Sleep meds, Milk Thistle, and our pal Kava

[evrnd]

1. Is it generally safe to take sleep meds with kava? Kava has not been doing enough lately and I neeeeeed sleep. This leads me to my next question.
2. I just saw @violet say something about Milk Thistle possibly killing my kava’s effectiveness. The brand I take recommends taking it after dinner which is when I need kava the most.
2a) How fast might the milk thistle be clearing stuff out?
2b) Anyone know any reason I couldn’t just take it in the morning?

Thanks in advance!

 

[violet]

I'll have to go back and fix that... I was just looking and milk thistle is found to be an inhibitor, rather than an inducer of enzyme activity, my oops. Kava is also an enzyme inhibitor, if anything the combination of the two could help things hang out in the system a little longer. Milk thistle does help the body increase glutathione production, which is vital for the detox process. If it helps, HERE'S a study that found no significant risk of drug reactions with milk thistle in vivo.

Milk thistle can be taken any time of day, even multiple times a day if needed.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

1. Is it generally safe to take sleep meds with kava? Kava has not been doing enough lately and I neeeeeed sleep. This leads me to my next question.
2. I just saw @violet say something about Milk Thistle possibly killing my kava’s effectiveness. The brand I take recommends taking it after dinner which is when I need kava the most.
2a) How fast might the milk thistle be clearing stuff out?
2b) Anyone know any reason I couldn’t just take it in the morning?

Thanks in advance!

What kind or class of sleep meds are you referring to?

 

[Noname]

Throw the Meds in the trash they are literally poison. Modern healthcare is treat symptoms instead of source to keep you coming back and spending money. That's the short version. Take lavender chamomile or try nene from ghk I hear it's good for sleep

 

[evrnd]

I'll have to go back and fix that... I was just looking and milk thistle is found to be an inhibitor, rather than an inducer of enzyme activity, my oops. Kava is also an enzyme inhibitor, if anything the combination of the two could help things hang out in the system a little longer. Milk thistle does help the body increase glutathione production, which is vital for the detox process. If it helps, HERE'S a study that found no significant risk of drug reactions with milk thistle in vivo.

Milk thistle can be taken any time of day, even multiple times a day if needed.

It's interesting because I had a pretty good system down that was letting me get at least 5.5-6 hours of sleep a night: drinking almost any kava pre-dinner and then GHK's Boroguru or another heavier kava after. It wasn't perfect, but besides the frequent trips to the bathroom, I was able to get through the night. In the last week or so, I have barely been able to sleep. I need to do some digging but I would assume Milk Thistle has a cumulative effect? So maybe it is intensifying some disruptive effect rather than taking away the ones that help me sleep. It has felt a lot like trying to sleep on narcotics. My brain gets stuck in various loops and even if I get a few minutes of sleep, I can't go deep enough to get any sort of real relief. Do you have any idea why Gaia would suggest taking it after the evening meal?

@SelfBiasResistor - It's Zaleplon (Sonata). My doctor gave me a small prescription to try out when I was taking a break from kava after an alarming liver panel (I was eliminating possible causes). I still haven't taken any of them and he actually chose the wrong one for my issues. I have a really hard time staying asleep these days but can usually fall asleep for an hour or two when I first get to bed. I used to have the opposite problem when I younger.

 

[love2driveinct]

Some folks have had success with Luna, an all-natural sleep remedy.
Another idea would be very strong chamomile tea -- I'm talking six bags at once. You can drink six cups if you want, but that's a lot of liquid, so probably better to just make 1-2 cups very strong. It does have a relaxing effect.

 

[Intrepidus_dux]

If I’m really struggling with sleep, I’ll occasionally take Tylenol PM on kava. It’s really not good for you to mix tbose though. Lately the Kava supreme has helped me sleep like a baby. I tell my friends that the supreme is my sleep kava and no they may not have any. lol.

 

[recentreturn]

It's interesting because I had a pretty good system down that was letting me get at least 5.5-6 hours of sleep a night: drinking almost any kava pre-dinner and then GHK's Boroguru or another heavier kava after. It wasn't perfect, but besides the frequent trips to the bathroom, I was able to get through the night. In the last week or so, I have barely been able to sleep. I need to do some digging but I would assume Milk Thistle has a cumulative effect? So maybe it is intensifying some disruptive effect rather than taking away the ones that help me sleep. It has felt a lot like trying to sleep on narcotics. My brain gets stuck in various loops and even if I get a few minutes of sleep, I can't go deep enough to get any sort of real relief. Do you have any idea why Gaia would suggest taking it after the evening meal?

@SelfBiasResistor - It's Zaleplon (Sonata). My doctor gave me a small prescription to try out when I was taking a break from kava after an alarming liver panel (I was eliminating possible causes). I still haven't taken any of them and he actually chose the wrong one for my issues. I have a really hard time staying asleep these days but can usually fall asleep for an hour or two when I first get to bed. I used to have the opposite problem when I younger.

One other thing you could try, for science, is taking a few days off of kava and jogging... Might surprise you what it does...

 

[recentreturn]

If I’m really struggling with sleep, I’ll occasionally take Tylenol PM on kava. It’s really not good for you to mix tbose though. Lately the Kava supreme has helped me sleep like a baby. I tell my friends that the supreme is my sleep kava and no they may not have any. lol.

It would probably be safer to mix Benedryl with kava than Tylenol PM. Benedryl is just the PM without the Tylenol.

 

[recentreturn]

Some folks have had success with Luna, an all-natural sleep remedy.
Another idea would be very strong chamomile tea -- I'm talking six bags at once. You can drink six cups if you want, but that's a lot of liquid, so probably better to just make 1-2 cups very strong. It does have a relaxing effect.

I tried loose chamomile tea for the first time about a month ago during my first bout of dermo. Made my throat BURN and itch like crazy...I prepped like 5 heaping tablespoons in 2 cups of water. Has anyone ever died from an allergic reaction to chamomile pollen?

 

[evrnd]

One other thing you could try, for science, is taking a few days off of kava and jogging... Might surprise you what it does...

I have been unable to exercise due to an injury and now two surgeries. I was a lot better off when I could. Nothing has ever worked quite as well as regular exercise (long distance road cyclist, I am not a fan of running and neither are my knees or shins).
I have heard Benadryl works before but unless it is multiplied by kava, it won’t do much for me. Same with Tylenol PM. Considering Tylenol can cause liver failure on its own I wouldn’t even consider mixing it with kava. Nope!

I just had the second of those two surgeries so I’ve only tried small amounts of kava every few days since I’m still on meds. It seems to just give me a headache and, again, I don’t want to mess with mixing the two for my liver’s sake.

 

[recentreturn]

I have been unable to exercise due to an injury and now two surgeries. I was a lot better off when I could. Nothing has ever worked quite as well as regular exercise (long distance road cyclist, I am not a fan of running and neither are my knees or shins).
I have heard Benadryl works before but unless it is multiplied by kava, it won’t do much for me. Same with Tylenol PM. Considering Tylenol can cause liver failure on its own I wouldn’t even consider mixing it with kava. Nope!

I just had the second of those two surgeries so I’ve only tried small amounts of kava every few days since I’m still on meds. It seems to just give me a headache and, again, I don’t want to mess with mixing the two for my liver’s sake.

Ha, yeah. I wasn't suggesting you should necessarliy try benedryl, just that it is the same as tylenol pm without the risk of taking tylenol (Tylenol PM = Tylenol + Benedryl). Personally, benedryl only helps me fall asleep if I am in bed at the moment it hits; if I miss that window, it actually keys me up; then when it wears off, I wake up and stuggle to fall asleep again. But then when I finally do, my alarm greets a zombie who can't wake up for anything. Kava does about the same thing to me, except that it doesn't make it hard for me to wake up in the end. Either way, I haven't found the magic bullet for sleep yet.

 

[violet]

I tried loose chamomile tea for the first time about a month ago during my first bout of dermo. Made my throat BURN and itch like crazy...I prepped like 5 heaping tablespoons in 2 cups of water. Has anyone ever died from an allergic reaction to chamomile pollen?

I'd hope not, but chamomile is in the ragweed family and can cause allergic symptoms in folks with ragweed allergies. Instead you could try linden flower (tilia) tea. It can also be very soothing to the nerves and sleep inducing.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

It's been a while since I've used linden but it is a very good relaxant. I would rate it up there in the same spectrum as chamomile. It tastes great, too.