You lead a busy life, with every minute scheduled and no time for mistakes. Your mind is constantly filled with to-do lists, creative ideas and all manner of worries. It should hardly be surprising that when it comes time to turn the lights out, your brain doesn’t just shut off.
You only have so many hours in a day, which means that when you sleep, you need to make the most of it. If you have exhausted other options, like reconfiguring your bedtime routine or redesigning your bedroom to maximize relaxation, you might turn your attention to sleep aids. Sleep experts tend to be wary in recommending sleep aids for those suffering from troubled sleep, but here are a few ways you can improve your chances of seeing success with sleep aids.
Talk to Your Doctor
Sleep aids often do more than facilitate sleep. Before you experiment with different sleep aids, you might talk to your primary care doctor about your sleep troubles and the sleep aids you are hoping to try to improve your nightly rest. Your doctor will likely perform some basic health tests to ensure that you are not suffering from any serious illnesses that could be impacting your sleep, and they will talk to you about which aids will be safe based on your unique health history. Some doctors might offer a short-term prescription for sleeping medications, but you should only fill the prescription if more readily available sleep aids prove ineffective.
Choose the Right Aid
There are at least seven types of prescription sleep aids, two common over-the-counter sleep aids and as many as 12 natural supplements that can assist with sleep. Finding the right sleep aid for you will take some time and patience, which might mean that you will have a few more sleepless nights in your future.
Though you might be eager to start with the most powerful sleep aids, the truth is that most people benefit from some of the simplest natural supplements. Therefore, you should start your experiments with a sleep aid like hemp and melatonin, which utilize natural compounds familiar to the body to trigger relaxation and rest. You can add other relatively benign natural aids, like chamomile tea or lavender essential oil diffusers, to enhance the soporific effects. You should try natural sleep aids for as long as a month before escalating to an OTC option, and you should do the same with these medications before using a prescription sleep aid.
Choose the Right Dose
You might expect that more sleep aid equals more sleep — but that is not the case. If you increase your dosage too high, your body reacts opposite to how you intend, awakening and gaining energy that lasts the whole night through. Instead, you should strive to take the lowest effective dose. With an aid like melatonin, that might mean breaking up a tablet into tiny fragments to ensure you are not overdosing. During your trial periods with different sleep aids, you can slowly increase your dosage until you feel the right level of effect to achieve effortless sleep.
Tell Others About Your Aid
Some sleep aids tend to have some odd side effects, so it might be wise to tell important people in your life that you are beginning to take an aid and that they should watch your behavior for certain warning signs. For example, a famous side effect of some of the more intense prescription sleep medication is sleep walking, which might include sleep eating or sleep driving. If members of your house notice you ambling about at night, they should try to wake you up and return you to bed to keep you safe.
Follow Instructions Carefully
If your sleep aid comes with instructions, like when and how to take it, you must follow them to the T. For example, you might need to take your aid with a certain amount of liquid or with your last meal before bed. Carefully adhering to any provided instructions should minimize any negative side effects and protect your mental and physical health as you regain control over your sleep schedule.
Log the Effects
During your experiments with different sleep aids (and different doses) you should keep a detailed journal. You should note the aid, the dose, the time and circumstances of your taking the aid and the quality of sleep you achieve. You should also note any strange side effects that you experience. Using this data, you can make an informed decision about the best sleep aid for you.
