Otc Sleep Aid

[Jai]

I'm looking for a gluten-free OTC sleep aid...besides melatonin, since I'm taking 9mg and still lie awake for hours. I used to love Nytol, but they say that although no gluten is added, it's not certified gluten-free. I was actually on oxyzepam to help me sleep, but it no longer works.

A bit of history....prediagnosis I slept fine, the first couple of months gluten-free I slept fine, and now suddenly it's an issue. I've had other phases in the past, but I don't believe it's related to gluten....I know it will pass, but meanwhile I need some sleep....well, more than I've been getting!

[Skylark]

Nytol is just diphenhydramine. There are plenty of diphenhydramine sleep aids and antihistamines on the market. Benedryl is listed at glutenfreedrugs.com as safe and the company states their products are allergen-free.

[an3drew]

one of the simplest things to help with sleep is the metagenics "folapro" which is a bioidentical form of folic acid

interestingly the usual form of folic acid in supplements is not a natural form and doesn't metabolise easily

i cut the tablet down so take between a half to a quarter in the morning and don't take it all the time, just when i feel a bit wound up

i think it reduces homocysteine

too much metafolin increases viral susceptibility so there's a balance .................

[an3drew]

i think it's important to add that metafolin/folapro and b-12 are somewhat antagonistic, they need each other, more folapro needs balancing up with b-12 and vice versa !

folapro/metafolin improves sleep and b-12 makes for mmore broken sleep in my observation, but we need the other benefical effects of b-12 like immune stimulation

generally b-12 tablets need cutting down, way too big for a single dose

[veronika]

Benadryl (and other brands of diphenhydramine) work well, but you don't want to take these long term. It's easy to get dependent on these and have problems getting off them later, usually with the help of other drugs. You don't want to get stuck in that cycle.

Have you tried cutting out caffeine and/or sugars near bed-time? For me, if I have anything with caffeine in it (even a green tea) after about 2P I'm too awake near bedtime to get to sleep easily.

Outside of drugs, behavioral modifications may help in order to get your body in the mood for sleep. For example, avoiding TV/computer screens an hour before bed, reading in bed for awhile, or taking a warm shower before bed helps. While I haven't tried it, Valerian tea has been very useful for some people for insomnia and has some scientific backing.

I hope you find something that works.