Need help with sleep management on TRT

[Another Great Day]

If I had a dollar for every poster who claimed substance X is great then a week later says it doesn’t work then I would be rich.

I have had issues sleeping 10+ years. This works for me but of course will not work for all 7:00 pm *** oil (5mg) 15 drops. 9:30 pm 0.25 alprazolam, 10:20 pm 5mg zolpidem in bed at 10:30 pm. Awake the next morning refreshed, no hangover effects.

 

[Gman86]

I have had issues sleeping 10+ years. This works for me but of course will not work for all 7:00 pm *** oil (5mg) 15 drops. 9:30 pm 0.25 alprazolam, 10:20 pm 5mg zolpidem in bed at 10:30 pm. Awake the next morning refreshed, no hangover effects.

Unfortunately your health is suffering by doing it this way. The Xanax and Ambien are sedating you. It’s not real quality sleep. I’m sure you feel like you are sleeping fine, but you’re not going through the proper sleep cycles each night that your body requires to maintain health. But I’m not judging, I understand why people use them. And I’m sure doing it this way feels better than doing it without them and not sleeping well. Just throwing the info out there incase you weren’t aware of how they effect sleep quality.

 

[Another Great Day]

Yes, I agree with your comments and welcome any thoughts or suggestions. My "sleep routine" prior to this was: lay in bed from 10:30 to midnight, think way too much about things I do not want to think about, become frustrated, get up and watch tv and/or drink alcohol.
I probably fall to the right side of the Bell curve of normality.

 

[cigpk]

I can’t really take any sedatives or *** because I’m sober and in recovery.

My sleep got better but has returned to being restless. Fall asleep at 10, wake up at midnight, awake from 2-4 am every night

 

[Loki]

Yes, I agree with your comments and welcome any thoughts or suggestions. My "sleep routine" prior to this was: lay in bed from 10:30 to midnight, think way too much about things I do not want to think about, become frustrated, get up and watch tv and/or drink alcohol.
I probably fall to the right side of the Bell curve of normality.

Get up early. Go straight to the gym and do 25 sets of weightlifting. Lunch do core, cardio. Limit caffeine and any other stimulants throughout the day but none after lunch. Work all day, get home and play with the kids, then put them to bed.... Make love to the wife and pass out...

All kidding aside I was on Bezos for 15 years for sleep. Also tried everything else you can get prescribed. I followed a protocol from this forum to get off everything and now I seem to sleep best when I get up early, and wear myself down throughout the day. I have also learned to realize I just don't need as much sleep as other. Possibly because my hormones are optimized and I am a freak

 

[Another Great Day]

Congratulations on your success and recovery. Has your physician given you suggestions?

 

[Loki]

I have OCD and I sound a lot like you... I would lay in bed and my brain just wouldn't shut down. I got reliant on taking something and then literally became dependent. I was determined to get off everything and that's what I did. I do sleep better now than ever. The key for me is to really make sure I've spent all my energy in the gym or playing/coaching my kids. I have to make my mind and body need rest. And I just refused to give in, I won the mental battle... Doctors only suggested pills/drugs. I have my nights that don't go so well but so does everybody. I am usually ready for sleep the next night.

 

[Another Great Day]

Yes, I am OCD and ADD. Not a bad thing, it is not 100% controlled but in the long-run I have used both these to my advantage. I too try to wear myself physically but a tired body does not always mean a tired mind.

 

[Gman86]

I have an ex that was on trazodone for 11 years to sleep. She literally couldn’t sleep without it. I got her on magnesium and she eventually was able to kick the trazodone completely. Don’t underestimate something as simple as magnesium for sleep.

Other than Loki’s suggestions, which are all amazing, I would say get a good pair of blue and green light blocking glasses. Screens and artificial light impair your ability to make melatonin, due to your brain constantly thinking it’s day time. Throwing those on 2-3 hours before bed should make a huge difference.

 

[cigpk]

I have an ex that was on trazodone for 11 years to sleep. She literally couldn’t sleep without it. I got her on magnesium and she eventually was able to kick the trazodone completely. Don’t underestimate something as simple as magnesium for sleep.

Other than Loki’s suggestions, which are all amazing, I would say get a good pair of blue and green light blocking glasses. Screens an artificial light impair your ability to make melatonin, due to your brain constantly thinking it’s day time. Throwing those on 2-3 hours before bed should make a huge difference.

I’m taking magnesium glycinate 400 mg every night with dinner. Is that a good magnesium type for sleep?

 

[Gman86]

I’m taking magnesium glycinate 400 mg every night with dinner. Is that a good magnesium type for sleep?

I’m pretty sure glycinate has been known to help with sleep. I take a liquid form called Remag. It’s basically liquid magnesium chloride. It absorbs better than other forms. This is the form that does the trick for me, and is what I had my ex take to get off the trazodone. But you can just try increasing your dose of the magnesium glycinate. The way to find your tolerance is to increase until you get loose bowels, and then back it down a little.

 

[cigpk]

This issue keeps getting worse for me.

I’m thinking of lowering my t dose or something. It’s essentially making the benefits of trt completely unnoticeable.

I just had labs pulled two days ago so I’ll see if e2 is elevated or something but I don’t think it is.

I may go to 3x a week injections for more stable levels. I’m willing to try anything at this point. I wake up at 2 or 3 and don’t fall back asleep. So I’m getting about 4-5 hours of sleep a night which is definitely not enough for me. I feel like shit and it’s extremely frustrating...

 

[Vince Carter]

To a fine point I just accepted that my body now wants to be in bed asleep at about 7-8pm, and then be up @ 0400.

My problem is the 0200-0400 window, if I could sleep soundly thru that part of my night, I would be GOLDEN>

Some nights it's a little bit of lite sleep, some flip flopping around, some nights it's a real struggle to get thru that time frame.

 

[Appassionato]

This issue keeps getting worse for me.

I’m thinking of lowering my t dose or something. It’s essentially making the benefits of trt completely unnoticeable.

I just had labs pulled two days ago so I’ll see if e2 is elevated or something but I don’t think it is.

I may go to 3x a week injections for more stable levels. I’m willing to try anything at this point. I wake up at 2 or 3 and don’t fall back asleep. So I’m getting about 4-5 hours of sleep a night which is definitely not enough for me. I feel like shit and it’s extremely frustrating...

Just my experience here. Going daily made it worse. My E2 spiked to above 60, while on a twice a week injections protocol I sleep way better. The whole small doses and more injections frequency has been proven worse for me in terms of better sleep and managing E2.

Another thing that has been proven effective for me is 3mg time released melatonin by Life Extension.

 

[Vtail]

Another thing that has been proven effective for me is 3mg time released melatonin by Life Extension.

I recently started with the 5mg extended release melatonin, and I keep a 5mg quick release melatonin on my night table for when I wake up in the middle of the night. Seems to be helping somewhat. I still wake up every night, but its easier to fall back asleep.

 

[cigpk]

Hmmm I’ll try the melatonin. I do wish I didn’t have to resort to taking something every night though. Is that what you all do?

 

[Appassionato]

Hmmm I’ll try the melatonin. I do wish I didn’t have to resort to taking something every night though. Is that what you all do?

It's a hormone naturally produced by your body. It gets depleted by blue light exposure, and for people like me being in front of the PC at least 12 hours a day, it definitely helps.

 

[Vince Carter]

I could give the glasses a try I suppose

 

[cigpk]

It's a hormone naturally produced by your body. It gets depleted by blue light exposure, and for people like me being in front of the PC at least 12 hours a day, it definitely helps.

True that. I mean, I’m willing to do anything to sleep at this point

 

[Gman86]

I could give the glasses a try I suppose

If you do, make sure you find some that block both blue and green light. Green light can have a similar effect on melatonin as blue light. Blublox is the best ones that I’ve found, but if there’s cheaper ones out there, I would just go with those. Just as long as they block both blue and green light. Just blocking blue is only half the battle. Still better than nothing though.