How I Learned To Get The Rest and Sleep That I Need Using Melatonin and Valerian Root. Use Natural Substances For Sleep

In my life I've never been diagnosed as having an actual sleep disorder. I have had four different medical doctors tell me that I was bi polar though, and involved in all of that was me telling those doctors about having a very hard time throughout my life getting to bed and going to sleep.

When I was young and a student in Kaufman, Texas' public school district, I would lay in bed at night just tossing and turning and being ever so aware that I was still awake, and because I was still awake and not asleep, that I'd likely be having another awful day the next school day. I was generally right about all of that, and recall very few good days as a student in public schools.

Mostly what I recall about my days as a student is sleeping through almost every class, and especially, waking up with a jump in the middle of a class with the students sitting around me laughing because of it all. I also recall the numb arms from the loss of circulation from my head lying on top of them.

After getting out of school I found that my problems hadn't eased up much at all, and had likely increased in intensity. I tried for years and years to instead of fight it by lying in bed when it was obvious that I'd not be sleeping - to just stay awake. I developed a huge caffeine habit, and also would take any herbal or vitamin store energy supplement that I could find.

I was already a nervous wreck long before I'd ever drifted into the use of illegal drugs - but that soon followed. I'll spare you all of those sorts of stories as the subject of this article is not illegal drugs, my personal chemical problems or disorders, or anything of the such - the purpose of this article is to relay how I've learned to sleep with the use of natural or herbal substances, and I do entirely mean Melatonin and Valerian root.

Now, in the spirit of full disclosure here regarding sleep aids, neither Valerian root or Melatonin has been the most effective thing I've taken.The most effective sleep aide I've ever used is an anti psychotic or mood stabilizing drug known as Seroquel, and with it I could easily sleep sixteen hours at a time, and all of it the most restful enjoyable sleep imaginable. I would never in this lifetime recommend that drug to anyone for any reason. It's a serious pharmaceutical, and the Food and Drug Administration is not an honourable organization, and I know of no pharmaceutical corporations that study or practice ethics outside of their aphoristic profit is god, and greed is good.

Another thing I've used in combination with alcohol would be Benadryl. Now the combination of Benadryl and alcohol would help me to get to sleep, but it would not provide for sustained or truly restful sleep. Also, long term use of Benadryl has been proven to have some adverse side effects, and the long term use of alcohol is something that everyone should already know about. It's not a wonderful combination, and I do not recommend it.

This is a bit of a product article, but it's also the vehicle from which I get to tell my story, and I do only promote products that have done good things for me personally, or someone that I know. I'd heard about Melatonin for years and years, and I've no idea why I'd never checked it out or tried it before I did. The more I think about it the more I just scratch my head and wonder why I didn't.

As it happened my Mother and I were just walking around the CVS here in Kaufman, Texas; and we were there shopping for different things entirely, but when we passed by the supplements and vitamin row, or one of them, I spotted Melatonin on the sale rack, and said something to my Mother about how I would like to try it, and so we bought a bottle of five milligram Melatonin pills of some brand or another, and after the very first night I knew that unless I showed some sort of tolerance build up to the stuff, that I'd made a wonderful discovery that should have been made years and years before then.

Now there's no telling how many days my first bottle of Melatonin sat there next to me where my vitamins and such sit before I tried any of it. I'd not say that my anxiety issues have waned any over the course of the years, but as I am now - all that I do, really, is write these web pages, and so my life is mostly low stress. When I finally did decide that one night I should try the stuff and then did so, I couldn't help but notice how fast it worked. The first night was a test run and I didn't know how it was going to go, but within thirty minutes of swallowing two five milligram tablets of Melatonin I could well tell that I was about to sleep. I did sleep, and the next morning I woke up feeling slightly better than I normally do in the mornings, and as moody as I've always been - the whole test run experience really got my attention.

Listen, I've not had a bad life or anything; I'm just a person who's got pretty bad mood problems. I've got a huge long grocery list of anti psychotics and anti depressants that I've taken in the past, and just to the right of here you'll find where you can peruse that list, and see a little bit of a discussion on how I felt about those meds. Me waking up and feeling rested and positive isn't the way that I've normally faced the mornings of my life. I'm not saying that I've had a horrible life, but only that I've normally woke up feeling awful and in a very negative mood. The Melatonin after continuing on with it made a real difference for me, and not just with me getting to bed and sleeping throughout the night either, the stuff just made me feel better all the way around the course of a day.

Someone told me,

"Dude, nobody who takes Melatonin ever speaks badly of it, there are only good experiences and positive tales told."

I really can't endorse the statement above, as I'm not nobody or everybody - but I'm going to list here some of the additional things that Melatonin has been said to do positive in people's lives.

1. Melatonin reduces delirium in elderly persons

2. Melatonin helps with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - and I think that any decent Medical Doctor would have diagnosed me as such instead of the too typical bi polar.

3, Melatonin increases fertility in some women.

4. There's almost no lethal dose of Melatonin.

5. Melatonin is said to aid persons who suffer from migraine headaches.

6. Melatonin treats mood disorders including but not limited to seasonal affective disorder

7. Melatonin aids in the passage of gall stones.

8. Melatonin speeds up the metabolism aiding the fight against obesity

9. Melatonin protects against radiation.

10. Melatonin is beneficial in the treatment of tinnitus.

Look, I realize this sounds too good to be all true, I got it from Wikipedia, and you can verify it from links there. I'm just saying that Melatonin has made my life better, and that just maybe it would make your life better in some way or another too.

How much do I take? I take ten milligrams. I might actually be taking more than I need. I'm just used to needing bigger doses of most things than other people do to feel affected by them. I've seen three milligram pills available, and five milligram pills available. I just went for the ten milligram doses because I know me enough to know that when I'm wide awake, I'm typically more awake than the next guy is.

Now listen, Melatonin is just wonderful for me, but I'm not everyone, and Melatonin might not be the thing for you. I seriously suggest that you try it though, and if it proves to not do the deal that you're looking for, then try something else.

I suggest that if Melatonin doesn't work for you, that you then try Valerian root, or maybe both Melatonin and Valerian root. Hey, shoot me, or whatever, I mix stuff sometimes, and you're not going to find that a sane mixture of those two things is unhealthy if you are a normal person in reasonable health. I'm no medical doctor, and if you have questions about this stuff, and have had bad experiences in the past with over the counter natural substances...then by all means, go pay your money or whatever and ask a physician. Not me, I don't roll like that. I have no problems other than those I've already told you about, but I know that most folks aren't like me.

Valerian is just a common flower, really, and you folks, I hope you realize that any time a rogue government such as the US government isn't making something like naturally growing plants illegal to own - it's practically a blessing. It's certainly not something to laugh about or take for granted.

Valerian has a historical use as a sedative, anticonvulsant, migraine treatment and pain reliever, and Valerian is used for insomnia and other disorders as an alternative to benzodiazepine drugs, and as a sedative for nervous tension, hysteria, excitability, stress and intestinal colic or cramps. It's good stuff, but it smells like dirty socks, seriously.

Valerian root is also thought to treat epilepsy, as is another mood stabilizer of the big pharma persuasion, valporic acid, an analogue of one of valerian's constituents, valeric acid.

Neither Valerian root nor Melatonin is thought to lose it's effectiveness over time - this isn't cocaine or opium we're dealing with, there is no tolerance or dependency.

I do not want to say that either of these substances could not have side effects. I'm saying that I suffer none from either, and that complaints such as drowsiness concerning either of these make me wretch, if this stuff makes you drowsy the next day, then I'm calling you out - you didn't need a sleep aide to begin with, and you're complaining like a little child.

Thanks for reading, and I hope something here has been helpful or healthful for you.