Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I've had an Ambien prescription for a year or so now, but lately it has been effective at initially knocking me out for the night but still has me waking up about 1am unable to get back to sleep. Not good. After fighting it for a month I got a recommendation to look at a couple of the OTC offerings. A friend mentioned Alteril, but in looking into the main ingredient on that I was uncomfortable with some of the potential side effects. When I visited my local store to look at the Alteril I found the Nature Made "Sleep" on the shelf next to it and checked out some of the reviews.
The reviews were mixed - some people swearing by it, others saying it was completely ineffective. My own experience was this - the first night I took it I DID notice a calming, sedating effect, but while it also initially knocked me out I still woke up about 1am and was unable to get a restful night's sleep. But I was still obviously calmer and felt like I needed to get back to sleep - just couldn't.
Having read lots of reviews where people said "stick with it - it can take a few doses over a few days" to work, I tried again the next day. And that was apparently the ticket. I woke the next morning with the first restful night's sleep I'd had in over a month. Didn't feel even slightly groggy, like happens with a lot of the benadryl-like OTC sleep meds. Just rested - really rested for the first time in ages.
I've shoved my Ambien in a drawer and now use this exclusively when I need to sleep or am having enough going on that it's hard to quiet my thoughts at night and get a good sleep. I highly recommend this, but you may need to give it a few nights for it to kick in effectively. I don't know why that is - it just is. I like having a natural alternative without worrying about either side effects or dependence.
(UPDATE a few months later): After about a month or so I found Sleep not working as well as it did initially. I looked a little harder at the ingredients and discovered the Melatonin portion of this sleep gel is VERY slight - only 1.5 mg. I supplemented the Melatonin (up to 10 mg for me, though of course effective addition will vary person to person) and now several months later that still seems to be doing the trick.
I did read someone online who suggested the two main ingredients, Melatonin and L-Theanine, could be obtained more cheaply by buying them separately. At least for me I have NOT found that to be true, particularly in the case of the l-theanine - I found it difficult to locate and expensive - a 30 day supply cost more than the Nature Made Sleep did. I also want to add that the L-Theanine has been a remarkable, surprising PLUS to this formula. Research it online, but it's basically an OTC anti-anxiety med, which for someone like me whose sleep troubles are largely caused by an inability to "turn off my head" at night, it's been a godsend. I was very surprised at how effective the Theanine has been at turning that off.
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Nature Made Liquid Softgel Sleep Natural Sleep Aid, 30-Count
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