using it every day for six weeks for about 15 to 20 minutes a day. Its a kind of hypnotherapy, very gentle and pleasant. I am now on a continuation using it every day by choice. If I use it last thing at night I am asleep after about ten minutes. There are a couple of trigger phrases designed to make you totally relax. I expect there are similar Apps for sleep. I didnt notice any effects from 5HTP.

It's not a pill but highly recommended; Yoga Nidra for Sleep and Healing Darkness for Sleep guided meditations by Jennifer Piercy on the Insight Timer app. Well worth a try. They almost completely cured my sleep problems.

I use passiflora (passion flower) either on its own or you often find it in herbal remedies which also include valerian and camomile. It knocks me out, I can only take a low dose.

I tried 5htp in the past, it didn't work for me. I suspect all these things work, or not, according to our own personal biology and preferences.

Magnesium glycerinate works for me too but not always!

I’m going to start taking l theanine; I’ve been looking at the ingredients in the Jude nighttime supplement and that’s included.

I found a site which shows acupressure points on the hand, I found a diagram which showed a technique to help you to get to sleep. Fold your index finger down and hold it down with your thumb. I use both hands I have found it works for me. No pills needed.

Sorry i cant help you re. 5HTP but I do find zopiclone works.
Problem is my gp practice will only give 1 weeks supply every 3 months !
Ive friends who live in Scotland and they can get it on repeat .

Ive just come back from Egypt and u can buy it there from the chemist for £2 a box of 30, 3mg.
So I stocked up, but i only take it now and then as I dont want to get addicted . Its branded there as Sleepez.

I have repeat script zoplicone. Rarely take them now but just knowing they’re there works

Occasionally take phenergan to help me get to sleep when my brain goes into overdrive. However my Dr said you shouldn't drive the next day after taking it. I find it impossible to buy at the chemist - they immediately say no when you ask for it which is a pain. You're then left with no alternative but to by it from an on line pharmacy.

Notagranny44

There seems to be two kinds of sleep problems people are suffering from -
1. the problem I have, where I can't get to sleep in the first place, but once asleep, sleep through till morning.
2. the problem some others have, who get off to sleep but wake up in the early hours and can't get off again.
I suspect the causes and treatment are different in each example.

I can have either of those issues.
My sleep pattern is so random!
I can have a few nights where I sleep relatively well (getting towards a total of six hours either in one long stretch or with a gap /gaps partway through. But then suddenly it changes and I am awake almost the whole night, like two nights ago when I literally only drifted off for 15 - 20 mins between 6.30 and 7.00! I got up in the middle of the night when it was clear that sleep was a long way off but was no better when I returned to bed after a hot drink. It is exhausting!
It's the same with restless legs, which sometimes is the cause of the sleep problem - I have yet to find anything that causes / eases / prevents this, so have no reliable way of either predicting or avoiding it.

There seems to be two kinds of sleep problems people are suffering from -
1. the problem I have, where I can't get to sleep in the first place, but once asleep, sleep through till morning.
2. the problem some others have, who get off to sleep but wake up in the early hours and can't get off again.
I suspect the causes and treatment are different in each example.

An insomniac here watching with interest. I’ve tried all the things mentioned so far and nothings worked yet. I get to drift off around 3 and I’m up at 8.30 that’s a good night for me.

Marleygirl

So relieved to hear that I'm not the only one to have sleep probs. Manage to go off ok, but wake after 2/3 hours and mind too busy! Have used zopiclone (half a tablet) over many years, and get about 4 hours more sleep thereafter, but a fuzzy head next morning. However, last year, delighted to read a whole page in national press called Quiviq 25mg (daridorexant) which medics reported being non-addictive. Anyone out there tried it?

Yes I've just been prescribed daridorexant, just a month's worth. It worked for the first couple of nights and then.........back to my normal 3-4 am wake-up. I am continuing to take it and occasionally get a good night's sleep. I've started alternating it with Kirkland sleep aids, which I have been using on and off for years, but I can't honestly say how effective either are because when I do sleep well it could just be from sheer exhaustion!

I did try the ‘I am old so not too worried about being addicted to zopiclone’ but it fell on deaf ears.
I take one 10mg pfenerghan as I go to bed, get to sleep fairly quickly and don’t usually wake up in the night but am awake very early every morning, often 4.30 /5 am.
My dream woukd be to sleep til 7. Or even 8.

Never heard of it. I listen to podcasts and don't think I've got tjrough one yet! 🤣

I tried clean 5HTP but soon stopped it. Instead, I’ve been taking magnesium (for the past 20 months) and ashwagandha (for the past 11 months) — both from the same NI-based ethical company from which I buy all my supplements. Even on only half their typically strong recommended dose, it has transformed my sleep. It’s still very far from perfect (unsurprising at 80), but infinitely better than when I was constantly waking up in a panic with palpitations and acute anxiety, from which it was very difficult to get back to sleep. When my current batch of mega-magnesium (a blend) runs out, I’m going to try switching to magnesium glycinate, which is said to be especially good for sleep.

I take one 7.5mg Zopiclone every night.
I have been getting it on repeat prescription for many years now.
I did have a medication review some years ago and just like
Silver lining 48 I was advised to come of them but at my age I remarked that did it really matter.
And I’d course, it doesn’t.
If I forcefully had to come of them then it would probably entail another doctors appointment for stress and anxiety.
He agreed with me and I’m still taking them.
Nine times out of ten, I usually drift of ok, but I seem to wake up after only six hours sleep and can’t get back to sleep.
But a few hours sleep is better than none.

Regarding Phenergan tablets.
You can’t buy the 25mg tablets over the counter anymore.
They are prescription only now.
They are a good backup for insomnia.
I like to have some handy, but have to use an online chemist now,

5HTP did nothing for me either.

interesting thread will read some more thanks.

I use melatonin which I buy from the website Piping Rock. It works fine for me and my Q ring says I have a good night sleep.

I take Melatonin 10mg half an hour before bedtime. I was also prescribed an antihistamine but I have stopped taking it as this type of sedation over a long period can cause memory loss in the elderly (according to surgery pharmacist), which I had noticed in myself. I have been taking Melatonin for years with no ill effects. You can purchase Melatonin online but GPs also prescribe it.

So relieved to hear that I'm not the only one to have sleep probs. Manage to go off ok, but wake after 2/3 hours and mind too busy! Have used zopiclone (half a tablet) over many years, and get about 4 hours more sleep thereafter, but a fuzzy head next morning. However, last year, delighted to read a whole page in national press called Quiviq 25mg (daridorexant) which medics reported being non-addictive. Anyone out there tried it?

I’ve tried 5htp didn’t do much but I found these wonderful sleeping aids at Boots called Sleepeze they come in 25mg and 50mg. They really help me and they are over the counter.

Sleep had been a struggle for me for some time. I now listen to soft voiced stories and find a glass of warm milk and honey sends me off into a peaceful sleep.

Yes bedsocks for me. 💐

They tried to stop DHs zopiclone, he said I'm 75, I don't care if I get addicted, this is the only thing that gets me to sleep and I NEED TO SLEEP. He sometimes has to take a second one around 2am

I take Magnesium Glycinate an hour before bed and I fall asleep immediately.