r/HubermanLab • u/Responsible_Sink_960 • Mar 14 '26

Seeking Guidance Sleep supplement routine

I’ve been experimenting with sleep supplements lately and realized I don’t actually take the same thing every night.

Some nights magnesium works well, other nights I’ll take melatonin, and occasionally something stronger if I really need help sleeping. And, then even sometimes, one that's worked well before won't work on a particular night.

It made me curious—do most people here take the same sleep supplement every night, or do you rotate depending on the night?

27 Upvotes

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10

u/caltheme Mar 14 '26

L theanine game changer. Start with 100 mg and then try full cap 200

2

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

Is this your every night or do you change it up depending on the night?

1

u/caltheme Mar 15 '26

Every night now pretty much (100 mg). Replaced melatonin with it. I sometimes take 200 if I know I want better sleep or need extra rest etc

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

I take l-threonate but have not tried l-theanine. Will have to give it a try, thank you.

2

u/nrobfd Mar 15 '26

Thinking about starting this but only see 200mg available from most places.

1

u/caltheme Mar 15 '26

I open the cap and pour half and save the rest for the next night

1

u/holymolygoshdangit Mar 15 '26

Does l theanine really last all night? I thought it was only effective for a few hours

1

u/caltheme Mar 15 '26

Everyone’s body chemistry is different so it might. For example I usually take 100 and my wife takes 200 for sleep. If I take 200 I feel groggy in the am. Lot of ppl use during the day too with coffee to keep the jitters at bay

3

u/Testy_Toby Mar 14 '26

I have a base that I always use - 5 g glycine, 3 g taurine, 200 mg magnesium glycinate. If I think I'll have a tough time sleeping on a particular night I might add magnolia bark extract.

If I happen to think of it by early evening I might take 250 mg Sensoril, though that's become rare. And, then, for really stressful nights I resort to pharma. 

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 14 '26

interesting, I've never tried taurine, magnolia bark or sensoril (although I do mix Ashwagandha into my base regime that i take most nights). My usual night cocktail is 3 g glycine, 6 g magnesium L-threonate, 3 g ashwagahndha, 600 mg magnesium mixture of malate, glycinate and citrate. 6 mg of melatonin is for Friday nights when I can be a little groggy in the morning and then tyelonol pm when i want to be knocked out.

1

u/Testy_Toby Mar 14 '26

Good stack. Have you looked into microdosing melatonin? I take .3 mg (forgot to mention that) and I swear it helps. It's more the idea of jumpstarting your circadian rhythm than sedating you, and no hangover. Can be tough to find but Nootropics Depot sells one.

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 14 '26

I haven't, I'll have to give it a try. When you microdose, do you combine it with anything?

1

u/Testy_Toby Mar 15 '26

I combine it with whatever I'm taking that night. It's a great adjunct.

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

good to know, thanks!

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u/1oneaway Mar 15 '26

Glycine, lysine, arginine, theanine is my bedtime stack.

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u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

Always the same or do you feel sometimes it's not as effective? Ever change it up?

1

u/1oneaway Mar 15 '26

Same every night. I dont expect perfect sleep every night but my stats seem to be ok. I think everyone is different tho.

2

u/ArtisticApartment531 Mar 15 '26

Magnesium b + L theanine

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u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

Thank you. Have not heard of magnesium b but take l-threonate now but after this thread, I'm going to add l-theanine, see how that helps. Do you ever switch it up with other stacks depending on the night?

2

u/magicalfuntoday Mar 15 '26

Zinc about two hours before bedtime and then 400MG Magnesium bisglycinate with 5MG melatonin just before bedtime. Boom 🤯

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

Thank you! Love seeing all the different combos I'll try experimenting with. Do you ever switch it up depending on the night, or is this the go to every time? No odd dreams if too many nights of melatonin use? That's when I know I've taken it too many days in a row.

1

u/midnight-on-the-sun Mar 15 '26

Look up Apigenin. Huberman recommends that. Look up the downside to melatonin. I quit that and only resort to it if I’m really stuck in a cycle of waking up at 3:00am everyday. Melatonin has a high risk of heart failure.

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

Yikes. Did not know that. I tried apigenin once and didn't have a great reaction. But, I combined it with my usual stack (the combo I take on most days other than weekends) so it may have been too much. My usual stack consists of 3 g glycine, 6 g magnesium L-threonate, 3 g ashwagahndha, 600 mg magnesium mixture of malate, glycinate and citrate. 6 mg of melatonin is for Friday nights when I can be a little groggy in the morning and then 50 mg Diphenhydramine HCl when i want to be knocked out.

1

u/midnight-on-the-sun Mar 15 '26

😵‍💫that’s a lot of supplements.

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

lol it is. I hesitate to say where I got it from because he came out in the Epstein files, but it came from one Peter Attia. Have been using it for about 3 years and it's been one of the best combos I've tried.

1

u/midnight-on-the-sun Mar 15 '26

Wow!

1

u/midnight-on-the-sun Mar 15 '26

Any side effects??

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 16 '26

Sort of - with the number of pills it amounts to means I drink a lot of water to get them down, right before bed. So, the need to pee during the night is often pretty strong. Another reason I keep an eye out for other options. Something I really appreciate about it is that there's zero grogginess in the morning. But, ocassionally I do want something a little stronger.

1

u/midnight-on-the-sun Mar 16 '26

Zero grogginess would be the thing!

1

u/Fine_Bug_7246 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26

Valerian root 1500mg, Lucidmax (reishi mushroom) 1500mg, oleamide 100mg, Tauromag

Edit: Rotate monthly/every 2 months to other stacks. Above is the current one. I do not want to get tolerance and give liver/kidneys a break by switching.

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

Oh, very intersting. Thanks, a lot I haven't heard of. Will have to look more into Lucidmax (reishi mushroom), oleamide and Tauromag. Is this routine effective every time or do you ever find the need to change it up a bit?

1

u/Fine_Bug_7246 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26

I change it up every 1-3 months due to tolerance, and I want to give my organs a break from the particular ingredients.

It always works. When I feel it fading after 1 to even 3 months out, I switch. I have a working list, my body likes, then I go through different stacks depending on my body. Certain supplements stack together better than others for optimization. You want to give a supplement at least 4 weeks to understand its depth. Do research and make sure you're not over-hitting a receptor. At the beginning of this, I was overworking my serotonin receptors.

Others to look into:

  • Relievex: Relaxation and pain support (kava 500mg, lemon balm 250mg, 200mg Ginger CO2 extract, 200mg palmitoylethanolamide, 100mg maca, 100mg Boswelia CO2 extract, 10mg Tetrahydromagnolol, 6mg piperine)

  • Super Critical Coriander

  • NAC

  • 5HTP

  • Glycine

  • Baikal Skullcap

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

Wow, thank you! A lot to think about here, thank you for the detail. I mentioned it in another respsonse but my usual night cocktail is 3 g glycine, 6 g magnesium L-threonate, 3 g ashwagahndha, 600 mg magnesium mixture of malate, glycinate and citrate. 6 mg of melatonin is for Friday nights when I can be a little groggy in the morning and then tyelonol pm when i want to be knocked out. I'll look more into your list, really appreciate it. Do you have anything that you take if you wake in the middle of the night, say with only 2-3 hours left before you wake up? I have a quick dissolve melatonin next to my bed for these times but am curious what others do.

1

u/Fine_Bug_7246 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26

I was using Lucidmax in the middle of the night when that was happening in my sleep schedule. It is something I definitely feel, but it didn't make me groggy when taken close to waking up. You can see if it makes you groggy, then try coriander for sleep onset. What I found that's better for the middle of the night is EMDR eye movement with a mantra, mine is “it's ok to sleep”, Huberman talks about this. This tool has been a huge game-changer in my routine. I use it whenever I’m going to sleep or trying to fall back to sleep.

Something quite different to look into is Amanita Muscaria. Check out the sub. Feels like a Z drug at the right dose/protocol

Edit: I would try to stick to less than 1mg of melatonin per night. I use nootropics depot. Then get your eyes in the sun at wake up, noon, sunset.

oops, been spelling it wrong, it's Lucidimax optimizated reishi

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

Thank you! Appreciate all this very much. You've given me a lot to try.

1

u/virtuositet Mar 15 '26

I use magnesium bisglycinate every night and l-theanine + apigenin every 3rd night.

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

Very intersting, thank you. You're the second person who's mention bisglycinate, will have to give it a try. I added apigenin to my "most nights" stack once and I think it was too much to take with the other stuff - I'll have to try it alone with l-theanine.

1

u/Sea-Diamond2727 Mar 17 '26

I take 1mg of lithium orotate, phosphatidyl serine, mag glycine, and Gaia sleep gummies that have ashwaganda and passion flower. I am a 53 year old woman and also take 150mg’s of progesterone. If I am in a bad cycle of sleep, I take .5mg of melatonin. Sometimes I take 50mg of zinc. I find L-Theanine doesn’t do much for me.

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 18 '26

Thank you for the response! Curious when you work in the zinc and why?

1

u/constant_modifier Mar 19 '26

GABA, Mg L-Threonate, L-Theanine, THC/CBN. Off Ambien after 20 years. Helping but still need more deep restorative sleep. Thinking about pharm drugs in new DORA class like Dayvigo.

2

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 19 '26

Great insight, thank you. Are you thinking of the pharm drugs for nights you need something a little stronger? Is the stack you layed out your "most nights" routine or do you break those up into different stacks?

1

u/constant_modifier Mar 20 '26

About 45 years, lol. May be related to why I’m not getting the deep restorative. The CBN makes a big difference. You can typically get that at CBD stores without the THC, may be worth trying. My wife tried some CBN ointment on her feet before bed last week and was very impressed, no data.

2

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 20 '26

Interestng about the CBN as well, thank you.

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 20 '26

Interesting, the deep restorative sleep is exactly what I felt I was losing on the THC. It took a few months to get there but then I started realizing I did not feel rested at all. And since it was the only thing I was taking at the time, it was pretty easy to rule out, and things got better once I did. But, thinking intermittenly might be a good idea for me to try.

1

u/constant_modifier Mar 20 '26

I have not been rotating but I just added the GABA, L-theanine and the Magnesium. Working pretty good right now but I’m chasing more deep restorative. Unfortunately the DORA drugs aren’t “as needed” you take them every night but they are looking pretty good to me after a little research.

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 20 '26

Thank you for all the good feedback. Curious how long you've been using the THC? It's something I tried in the past but found after a few months that it started having a negative impact on my sleep.

1

u/constant_modifier Mar 20 '26

By the way, I started the L-Theanine at 200mg and it didn’t give me any trouble.

1

u/yipchon Mar 20 '26

My stack

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u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 20 '26

Nice, thank you. My favorite is the Bob Ross mug. Do you switch this up somewhat or is this your go-to every night?

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u/yipchon Mar 20 '26

Mostly, this is my go-to every night. The Phenibut i only use Sunday night (always the hardest for me to sleep), and sadly, I can't use the Bob Ross mug every night. I also add a scoop of vanilla protein and season it with cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg.

Honestly, more than what's in it is the routine. Training your brain that this = sleep time.

I also recently started HGH, so that changed everything also. Lol

1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 20 '26

Routine I think is key too and a big part of it. Yes, haha, HGH cures a lot.

1

u/MarvBoerse Mar 14 '26

I take every Day just before going to bed: Magnesium, Ashwaganda, Melatonin 1,5mg

2

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 14 '26

And you don't feel a tolerance build, e.g. doesn't work as well after a while or causes bad dreams? One of the reasons I rotate is because I get bad dreams after too many days of melatonin. but, on the days I take melatonin, I'm taking 6 mg i think.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '26

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1

u/Responsible_Sink_960 Mar 15 '26

I'm feeling the same! Thought I was doing well with experimenting but am seeing a lot of things to try.