Re: severe sleep issues

Dear Elibob,

Other ideas:
* if you are a woman, have you tried progesterone cream. I find 25 mg puts me to sleep, and helps me stay asleep. It helps even better when I also take melatonin. The progesterone cream may take a few days to "build-up" and have its best effect.
* have you tried also (with progesterone) a long-acting / sustained-release melatonin. Twinlabs makes 1 that I have used. You could use a long-acting melatonin that you swallow in combination with a melatonin capsule where you put the contents sublingually (see below).
* if you are having trouble getting to sleep, try some melatonin under the tongue. Get a 3mg capsules, and open the contents. Keep under the tongue, swish around. Eventually swallow. Sublingual is a good way to get it into your system. Faster than swallowing that same capsule.
* Does your saliva taste acidic? Try some baking soda in water. If it tastes good, then maybe your system is acidic. When I don't need it, it tastes horrible. Keep some baking soda by the side of your bed to use if it happens again when you wake. I find that when I am acidic, that I am AWAKE. If I can lower my pH, becoming less acidic, that I naturally just fall asleep, and stay asleep.
* If you are jerking awake, are your muscles feeling tired or sore in any way when you try to go to sleep? If so, you might be helped by a plain calcium / magnesium supplement. Whole Foods puts out a product called "Cal-Mag" with calcium carbonate (1000 mg in 3 capsules) and magnesium oxide (500 ms in 3 capsules). Try 1 or 2 capules when your muscles feel this way. Skeletal muscles will relax in the presence of calcium. Keep these by the side of your bed in case you wake up and your muscles are sore/in pain. I find that with 1 or 2, if I wake up sore, I can put myself back to sleep with the calcium/mag supplement.
* When you jerk awake, are you SURE you are NOT having an apneic episode? If you want to be absolutely sure, you could try to see if you can keep yourself on your side when you are sleeping. That is sometimes easier said than done. I have tried something that works for this. Wake up fewer times gasping for air with my heart-rate up. Tweet