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I've got one: It turns out that science has proven that lavender essential oil actually has therapeutic value in inducing and promoting sleep. The abstract for the first human study of lavender and sleep states:

“Aromatherapy is an anecdotal method for modifying sleep and mood. However, whether olfactory exposure to essential oils affects night-time objective sleep remains untested. Previous studies also demonstrate superior olfactory abilities in women. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of an olfactory stimulus on subsequent sleep and assessed gender differences in such effects. Thirty-one young healthy sleepers (16 men and 15 women, aged 18 to 30 yr, mean+/-SD, 20.5+/-2.4 yr) completed 3 consecutive overnight sessions in a sleep laboratory: one adaptation, one stimulus, and one control night (the latter 2 nights in counterbalanced order). Subjects received an intermittent presentation (first 2 min of each 10 min interval) of an olfactory (lavender oil) or a control (distilled water) stimulus between 23:10 and 23:40 h. Standard polysomnographic sleep and self-rated sleepiness and mood data were collected. Lavender increased the percentage of deep or slow-wave sleep (SWS) in men and women. All subjects reported higher vigor the morning after lavender exposure, corroborating the restorative SWS increase. Lavender also increased stage 2 (light) sleep, and decreased rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep and the amount of time to reach wake after first falling asleep (wake after sleep onset latency) in women, with opposite effects in men. Thus, lavender serves as a mild sedative and has practical applications as a novel, nonphotic method for promoting deep sleep in young men and women and for producing gender-dependent sleep effects.”

Goel, N, Hyungsoo, K, Lao, RP (2005); An Olfactory Stimulus Modifies Nighttime Sleep in Young Men and Women; Chronobiology International Vol. 22, No. 5:889-904.

Please note that I am the person behind the PurSleep products (all of which employ lavender essential oil) but I hope this does not seem too Spammy. I've been on the boards for a long time and my experience with the PurSleep products corroborates this study. I post it only because it's directly relevant to the thread and few people know about it (the lavender farmers can't afford to advertise as much as the drug companies).

Good to know, Jules! I didn't think that I'd heard of Secaris before. But I am definitely needing something to help unstuff my nose at night. I will take a look for Ayr...

I have been a chronic insomniac for most of my life but my bedtime regimen which works well for me is Trazadone 50 mg (Rx)
Melatonin 3mg
Chlorpheniramine 4mg

That and my new Mirage Activa mask and I sleep like a baby (albeit an OLD one.)

Insulation Tim wrote:I have been a chronic insomniac for most of my life but my bedtime regimen which works well for me is Trazadone 50 mg (Rx)
Melatonin 3mg
Chlorpheniramine 4mg

That and my new Mirage Activa mask and I sleep like a baby (albeit an OLD one.)

I tried trazodone .... and it reacts the opposite way for me. It kept me so revved up that I couldn't sleep at all!

Mindy

This might sound nutty, but I've had luck with 150 mg magnesium (delivered as powdered Magnesium Malate) before bed. It relaxes my muscles and is very sedating for me, more so than things like Valerian root, melatonin, etc.

The type and form are important with magnesium supplements: Mg oxide tablets run right through you without being absorbed most of the time (I had tried those on and off for years when suggested); other types give some folks the runs. Best to do some research, talk to your doctor, be careful if you have any kidney problems, and all those other standard disclaimers.

mindy wrote:

Insulation Tim wrote:I have been a chronic insomniac for most of my life but my bedtime regimen which works well for me is Trazadone 50 mg (Rx)
Melatonin 3mg
Chlorpheniramine 4mg

That and my new Mirage Activa mask and I sleep like a baby (albeit an OLD one.)

I tried trazodone .... and it reacts the opposite way for me. It kept me so revved up that I couldn't sleep at all!

Mindy

Maybe it's a guy thing. It had the same effect on my wife. In reality, it is an old anti-depressant, but the drowsiness is a side effect that some physicians prefer to use (very inexpensive) versus Ambien and its class of drugs. I did forget to add that maybe it's the half bottle of Pinot Noir or Cabernet that really does it for me

tinkerbell wrote:Is your sleep issue partly due to having a stuffed-up nose? I have trouble with this whenever I lay down. I do use a saline solution & sometimes
cleanse with a Netti-Pot, but during the night it stuffs back up! I don't like using Afrin very often either because it can be habit forming. Does anyone know of
a product, non-habit-forming that works for this problem?

Afrin is the work of Satan. I will never buy or use that stuff again!!! If it's allergies (such as rhinitis), see if your doc will prescribe something like Fluticasone. That stuff is WONDERFUL. You can use it every single day, there's no rebound effect. Use it for 100 days and then stop, no effect. It doesn't work like Afrin where it clears you right up. But when used daily after a while my nose stopped reacting to allergens. The other night when they put that CPAP mask on me I was thinking to myself, "Wow. Pre-Fluticasone I'd be suffocating trying to use this thing".

My only regret is it took me 45 years to realize there was stuff like that out there. When you're stopped up all your life you just think that's the way things work.

For those using acetaminophen (tylenol) for sleeping, I feel compelled to let you know that acetaminophen stops production of glutathione. I did not know this, and glutathione is so so so very important to maintaining proper health. I Just wanted to share the info, what you do with it is up to you.