During the day I could take 20mg (or even more) and feel basically nothing. When I was testing it out for the first time (edibles), I kept slowly ramping up by eating an edible and then waiting 6+ hours to see what happens, then trying again the next day: 5mg, nothing, 10mg, nothing, 15mg, nothing, 20mg, nothing… I eventually ramped up to 40mg and got extremely paranoid so THAT was something! What a weird and unpleasant feeling!
But… if I switched to taking 10mg about an hour before bed, eventually I got to a “chilled out” place, and consistently? So as a sleep aid, I can recommend it.
I don’t even know how to describe THC’s “high” as a feeling, it’s so completely all over the place for me. The only way I can get it to work consistently is in the evenings. My theory is that my mind is spinning so fast that the THC can’t typically punch through, but as I’m slowing down and shutting down for the day, it has a better shot at doing so? I do get the munchies at night, which isn’t an ideal side effect but man food tastes good when it happens
(I have tried vaping and sublingual tinctures to see if a more immediate form of delivery changes the outcome at any point during the day, but it doesn’t seem to… if nothing else, all this experimentation definitely convinced me that THC is about as safe as could be for a recreational drug … it’s completely nuts that for decades the goverment equated THC with, say, heroin or meth! )
I’ve only ever heard negative things about alcohol and sleep, though I’ve occasionally indulged in a single craft beer before bed and had OK results. These days I stick with the THC. Less calories, well, until the munchies hit…
For how long? I like Ambien as well, 10mg is very effective on me, and consistently… but I get warnings from therapists / psychiatrists about extended usage of Ambien who say that long term it disrupts sleep?
The only thing that has regularly helped with my insomnia is hard exercise. I’m talking a good hour or so of cardio on a bike or something. Then I’m not so sure if it helps with the insomnia or if I’m just so exhausted at that point it’s closer to the sleep of the dead. Problem is that only really helps for 3-4 nights a week the rest the weeknights I’m still trying to come up with something at 1am to get myself to fall asleep.
I started reciting the alphabet backwards. After a few nights of this, I started saying it backwards in triplets: zyx, wvu, tsr, …, baz, yxw, etc. You go around 3 times before repeating. A week later I moved on to alternating: za, yb, xc, etc. It’s been four months since starting and I now possess an (idiot) savant-like dexterity with the alphabet, a skill with no obvious applications whatsoever.
The one weird trick I’ve done since I was a teen, trying to get to sleep early for my 5:30 opening shift: forced REM activity and free-association of images in my head. Maybe it’s just environmental distraction, but it puts me out.
Reading before bed – books, not screens – is a habit I picked up later, but now any reading material + me prone = sleepy.
Habits, I think, are key. And turn off the screens.
It has been about 20 years now. It definitely loses its effectiveness over time, and there are few mornings that I feel truly refreshed. It has addictive properties, but my doc shrugs a bit at that noting that lack of sleep can destroy your life much more significantly. It also has crappy side effects including memory issues.
Each time something new/interesting comes out I’ll try it for a few weeks to see if I can make it work for me. But nothing has really worked as well as ambien.
Wow, 20 years! Have you tried cycling off it and back on periodically? I’ve heard of some people doing that for meds so they continue to be effective over long periods of time.
I’ve tried Melatonin, but not in gummy form. I’ll try anything to see if I can find the best sleep.
I guess by trying other forms of sleep aid I’ve cycled off and back on, but I really can’t go long at any point without enough sleep. This year in fact, my insurer decided to cut back their opinion of what a dose should be, and due to incompetence at my doc’s office I was stuck with half doses most of the year. I am seriously dragging ass, and have tried to augment with all sorts of stuff. If this state was chill abourt CBD I’d be all over that, too.
I use a very similar approach, only not edibles. I’d rather just fall asleep naturally, but I’m a lifelong nightowl my daughter wakes up waaaaay too early for me to still be awake at 2 am. This way, I’m getting to sleep at a reasonable time and can wake up when she does without feeling like a groggy mess.
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