ElleDee

I for one have had problems with insomnia and I've seen a lot of other people here who also have trouble sleeping, especially in those first few weeks of sobriety. I saw this article this morning and thought I would share.

5 Foods to Treat Insomnia - Improve Your Sleep

Thepatman

Thanks ElleDee

I'm a big fan of Valerian, it just calms me right down and then I listen to meditation music. It's full of them on YouTube

Croissant

I feel like a bowl of porridge now - its nearly midnight!

MrBen

Is Valerian totally fine? I know they have it in kalms and stuff but I worry about sleeping pills knowing my addictive personality.

Thepatman

Valerian is totally non-addictive. it's a natural herb.

Comes in pills, you take maximum 3 as per instructed on the bottle and it's only for occasional sleep problems, like in the first few weeks of sobriety.

GracieLou

Bananas work. They make me sleepy every time. I had to stop eating them for breakfast. I was falling asleep at my desk at work...lol

Croissant

Marijuana is natural too.

I'd always be cautious, just because something is natural, doesn't mean it's safe. There's no real conclusive studies either way, but to say it's natural as a defence, might be a bit loose.

Croissant

Now THEY are addictive. :P

Aellyce

Some people get good relief from herbal teas made of passion flower or hops.

ReadyAtLast

I find I sleep better when I cut down on junk food and high sugar stuff. I don't know if it's because my blood sugar is more stable but the difference is amazing

MrBen

Is Marijuana physically addictive? I get that it is psychologically but I've never heard of withdrawals from weed. Maybe I'm wrong I dunno.

I'm not condoning smoking weed by the way, I'm just curious.

Aellyce

It can be pretty heavily addictive to certain people (you could look up the pot threads here on SR), while others don't tend to have much problem with it. So, varies. One thing that has been associated with marijuana dependence is specific genetic backgrounds (inherited) some people have, and also traits such as anxiety and neuroticism (many people self-medicate these with weed).

We have a project studying marijuana-dependent people, they come in for interviews and other things - many of them suffer from this addiction greatly. They also undergo quite unpleasant withdrawals when they try to quit, and it tends to be long (1-2 months or more); one of the main symptoms is intense anxiety (it makes sense if that's what they self-medicated in the first place, right?) and sometimes insomnia. And cravings also.

Aellyce

Btw, what is often described as "psychological" dependence also goes down to physical and physiological (biochemical) changes and mechanisms. In our brains and bodies. There is no such thing as "psychological" without having some sort of organic feature associated with it in our physical body, these things don't come from the ether.... Eg. some people might say anxiety is a psychological state, which is also true, but in terms of what's causing it, there is always something in the brain and other parts of the body.

This is why I personally dislike making distinctions such as physical withdrawal and psychological withdrawal. They all have some physiological features. What makes more sense is talking about acute withdrawal symptoms (appearing shortly after quitting) and protracted withdrawal symptoms (can last long, or appear at a later phase, eg. PAWS).

What is true, though, is that we still know relatively little about how the brain works... so many "psychological" states and observations cannot be explained easily with known physiological mechanisms simply because they are yet unknown.

ElleDee

My partner is horrible to live with when he's out of pot. He is cranky and irritable and snappy.

Aellyce

To be fair, there are also chemicals in the marijuana plant that can have beneficial effects for some people. Eg. some of these (not THC) are being investigated as a potential drug that might help the cravings of people that quit other drugs. Another line of research that we do Marijuana is a pretty complex drug combination.

Boudicca

I second this. Also chamomile tea.

I am a huge fan of the traditional glass of milk. I don't need a full 8 ounce glass. Usually just a juice glass is enough to get me a little sleepy.

Great thread!

jezza

Melatonin is good.... Knocks me out in less then 20 minutes plus I think you can get it with Vitamin B6 which helps..