Black boxing sleep supplements

[Winfield Featherston]

Melatonin - tried it once a couple of weeks ago, slept like a rock but woke up the next day pretty groggy.

Valerian - makes me drowsy enough to aid in getting to sleep. I've only tried the tea made from dried roots, which smells pretty horrible. I'm not kidding. I knew a girl in college who claimed such things wouldn't affect her, drank two cups of the tea and was sleeping on the FLOOR within an hour.

Chamomile - mildly relaxing, but doesn't really make me sleep. Tastes ok though.

Mugwort - not so much for sleep inducement, but really works for making you have crazy vivd dreams, and recalling them the next day.

Also, aren't many homeopathic remedies so dilute as to contain NO active ingredients other than distilled water?

[Garrett Smith]

In answer to your last question--there are potencies of homeopathic remedies that are so dilute as to not contain "material" doses of the original remedy. However, the energetic imprint of the original remedy is still there, which is the important thing.

That's about all I'll go into it, I don't do discussions of energetic medicine over the interwebs anymore, especially not with questions as loaded as that one.

I'm yet to see modern science show the active ingredient of "love", yet we know it when we feel it. I'll stop there.

[Winfield Featherston]

Oh, I'm not saying they don't work. I'm just not understanding the mechanism. And like you say, I don't have to know the mechanism to know some things work, because experience tells me they work. But knowing the mechanism is icing on the cake.

[Garrett Smith]

Winfield,
A quick Google of "homeopathic theory mechanism" should give you everything you're looking for.

[Craig Brown]

I beat several years of insomnia by brewing up about a pint of tea made from passionflower, skullcap, and peppermint with a touch of honey. Starting drinking it about an hour before bed, usually only drank half, kept the rest by the bed in case I woke up thirsty. No hangover, didn't 'knock me out', but just soothed the nerves enough to let me go down easy and stay down.