I can’t sleep

[KavaOkie]

So I quit drinking a month and a half ago. Since then I used Kava as a way to leave the stuff alone and it has worked amazingly. The only problem is I can’t sleep. My sleep has been horrible my whole life. But lately it has been worse. When I drank alcohol, if I drank enough I could sleep through the night with maybe one to three wake ups in the middle of the night with some kind of craving. Maybe a cookie and a glass of milk or something like that. Since I have switched to kava I feel like my lack of sleep has gotten progressively worse. Some nights are better than others, but tonight I have had it. Lately I wake up 3 or more times a night consecutively. I have been on a pretty strict diet for the last week and am drinking only water. I have no caffeine from any sources, and apart from flavored water with no sugars or anything just carbonation and my nightly Kava I don’t drink anything else. I have tried melatonin, I have tried sleepy teas, I have tried taking over the counters. I finally reached out to my doctor for help, but who knows what a professional will say? Anyways anyone got an idea?

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

Supreme Supreme. I love Supreme.

 

[KavaOkie]

Ya Krunkie, Kava Supreme was the second Kava I tried and it gave me the serious jitters in the middle of the night.

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

Ya Krunkie, Kava Supreme was the second Kava I tried and it gave me the serious jitters in the middle of the night.

hm, scratch that one, then.

 

[Summer]

I don't know how it is with alcohol but when I came off pills I went through a major time of insomnia no matter what I took. I wonder if some of it is just from not having alcohol anymore and time will be the healer. Kava helps, but it is finicky. How much you drink, what your preparation method is, and when you drink it can all work for or against you.

I remember Chris' micro Boroguru made what seemed like 4-5 broken hours of sleep feel like a deep 6-7 hours, for me.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Did you drink beer when you would use alcohol for sleep?

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

@Summer is right. If you drank often enough, you're GABA receptors are probably down regulated enough to affect your sleeping. Most of the kava available now isn't all that helpful for long duration sleep. I stopped daily drinking (heavy amounts) a few years ago and switched to nothing but kava and had no issues sleeping through the night. Most of what you can buy now doesn't have enough of the long lasting KLs that promote long duration, deep sleep. Supreme, Stone and BKH Melo are some of the better options for sleep enhancement but still aren't optimal. ISA would help more but by itself if does have a different feel than noble kava.

Your doctor will most likely prescribe a Z drug, antihistamine or anti-depressant depending on what he or she likes to give out but there are better herbal options than those types of drugs.

 

[KavaOkie]

@Mrbinx69 yes I did drink beer, but it was really high point beer like 10.8% and 40 ounces of it. Also drank hard liquor occasionally.
@SelfBiasResistor Ya so I fall in that group of people where antihistamines work backwards for me and make me go crazy and give me jitters worse than
Kava. I sent a message to my doctor explaining my frustration. I have taken Ambien and Lunesta in the past and had successful sleep with those , but I would still wake up at least once. Sounds like that's probably going to be the route I will have to take because all work and no sleep makes Jack a dull boy.

 

[Intrepidus_dux]

@Mrbinx69 yes I did drink beer, but it was really high point beer like 10.8% and 40 ounces of it. Also drank hard liquor occasionally.
@SelfBiasResistor Ya so I fall in that group of people where antihistamines work backwards for me and make me go crazy and give me jitters worse than
Kava. I sent a message to my doctor explaining my frustration. I have taken Ambien and Lunesta in the past and had successful sleep with those , but I would still wake up at least once. Sounds like that's probably going to be the route I will have to take because all work and no sleep makes Jack a dull boy.

I’m glad you’re reaching out to your doctor for help! Sleep is a big deal. There’s a book called “Sleep Revolution” by Arianna Huffington about how sleep affects us. I used to have such severe sleep problems that my anxiety around sleep got so bad it would keep me up too! Have you been checked for sleep apnea?

 

[the_wilderness]

another lifetime insomniac here. kava doesn't help me sleep. I rotate a couple different meds with some days without any to make sure I'm getting at least a couple of sleep cycles every few days, but not becoming dependent on anything.
melatonin and heavy exercise are the only natural things i've found to make a difference to sleep quality, although neither of them help getting to sleep.

 

[KavaOkie]

@Intrepidus_dux

yep reached out to my doctor and he suggested antihistamines shocked. i sent him a message responding and basically saying the same thing i posted in here. and i have tried giving the melatonin a shot but maybe i need to give it more of a run @the_wilderness

 

[KavaOkie]

well my doc prescribed trozodone and i took it last night I still woke up a couple times but didn’t feel jittery and went right back to sleep where most of the time i am fighting it for half an hour so hopefully it will do the trick

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

One tip for the desperate: some people report greater sleep success with smaller, earlier doses, whether it is kava or melatonin. This is one of those strange cases in life where sometimes less is more and more is less. Worth a try if one has run out of things to try, I guess.

 

[Zaphod]

The times where kava has not worked its magic to keep me asleep or help me fall asleep with racing anxiety and thoughts Valerian root and melatonin have had some success. The only other option I have when those are not working is to get up and do something. TV, read something, surf a bit (with nightime setting dulling the blue) etc. until my mind re-sets and relaxes. Sleep is a tough nut to crack...

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

The times where kava has not worked its magic to keep me asleep or help me fall asleep with racing anxiety and thoughts Valerian root and melatonin have had some success. The only other option I have when those are not working is to get up and do something. TV, read something, surf a bit (with nightime setting dulling the blue) etc. until my mind re-sets and relaxes. Sleep is a tough nut to crack...

sleep is a tough nut for people who have insomnia, for sure. It can go on for decades with little if any relief.

 

[SelfBiasResistor]

@Mrbinx69 yes I did drink beer, but it was really high point beer like 10.8% and 40 ounces of it. Also drank hard liquor occasionally.
@SelfBiasResistor Ya so I fall in that group of people where antihistamines work backwards for me and make me go crazy and give me jitters worse than
Kava. I sent a message to my doctor explaining my frustration. I have taken Ambien and Lunesta in the past and had successful sleep with those , but I would still wake up at least once. Sounds like that's probably going to be the route I will have to take because all work and no sleep makes Jack a dull boy.

I know what what you mean about the antihistamines. Very dirty drugs when used for anything other than blocking histamine. I've been forced to look elsewhere for sleep since kava hasn't been able to help much for the past year or so. Since you don't have an optimally functioning GABA system, I would really suggest giving high dose lemon balm a try. I've found it to be hugely beneficial for initiating sleep onset when combined with 5Htp or l-tryptophan (increase serotonin). I do have to take a second dose halfway through the night but it's been an effective combo for me.