I’ve lived with insomnia since 2012. If you struggle with complex health issues, as I do, sleeping well should be at the top of your priority list.
Getting to a place of sound sleep is a process of experimentation, with adjustments necessary over time. You may need only one of the therapies below, or 10 or more.
Prioritize serotonergics and gabinergics, as well as your environment, before trying other therapies.
Having some additional support in your back pocket for nights that are particularly difficult is a good idea, too.
Most therapies for anxiety work for insomnia (and vice versa), so you may also want to read my big list of anxiety cures.
Getting in the Sleeping Mood
In the period leading up to bedtime, keep activities light and undemanding. Movies, music and TV should be soothing rather than stimulating, so it’s better to leave action movies and violent news for another time.
Here are some additional essentials to get started with:
- Slow, repetitive music may help you get in the sleeping mood, or you may prefer silence instead.
- Go to bed and wake up at consistent times. Waking up at the same time every day, even if it’s difficult to get to sleep, will prevent a pattern of sleeping later and later.
- If you find yourself still awake 20 minutes after getting into bed, get up and do something non-stimulating, like reading, until you feel truly tired.
- Check with your partner to see if you snore. Snoring can have a detrimental impact on sleep and cause waking difficulties with cognition.
- Exert your body and mind every day. Even with my limitations due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I notice on days when I do more, I’m almost guaranteed a decent night of sleep. Just don’t exercise closer than two hours to bedtime.
Serotonergics & Melatonin
Serotonin, the key hormone for a baseline sense of well-being, converts into melatonin, the sleepfulness hormone.
If you struggle with seasonal depression, paranoia, or irritability, or if you find yourself living off of carbs, you probably have low serotonin, and by extension, melatonin.
Melatonin
Typical doses given for melatonin are .5-3mg nightly; however, there is some evidence that higher doses have few side effects. (R)
If you’re thinking of taking higher doses, I highly recommend you read some literature like the source cited above.
Tryptophan & 5-HTP
Tryptophan and 5-HTP are precursors of serotonin and melatonin, meaning they convert into it. Take one or the other.
Dosing: Tryptophan 1000-3000mg daily or 5-HTP 100-300mg daily
Diphenhydramine
Diphenhydramine, a first-generation antihistamine, is sold under the US trade name Benadryl, though generic brands are cheaper. It’s sold under different names in other countries.
It can induce drowsiness the next day.
Dosing: 25-75mg at bedtime
Gabinergics
GABA is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter; in other words, it’s your brain’s primary chemical for getting and staying calm.
Theanine
Theanine is an amino acid that supports GABA production. It’s widely available in pill form, but if you use it long-term, consider buying the powder in bulk – it costs as little as 6 cents a gram.
Dosing: 50-800mg nightly
Lithium Oratate
Lithium oratate is an over-the-counter form of the common psychiatric medication. It chills me out and makes me a little giggly. Three or more per day may reduce the quality of your sleep, in my experience.
Dosing: 1-3 tablets nightly
Scullcap
Scullcap is an herb that has a mild sedating effect.
Dosing: Two capsules nightly
Kava-kava
Kava-kava, otherwise known as Kava, is a plant native to the South Pacific that acts as a nonalcoholic intoxicant (particularly in the high doses at which it’s traditionally consumed). At doses listed on Western products, you’re likely to get a mild buzz similar to having a beer or two.
It’s available in raw powder, tincture and tea forms. I find the tea the most palatable (Kava has a unique taste that’s not bad, really – remember how liquor first tasted to you?).
Kava apparently damages the liver to a degree similar to alcohol (probably because it carries mold) (R) and shouldn’t be consumed with it. It’s best avoided if you’re sensitive to mold, also.
Dosing: 2-4 tea bags’ worth of tea as needed
Herbs
Valerian, Hops, Passionflower, Lemon Balm, California Poppy Herb, Lavender
Herbal soporifics are frequently combined in sleep-supporting products. All of the above, plus melatonin and theanine, are present in Vital Nutrients Sleep Aide, which I take nightly.
For a la carte dosing, try 50-300 mg of standardized 0.8 percent valeric acid, 200 mg of hops, or 100-200 mg of passionflower.
Chamomile
Chamomile is generally consumed in tea form and has a mild sedative effect.
Dosing: One teabag nightly as needed
Amino Acids
Ornithine
Ornithine is a non-essential amino acid that assists with breakdown of ammonia, a metabolite of animal protein. It has a relaxing effect.
Other Supplements
Doxylamine Succinate
Doxylamine succinate is an over-the-counter antihistamine with mild/short-term hypnotic and sedative effects, traits typically found in the benzodiazepine class that includes Valium and Klonopin, sometimes prescribed for sleep.
DAO
If your histamine levels tend to be high, as mine are, supplementing with DAO, the enzyme responsible for histamine breakdown in the gut, can help you fall asleep.
Some signs of histamine issues are agitation or headaches from eating high-histamine foods like cheese and vinegar, and buzzing in the ears.
Spiritual Therapies
Guided Meditation
Guided meditations are audio tracks that have you visualize scenes or otherwise work with your awareness or muscle relaxation to calm yourself and prepare for sleep.
I use the Youper app, available for Android and iOS, to help me drift off. Its mantra, deep body scan, and deep relaxed breathing meditations are especially good.
Traditional Meditation
Tried-and-true meditation techniques from spiritual traditions generally work with being aware of (and letting go of) thoughts and/or following the breath with your attention.
There are numerous schools within Buddhism and Hinduism that teach meditation methods, and Catholic Prayer (which can be easily modified to adapt to any or no religious background).
Dietary Strategies
Eat a Snack Before Bed
If you tend to undereat, skip meals or live off caffeine or carbs, your blood sugar is all over the place and your body is relying on the wakefulness hormone, cortisol, to keep you functional.
In my experience, a fatty/protein-containing snack before bed can improve overall sleep quality and reduce wake-ups.
Dave Asprey, in his book Head Strong, suggests up to a tablespoon of honey before bed to replenish glycogen (stored glucose) for steady blood sugar all night long.
Eliminate Caffeine
Caffeine can induce agitation and insomnia in those who are sensitive to it. It affects me at low doses for up to 12 hours, so it’s worth eliminating entirely for a few weeks to see if it improves your sleep.
Caffeine is present in coffee, black and green teas, sodas, energy drinks, many low-calorie or zero-sugar juice drinks, and cocoa and chocolate.
Eliminate Alcohol and Nicotine
Alcohol, caffeine and nicotine all inhibit sleep through stimulation and disrupting normal sleep patterns, so these should be minimized throughout the day.
Eliminate MSG and Glutamate
Monosodium glutamate is the popularly-known cousin of glutamate, the primary excitatory neurotransmitter (GABA’s twin, you might say). Their brain-stimulating effects can be experienced as agitation, hyperactivity or anxiety.
If you tend to become overstimulated by what you eat, cut back on high-glutamate foods and see if that helps. Check out this article and this article for help identifying MSG-containing foods.
Eliminate Aspartame
Aspartame is still commonly used to sweeten sugar-free soft drinks and candy, and is a nervous system stimulant (ever notice the warnings on the package?).
If you’re ingesting aspartame-containing foods on a daily basis, it’s worth eliminating them for several weeks to see if it helps your insomnia.
Environment
Beware of Mold
Moldy living and working environments reliably induce weight gain, anxiety and agitation, and insomnia. Fatigue and cognitive issues as well as respiratory issues are also typical.
Visible mold, a musty smell, water damage, high humidity, central air and carpeted floors can all indicate or contribute to mold issues. Mattresses, pillows and comforters can also harbor mold and affect you all night long.
The best way to identify environmental mold issues is with an ERMI (more expensive) or HERXMI (less expensive) test. Calling in experts to run mold tests is even more expensive than doing it yourself, so it’s probably best not to bother.
Beware of Noise
If you deal with extraneous noise in your bedroom, wearing earplugs or creating white noise – either with a dedicated machine, an app like Pacifica, or something as simple as a fan – can reduce or mask the irritant.
Eliminate Blue Light
Our bodies’ internal rhythms are widely affected by the availability of light. The cells in your body evolved over hundreds of millions of years to trigger different processes according to how light or dark it is.
In short, if your bedroom contains any quantity of blue light (present in screens, machine displays and LED bulbs inside or out), you need to cut it out.
Machine displays can be remedied with simple black tape; switch off lights affecting your bedroom and turn off any screens that aren’t essential (or install f.lux for computers, Night Mode-Blue Light Filter for Android, and Night Shift for iOS if they are).
Blackout curtains work well for smothering light sneaking in from outside.
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