Recommend over the counter sleeping aids

anon123456

Hi all

As always i'm not looking for medical advice or the pro's and cons of over the counter sleeping aids.

Can anyone recommend a good brand or the most effective over the counter sleeping remedies. I have tried Nytol ( no noticable difference) and SleepeZE (made me drowsy but not great help)

I'm not taking any medication, under any great stress or have other phsycial symptoms. My wife is 5 months pregnant and is a very restless sleeper at the moment so looknig for something useful and legal to knock me out for 8 hours.

But my main problem is i can't shut my brain off. I watch a film in my head or try to remember how many countries have a K in them. I just wish trying to fall asleep wasnt so boring otherwise my brain would stop trying to think of things to stop it.

Edit: I also would not take them regularly or more than twice a week. I know these can be addictive and/or get a dependency so you need them to sleep. I would only want it for the worst of nights

Thanks for any help

Hermia

anon123456 wrote: »

I have tried Nytol ( no noticable difference)

Wow! If that stuff didn't knock you out I'm not sure what would!

anon123456 wrote: »

But my main problem is i can't shut my brain off. I watch a film in my head or try to remember how many countries have a K in them. I just wish trying to fall asleep wasnt so boring otherwise my brain would stop trying to think of things to stop it.

Have you tried listening to any sort of mediation/sleep-inducing CDs or podcasts? Personally I find the guided meditation ones really useful. I like the ones where you have to imagine a garden or a peaceful place. They often have soothing music in the background to relax you and you have to follow the guided mediation so that stops you thinking of hundreds of things. There are lots of podcasts out there as well as ones on YouTube you could download so might be worth trying.

babyblooz

By far the best thing I did was to switch to decaf tea and coffee. I still have the odd sleepless night but few and far between now and my problems were just the same - my brain just wouldnt shut down.

AnnieO1234

Lanes quiet life Ax

barbiedoll

Over-the-counter sleeping aids are usually just antihistamines which, as another poster said, have drowsiness as a side-effect. Nytol is an antihistamine, it does make most people drowsy but if you are stressed, it won't work so well for you.

My husband works nights and he has to try to sleep during the brightest and most noisy part of the day. He read somewhere that lettuce is helpful and he has found that if he can't get off to sleep, he has a lettuce sandwich, he reckons it helps him every time!

Try not to stress too much about it, most bouts of insomnia are temporary and you can get by on much less sleep than you realise. (Just wait until the baby is here and you'll see what I mean!)
The worst thing is lying awake and watching the clock, thinking that you only have 3 hours until you have to get up, that makes you panic, which makes your body more alert and even more awake. It will pass, so don't think that you have to drug yourself to sleep every night. Stop worrying about it so much, just accept that lack of sleep will become a way of life soon enough so you may as well get used to it now. In a few months time, you will be able to sleep standing up!

sammyjammy

I hate that when your brain is in overdrive, its usually work related for me. Nytol does nothing for me, Quiet life tablets don't help me either.

The only thing that works for me is Natrasleep from Holland and Barrett, warning - they taste disgusting so swallow quickly. I think they cost about £4

Toothsmith

There is nothing you can get over the counter that will 'knock you out for eight hours'.

I think that rather than looking for a 'quick fix' you just need to look at what you're doing through the day and make changes there.

How much caffeine do you consume during the day? Cutting that down or out will help. Especially in the last 2-3 h before bed.

What are you doing in the hours leading up to bed time? If you're working right up to bed, or on the computer, or gaming, or watching exciting telly or films, then your mind will be very active when you get into bed, and sleep will be hard.

A warm bath at bedtime has been shown to help. The cooling of the body after the warm bath produces a natural hormonal change in your body that induces sleep.

Read a (gentle) book at bedtime. Have some quiet music on a player that you can set to 'sleep' after half an hour or so.

You won't find what you want on a pharmacy shelf. You need to be looking at making a few changes to your routine to help you arrive at your bed ready to sleep.

There_Goes_Trouble

Another vote for Natrasleep, but as already said nothing will 'knock you out'. You need to look at your lifestyle, identify why you can't sleep and then take steps to remedy the problem.

Keep a notebook by your bed so you can write stuff down instead of dwelling on it all night.
Get into a regular routine so your body is prepared to sleep.
Create a calm environment in your room.

There are loads of other tips online.

theoretica

If your wife's restlessness is an issue could you sleep somewhere else a couple of nights a week - move onto the floor, sofa or spare room?