Sleep aid

     I purchased Nature Made Sleep Aid today at the pharmacy.  It says it is all natural ..100% drug free...however, it says not to take if you have an autoimmune disease.  I didn't notice this till I brought it home....ugh.  I have no idea what the problem would be unless the herbs in it interfere with the drugs.  It contains melotonin, L-theamine, chamomile flower extract, passion flower extract and lemon balm leaf extract.  Sounds safe to me.  I just hate relying on Zolpidem and if I don't take something I am up half the night because of this darn prednisone.

I'm not a doctor, but I have taken a variety of sleep aids.  Now I take "Lunasom."

I believe that it has that autoimmune warning due to the melatonin, as that warning is also on melatonin.

Maybe it has to do with the "molecular mimicry" theories, I dunno.  I must confess, I still take Lunasom anyway, as I feel constantly taking Benadryl worsens my UC and leaves me feeling like crap.  Lunasom is not quite strong enough to make me sleep if i'm stressed out, or feeling "manic" after a crazy day, but anyway.

There are also relaxing teas that one can find that have sutff like chamomile. 

I take ambien almost every night these days but I am starting to taper so I am hoping I will be able to stop soon. I actually took a klonopin last night instead of Ambien and I slept way better than I do with the Ambien. I was surprised. Maybe you need something for the stress, seems like half of my sleeplessness is probably due to my mind racing. I haven't tried any OTC sleep aids but I notice supplements and herbals don't seem to help me too much.

And then there was that clinical study mentioned in the American College of GI newsletter, in which they were all excited about using melatonin as a possible medication for UC. (I think they study just finished..... I seem to have lost the bookmark.) So -- "some" docs out there think it's fine for UCers. Very confusing.

What strikes me about the warnings on bottles, etc, is that it's hard to tell what is "real" and what is "highly unlikely" but they feel they need to put it there just because the world is so lawsuit-happy.......and then, most everyone might be fine taking it, but we on HW might just be those few unlucky ones to be negatively affected.

Have you tried normal old benedryl? That works best for me, especially when I am on pred.

     I have Benedryl but it contains sorbitol which has a laxative effect.  Gotta read all the small print on these things...drives me NUTS.

     My husband took the Natures Made sleeping pill last night and guess what effect it had on him?  He felt wired all night!!  Not only that, it made him nauseous.. sheesh.   But a lot of meds that supposedly knock most people out...have the opposite effect on him anyway.  He's just a hyper type of guy..always was...nervous energy...goes like the Everready Bunny.  Just the opposite of me.  How we managed to stay together for 41 yrs is a real mystery..lol.