To ask best over the counter sleep aid

[Pgqio]

Currently suffering from anxiety and can get to sleep fine but wake up 2 hours later crippled with fear and can't nod off again.

I've tried Nytol and Kalms Night and they're useless.

Are there any other non prescription sleep aids anyone would recommend?

Thanks in advance x

Also OP, I just noticed you said anxiety related. Might you ask your GP to prescribe beta blockers?

Phenegern oh my days. That really works

Night nurse, but melatonin is great too, though you have to buy it online

Pre baby my consultant (for ivf) recommended melatonin - I brought the gummies version from Biovea. Worked a treat.

2 piriton worth a go!

Nytol one a night is fab. I take it once or twice a week. It actually does knock me out and keep me asleep all night. I buy it from chemist direct online

Sominex also worked but made my head feel weird in the morning

Sominex works for me. Half a tablet gets me off to sleep nicely without a sleep hangover the next morning.

I bought magnesium citrate 200mg tablets because I suffer from insomnia and restless legs which is torture. I checked with the clinical pharmacist at my GP's before taking them because they interact with calcium blockers for high blood pressure and was given the go ahead to take up to 400mg. So for 3 weeks I have been taking 2 x 200 mg tablets immediately after dinner in the evening and haven't had insomnia or restless legs since. It's such an incredible relief and I wish I'd known about this earlier.

Look into different types of magnesium supplements as some are not as easily absorbed as others. I chose magnesium citrate but it's up to you what you take (if any) depending on what medication you're on and any other factors which may be relevant.

I bought mine from Holland and Barratt btw.

Night nurse, just a swig works for me. A full dose gives a groggy feeling the next day.

I used to take the non-herbal, antihistamine-based nytol when I lived in the U.K., was fairly effective.

I live in France now and was recommended doxylamine (already mentioned above) by my psychiatrist and think it's better than the nytol. It's very cheap over the counter here. I haven't built up a tolerance to it - it works even if you take it all the time. I take 22.5mg and valerian as well. Valerian works better if you take it for a while.

agree night nurse or the own-brand versions for chesty coughs. I've tried various sleep-tablets inc some of those mentioned above, which have been a bit hit-or-miss but that knocked me out almost instantly, and didn't wake early either. Agree about not having the full dose though or you'll feel groggy the next morning.

The instructions say about not operating heavy machinery....I could barely operate myself ! felt like I was drunk for a good hour or two after I woke up, about 12 hours after taking it.

The blue Nytol worked wonders for me when I was having the exact same problem, green ones did nothing!

Propanalol (beta blockers) helped immensely too x

Also OP, I just noticed you said anxiety related. Might you ask your GP to prescribe beta blockers?

I've been on them for years. If I take them after about 5 pm they keep me awake all night. If it's a choice between that and awake all night feeling anxious it's just about the better option, but it's not pleasant.

Valerian for me for sleeping, but beware if you have cats - or your neighbours have cats - as the stench seems to be irresistible to them and it really smells very strongly.

I've ordered lemon balm from amazon after reading about it

Have a look and I'll report back when it arrives tomorrow!!

Melatonin , 10mg take a few hours before bed . Much gentler and works for me

Ashwagandha! It's an Indian herb that's used for anxiety but also aids sleep. It's also non habit forming (and I find it works so well during stressful times that I can sleep well without anything after a while, and now I only use it during times of stress or exhaustion). Much better than anything else I've tried- doesn't make you feel drugged or groggy, and doesn't have the bad nightmares you can get from 5-thp (which is also great, bar the dreams that seem to plague a significant proportion of users).

Sominex gives me such a hangover I feel worse than a bad nights sleep . Really don’t like

I also take my strong co- codamol sometimes they knock me out

But melatonin are great 👍

I've had severe anxiety-related insomnia and the only thing that worked was Nytol -the blue version rather than the valerian. Magnesium, Sominex, melatonin, they all did nothing. But Nytol I could cosh myself to sleep with.

I found that as much as anything else the problem was ‘sleep confidence’ - once I started waking up and panicking about not being able to go back to sleep/being tired the next day it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Once I started to override that and ‘knew’ I could go back so sleep it became a positive cycle. At that point I could start to reduce the Nytol and sleep naturally again.

My tolerance to them has changed, however - one used to be enough to knock me out enough to sleep almost through anything, but now I need to take the maximum dose to get the same effect. So use sparingly.

Also, the Boots or Tesco own brand are the same thing for half the price :)

I have used ypthe one a night nytol and sominex and agree with pp about the sominex hangover. Also used nightnurse when desperate and zopiclone when even more so.

Best thing I have ever found and am still using is Teapigs sleepy tea. With the lavender in it it does taste like you are drinking bath water but th3 Apple improves the taste. Moreover it working and I have had some of my best sleep for a couple of years for several weeks now.

Chronic insomniac here, both at times to fall asleep but biggest problem being waking up again at various time and struggling to get back to sleep and even if I do, it isn't a restorative sleep.

To fall asleep, best remedy, definitely melatonin, but anything under 9mg isn't enough for me. To remain asleep, only one treatment has worked and that Amitryptiline. Needs to be prescribed but GPs are quite happy to do so as the dose to sleep is low and it is not addictive. It comes with some unpleasant side effects for some (bad dreams being one of them) but it didn't for me at all.

Sadly I get used to it so have to go without for a few days and start again but gp says that's actually a good thing it can be taken as and when.

Meditation with the app Calm is also very helpful. My brain has now assimilated listening to the daily meditation with falling asleep!

Nightnurse
Stemetil (prochlorperazine)
Phenergan (promethazine)

Op here, thanks for all the terrific support and recommended solutions. I'm going to buy purple nytol and phenergan today and see how they work out.
A pp mentioned beta blockers, I'm on 40mg propananol 3x a day which is definitely helping manage the anxiety.
Thanks again everyone, sorry to hear so many of you are suffering.

Don’t bother paying for the purple nytol. Most chemists do their own brand which is exactly the same and a lot cheaper then the brand

Sainsbury’s own herbal sleeping pills are the best IMO.