Posted by Lao Tzu on October 17, 2009, at 14:26:39
Okay. First, I am schizophrenic/bipolar and in the past I have had a heck of a time sleeping. Taking 50mg of Benadryl on some nights helps me fall asleep, but the sedative effects of Benadryl only last a few days. What I've come up with is a vitamin regimen that works for me to help me sleep well through the night, and so I can use Benadryl only for really difficult nights. The focus is to use certain key B vitamins, vitamin E, and melatonin. The important thing is to use the B vitamins mainly at bedtime, not during the day. During the daytime hours, rely more on medication and other vitamins and take the B vitamins only at bedtime. This is my regimen I'm sharing with you:
100mg of Vitamin B1
50mg of Vitamin B6
500mg of Inositol hexaniacinate (No-flush Niacin)
1,000 micrograms of Vitamin B12
400IU of Vitamin E
1mg of melatoninI am a believer that using B vitamins in the right dosage and at the right time of day will help improve sleep. The key is to use them mainly at bedtime. During the daytime hours, I rely on my medication, fish oil, and vitamins C and E for my depression. In the early evening I take 400 micrograms of folic acid for my depression. That's all I take during the day and reserve the bulk of my B vitamins for bedtime. I'm not saying this will work for everybody, but it is worth trying and maybe experimenting with. I've learned that I don't need to take megadoses of B vitamins for depression because that might be counterproductive. Sometimes lower dosages go a long way. That's the case for me anyway. In the past I've tried taking megadoses of Niacin, B6, and folic acid, and I never felt that it worked for me long term. In the short term, large doses of B vitamins may help, but after awhile I felt wanting of something better. Antioxidant vitamins like vitamins E and C are helpful for depression, but they need to be taken in the correct dosages. Too much of either may be counterproductive. During the day, I take 500mg of buffered calcium ascorbate and 200IU of Vitamin E along with fish oil and my medications and a little folic acid in the evening. At bedtime, I take 400IU of vitamin E because that dosage seems to be beneficial for sleep, whereas 100 or even 200IU is not sufficient for sleep but is sufficient for depression. So dosage is important. I do not take any vitamin C at bedtime only because it tends to work against a restful night of sleep. You may be able to rely on other vitamins during the day for depression, such as selenium and zinc, magnesium and/or calcium. Although, lately I haven't had much success with magnesium and calcium. However, for others, magnesium and/or calcium may be just what they needed. At any rate, whatever you take during the day, you might try reserving the B vitamins for bedtime only. I also have to mention that I am also medicated with medicine that helps schizophrenia and bipolar, so this factor also plays into my sleep patterns. It could be that if I wasn't on medication, the vitamins may not work as well. That is something to consider. You may need medication first to stabilize your system. It took me about 1 year of stabilizing on my medication before I turned to vitamin therapy. The combination seems to work well if used wisely. This bedtime vitamin regimen has allowed me to sleep well without sleep medications, but you have to consider any other medications or supplements you might be taking that either help your sleep or worsen it.
poster:Lao Tzu
thread:921261
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20090727/msgs/921261.html