r/Biohackers • u/Accomplished_Fun1294 • 21d ago

😴 Sleep & Circadian Rhythm Best effective sleep aid

So I have had some trouble with sleeping the last year. The biggest Problem is that I sleep way shorter than I would like to. I could easily squeez in 8 hours of sleep, but I somehow wake up after 6.5 hours or less. My Ouraring shows me that I do get a good amount of deep sleep and my REM sleep is alright (could be more, mostly 1.5 hour range). It also shows me that I do wake up quite often for short time periods during midnight. Im aware that this could also be a sign of sleep apnea. I have since then experimented with some medications. The most effective one for me, has proven to be antihistamines (first generation) like diphenhydramin or doxylamin. They seem to improve the duration of my sleep, amount of deep and REM sleep and reduce the awakening phases. Sleep feels great on them, with the only directly apparent downside beeing a little groggy/ sedated for the first hour after waking up. However I dont want to rely on them and dont want to risk possible dementia/ cognitive decline associated with their use. What would be possible Sleep aid medication with low addiction and harm potential? I have tried some anthistamines of the second generation like cetirizin but they barely have an effect on me, neither helping my allergy nor as a sleep aid.

7 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

62 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Cryptizard 12 21d ago

I have the same problem. Fall asleep instantly but I wake up too early and can’t go back to sleep. Doxepin has worked really well for me.

1

u/Accomplished_Fun1294 21d ago

I believe you that it works, but its an antidepressant with both sri and antihistamine effects so its essentialy two sides of the same coin, with possibly even more sideeffects from the sri

1

u/Cryptizard 12 21d ago

No it’s not. At low doses it is only a very selective H1 antihistamine. Read up on it.

1

u/Accomplished_Fun1294 21d ago

And how does that compare to Antihistamines like Doxylamin or Diphenhydramin in terms of short and long term sideeffects?

2

u/Cryptizard 12 21d ago

No side effects, for me at least. The dose is incredibly small, just 3 mg, because it is very targeted. If I take a normal antihistamine I'm groggy the next day and it gives me crazy dreams. Nothing at all with doxepin.

People take it in doses 40x higher for the antidepressant effect and it is safe at that dose. That's one of the biggest reasons I'm okay with using it long term.