Sleep aids

Try the sleep aid Doxylamine succinate. Brand name is Unisom but there's a ton of generic equivalents in any drugstore, supermarket and Walmart. Helps me sleep but
doesn't make me feel "out of it" he next day like Benadryl does.

Any tea (or any product really) that advertises itself as "decaffeinated" is a substance that once had caffeine, and a process was used to remove that caffeine. But, as far as I know, there are NO decaffeinating processes that remove 100% of it.

So, skip the Earl Grey and try a truly caffeine-free, herbal tea instead.

I find that Ibuprofen PM is a multi-use item for me when I am sore and can't sleep. It usually knocks me right out.

And +1 on melatonin, too for a more natural fix.

+1 on Miles, and an Air Matt.

Pot,and on boy scout outings? I would certainly lose my personal little war against laziness and stupidity if I went down that road. Of course, I support your right to indulge.

Sometimes more miles would help maybe, but getting to sleep is no issue, staying asleep is. Our troop is boy led and they pick our destinations. I kind of doubt this has much to do nights out either. I get out between 2 and 4 weeks a year, and have for decades. Hopefully, when the kids are out my schedule will be a little more open.

Weirdest part is this started a couple years ago when I decided to go light. I've gone back to a bag instead of quilts and a tarptent instead of a tarp thinking a little less nature might help. No change.

I'll try melatonin first and go from there. Or, I could just get up and fix a fat breakfast at 2AM.

And, decaf tea isn't completely decaf, just mostly. Time to raid the wife's herbal tea.

…

WHAT? no more chili mac or firehouse chili? Dammit

…

Hop tea is an old time remedy used to treat insomnia, and other things.
You can buy store bought kinds, or goto a home brew supply and get whole leaf hops.

For an UL version, make hop tincture. This is what I do.
http://marnieburkman.blogspot.com/2012/11/trying-new-things-homemade-hops-tincture.html

2 Benadryl's about 15-30 minutes before night night time does the trick for me.

Earplugs, for me, and a good air mattress (I have the Big Agnes Q-Core SL wide/long). The earplugs are a must because that's how I sleep at home and it's almost Pavlovian- the earplugs go in, I fall asleep immediately. No earplugs, no sleep. I backpack with my dog, so that helps me to know that if there is something I need to become aware of, she'll start carrying on and wake me up.

Miles, a great air mattress (think Neoair), earplugs (I call them bearplugs) and a couple Advil PM's…

Yes, regular Nyquil has Benadryl (diphenhydramine) in it. That's what makes you sleepy. Diphenhydramine isn't a bad choice, so long as you're not one of the rare people who have paradoxical reactions to it. Store brands and generic are ridiculously cheap. It's sedating, yes, but not capital-S Sedating. Heck, it's OTC. It is also multi-use as an anithistimine in case of plant toxicity, envenomation or allergies.

I've never used it but always thought that Tylenol PM, Advil PM, Motrin PM or somesuch might be a neat idea. IIRC they also include diphenhydramine as the sedating agent, as well as the NSAID for relieving the aches and pains involved in hiking at the advanced age of 42… :)

Here are my recommendations:

Warm at night
Well-fed
Ear plugs
Air mattress

Regular sleep schedule
Regular exercise
No caffeine
No alcohol
No other drugs

Lay down with a stuff bag of clothes under your neck and let your head tilt slightly back leaving your windpipe open. Place your hands on your chest and don't move. Close your eyes and drift off to your beach or the peak where you had lunch. Mentally recreate every rock and tree and wave down to the slightest detail. Try to hear the waves or imagine the sound of a creek. Don't let other thoughts interfere, control your thoughts, control your breathing, and maintain the position. Don't move, don't open your eyes. Don't get impatient. Give it a half hour. It's actually pretty easy to put yourself into a deeply relaxed state of semi conscious from which you can drift off to some of the best sleep you ever had. Save the other remedies for daytime recreation.

"Diphenhydramine isn't a bad choice, so long as you're not one of the rare people who have paradoxical reactions to it."

One caveat: For those unfortunates who suffer from Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, not uncommon among elderly gents, diphenhydramine can aggravate the condition and make it even harder to urinate.

Tom, that is what you have to look forward to in another twenty years.

–B.G.–

"Tom, that is what you have to look forward to in another twenty years."

It would be a small price to pay for still being alive in twenty years, so yeah, I'll provisionally look forward to it as "proof of life". ;0]

I figure that it is only modern pharmaceuticals that have kept me alive this long.

–B.G.–

"diphenhydramine can aggravate the condition and make it even harder to urinate."

So that's what you're telling people now Tom? You told me it had something to do with a drunken night in Mexico…..

"
So that's what you're telling people now Tom? You told me it had something to do with a drunken night in Mexico….."

Nah, you got it bass ackwards, Doug. Again. That drunken night in Mexico was the antidote to the diphenhydramine. The guisano in the mescal acts like a little roto rooter and counteracts the contractive effects of the diphenhydramine on the plumbing.

Last time I go drinking with you in Mexico…

"Last time I go drinking with you in Mexico…"

Hey, I'm still a little foggy on that weekend. I don't even want to talk about the floor show….

Doug, was that the floor show with the stripper and the donkey?

"
Doug, was that the floor show with the stripper and the donkey?"

Nope. She didn't want to encourage him, so she used a guisano instead. Sort of a sly put down, the way Australian girls wiggle their little finger. That's why Doug says he can't remember. ;0)

So…back to sleep aids. The OP is not trying to get to sleep, but to stay asleep.

My wife reports she gets this "paradox" effect of waking up in the night, not reliably, but often enough, if using either Benadryl (dipenhydramine) or Zyrtec (cetirizine). I will occasionally get the paradox effect with Benadryl but never with Zyrtec, which makes me profoundly sleepy. Yet Zyrtec is not supposed to induce drowsiness. So best to test these drugs at home, since they seem to have such a wide range of effects in people.

One other question for Rick: When you wake up in the night, do you tend to think about the same topic(s)?

I was thinking about just quiting backpacking and making the ocassional solo trip to this apparently popular place in Mexico. Obviously, it would require plausible deniability. My better half would have a difficult time overlooking such behavior.

The problem is staying asleep, or going back to sleep. I take zyrtec every morning without issue and sometimes take other things like nyquil on top of it, same active ingredient as Benadryl, no problems. I don't find myself thinking of anything when I wake up (or for other large portions of the day) as with age I learned the art of compartmentalizing problems.

I suspect melatonin, benadryl and staying away from even decaf tea will help alot. I've gone back to a sleeping bag from a quilt so the drafts won't contribute to waking up. Maybe that means not very deep sleep to begin with is part of the issue.

Thanks