Insomnia Remedies Tier List — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:02] about lack of sleep in quite a while, so maybe you assumed I cured my insomnia. You ignoramus. You disgraceful fool. If I put this glass of water behind my disappeared? Do you think chocolate milk comes from brown cows? Obviously, I

[00:18] can't sleep for you weenie. So, I thought it'd be fun to do a little tier list for all of the sleeping strategies that I've tried. I've got this broken up into two tiers, worked and didn't work. I considered

[00:30] doing a middle tier where it was like ephemeral, worked for a little bit, but I didn't think that was necessary. If it didn't work long-term, it's useless to me. It's dead to me. So, what's the point? I did it either works

[00:47] what's the point? I did it either works or it doesn't. I either get to 6 ft tall or I don't. It's always 50/50. So, let's go ahead and start with what I think to be the most mainstream solution people offer when you tell them that you can't

[01:00] sleep, and that's melatonin. So, melatonin, I've tried many different forms of it. Uh this was the most recent one I was doing, which was just the 5 mg one I was doing, which was just the 5 mg gummies. And it worked sometimes,

[01:16] but not all the time. So, sometimes I'd puppies a night and still getting nothing out of it. Just still lying there wide awake and just tossing and turning, not getting any restful

[01:29] slumber. And I know the research says that if you take this like in large quantities over a long period of time, it can actually kind of with your produces melatonin, and if you're supplementing it here, it kind of

[01:44] triggers the body to stop producing as much, so then you become kind of reliant on melatonin to supplemental melatonin to get So, just a whole can of worms. I've

[01:56] struggled with insomnia pretty much my entire adult life, so melatonin has always been like this it side character that keeps popping up in every couple of seasons of my life that I try and dust off out of the old

[02:09] actually works for me, and it always has underwhelming results. And hopefully through the extended use of melatonin that I've had throughout my life, it hasn't torpedoed my body's ability to make melatonin. But regardless, this

[02:24] comfortably sits in the didn't work tier for my insomnia. Next up for supplements is magnesium glycinate. This is another one that's frequently home. >> I could easily just do this take again, but who gives a I just hit the

[02:40] Discord moderator speak right there, the baby talk. This is frequently recommended if you can't sleep to help you get sleep. I have tried magnesium glycinate. It didn't do anything for me at all. And

[02:55] there's also another supplement I just remembered that I've tried that I forgot make a mention of it while I'm on magnesium glycinate cuz they go hand-in-hand with recommended recommendations. Valerian root. I've

[03:08] tried Valerian root, and by extension, I have tried like all of those like sleepy time teas and stuff. I'm just going to bundle all of that with this magnesium glycinate here in the didn't work tier. None of that has worked for me. Another

[03:22] thing I've tried is CBD. Another big thing where CBD gets touted as basically this panacea that can cure everything from you know, the most serious of illnesses to just you being short and ugly or something. Like CBD is something

[03:36] that is always recommended for every ailment or every trouble that you have. Sleep is one of them that CBD is supposed to help with, so I've tried the CBD oils and such. Uh it didn't work for me. It it didn't do

[03:49] anything for me that I noticed. So, that's that's once again going in the Another supplement that I've tried that gets recommended is GABA. gets recommended is GABA. So, this one is like a neurotransmitter

[04:05] enhancer. I I don't even really recall now, but I've tried GABA and again that one didn't work for me either. I will say like I've done all of these a lot and maybe there were like one or two

[04:20] instances where it was able to help me get some sleep that night, but doing them like over a long period of time, it wasn't consistently helping me fall asleep. So, for me that goes into the

[04:34] didn't work tier. Next, eating healthy food before bed. So, this was something I saw as like old school advice of like eat some really hear that thing about like food coma

[04:48] So, I tried eating healthy food before bed. That did nothing, obviously. I then tried the inverse of that of eating unhealthy food before bed. And actually, that one. I was chowing down on Wawa gas station sandwiches like it was

[05:04] like four or five months ago. I I went over like three weeks of just ordering over like three weeks of just ordering sandwiches from Wawa like 2:00 3:00 a.m. puppies, scarfing them down. And there's

[05:16] belly was full, my tummy was stuffed and I did actually fall asleep with all that but it didn't work every time and it eventually lost all of its luster and I started feeling like a slob. So, also goes into didn't work. Another thing

[05:31] here, this is a picture of cottage cheese. Old bodybuilder advice from way back in the day was eating some cottage cheese right before bed cuz of the casein protein in there and like slow digestion helping you not, you know, go

[05:44] catabolic while you sleep. And I remember back in college, I was very deep into doing that stuff and cottage cheese before bed, and I didn't have nearly as terrible sleep problems then as I do now. So, I started doing cottage

[05:58] And there was a couple nights where I think it helped, but overall, it's going though I'm I've been doing a lot of cottage cheese and still like I am eating cottage cheese before bed just because I get hungry and I can't sleep

[06:12] on an empty stomach, that like that doesn't work for me either. So, uh cottage cheese has been like the go-to in those situations there, and it it doesn't really help me sleep, obviously. And then also, piggybacking off of this,

[06:27] And then also, piggybacking off of this, uh I've tried, of course, no eating, no no drinking or anything, like no calories, you know, 3 hours before bed. And I've done like intermittent fasting and stuff. Like I I've tried to go to

[06:40] bed without any food at all, so there's no digestion happening, and that is by far the worst for my sleep. I actually cannot sleep on like a fully empty stomach. And heavens to Betsy, Lord help us if my stomach growls when I'm lying

[06:56] in bed. That may as well just be an air raid siren. I am cooked for the entire raid siren. I am cooked for the entire evening if my stomach growls. Like it it it instantly ruins my my ability to go to sleep for that whole night.

[07:11] So, I I've tried like everything food related. So far, the best results have come with cottage cheese, but it's not consistent. It's not even close to consistent. I've tried jerking the peebness. I

[07:25] I This this one has no real research behind it, but, you know, when you when you ejaculate, there's always that like, you know, relaxation period, you post-nut clarity, I'm sure you've heard of.

[07:39] I've tried numerous times just, you know, really getting after it, playing the skin flute, and seeing if that will help me like relax enough to just fall asleep. Not really. That that hasn't really

[07:55] worked. This is white noise and by extension ambient noise and all of that. That has done nothing for me. Which was actually surprising because in in the middle of the day like white noise will it'll hypnotize me. Put me

[08:12] into a trance and I'll fall asleep sometimes. In fact I can fall asleep much easier during the day than I can at night. Like if I go lie on my couch when the sun's out like fully [snorts] out in the middle of the

[08:24] afternoon, I will just instantly go to sleep with no issue, no tantrums, no nothing. I fall asleep so much easier during the day. And I think some of that is contributing

[08:37] from white noise is contributing in some of that because throughout the day you and stuff around here or like people driving, things like that. Or like [snorts] recently a lot of rain. But at

[08:49] night when I try and mimic these sounds through like videos or whatever it doesn't do anything. It doesn't help me fall asleep or anything like that. So Uh

[09:03] piggybacking off of that I've also tried meditation, like a guided meditation as well. That doesn't do anything, especially guided meditation. Usually when I follow along in YouTube video guided meditations I end up just

[09:15] lost in the sauce going on some kind of weird side quest in my imagination like some SpongeBob and Patrick type which doesn't do anything to help me fall asleep at all.

[09:27] Uh this one here is going for a walk. Going for a walk I almost wanted to put into work because this has been like my last resort for a while now of when it's

[09:39] like 7:00 a.m. 7:00 a.m. 8:00 a.m. and I've been awake the entire night. I go for a walk and then come back and I go for a walk and then come back and then I can fall asleep pretty often.

[09:53] the walk itself or just because the sun starts to come out, the sun is out, and I just have a much easier time falling asleep in those circumstances. So, I'm the sun. I'm going to You know what? I'll I'll I'll put I'll go I'll put

[10:07] going for a walk in the worked category. Now, next up is lifting weights, working out late at night, which is something I've done often for a long time is late-night lifts. And sometimes they

[10:20] have actually helped me fall asleep, I would say, but overall not really. I don't think they keep me awake, either. I know a lot of late at night can actually make it more difficult to fall asleep. I've never

[10:33] found it to be like more difficult than usual for me to fall asleep, nor have I found it easier. It's kind of just neutral. But maybe you know, maybe harder to fall asleep. I'm not really sure. I can't fall asleep

[10:48] regardless, anyway. But weightlifting, I would say, hasn't worked in helping me go to sleep with like a heavy lift late at night. Reading a book. That has done nothing for me.

[11:00] I've tried reading I even made a a video on one of the books I read, which was Haunting Adeline, a revolting, abhorrent pile of dog that feels like it's a crime that it even got published. But I chose a book like that

[11:16] because it's something I'm not interested in at all, and I started help me sleep. Because I tried reading things I was anything to help me sleep because, well, I was interested in reading them, so it

[11:30] was pretty stimulating. So, I chose on purpose, made the conscious decision, strategically chose some trash like Haunting Adeline to help be a lullaby for me, and that didn't work either. Like maybe the first couple of times

[11:44] reading through it did help maybe like boring me to sleep potentially. But by the time I finished the book, it completely stopped being a sleep aid at all and just became like a baffling experience that I couldn't

[11:58] believe the that I was reading, even made a video ranting about how even made a video ranting about how unhinged that book is. But the point is it's not just Haunting Adeline. I have I've read books that I have no interest

[12:10] I've read books that I have no interest in that are not helping me fall asleep. So, reading hasn't worked either. Reading manga is another thing I've tried before switching to books, but I just

[12:24] like manga, so it usually just keeps me awake. So, that that didn't work either. I guess these two could have just been together with like reading in general hasn't worked at putting me to sleep. Next up, we have cold temperatures.

[12:39] Everything I've ever read in regards to improving your sleep or helping you fall asleep always recommends making it as cold as possible in your sleeping environment. So, I've been cranking that way down, sub-zero temperatures

[12:53] I'm talking infinity and beyond. We're getting to Bose-Einstein condensate levels of temperatures in my room, and that doesn't do It doesn't do anything. Feels better than it being hot, like scorching heat and like sweaty

[13:08] but it ain't helping me fall asleep. It's not doing anything for my sleep yet but it is comfortable. It's comfy. I guess every time I've ever fallen asleep it has been more on the cold side than the hot side, but

[13:22] the temperature alone isn't putting me to sleep or or doing a whole lot to help me sleep. Though, I can't sleep in a in a warmer environment, so do I put it in worked? I don't know. I'm I'm going to keep it

[13:35] if you start making it colder in there, it'll help you fall asleep. It hasn't. >> [snorts] >> Uh the big thing abstaining from screens

[13:47] or like blue light glasses for example, blue light glasses I've tried. They That hasn't really done anything for me ever. Just avoiding screens before bed,

[14:00] I've tried. So, like after stream, uh I'll go for like another like hour or so like just unwinding, no screens, no nothing. Obviously doesn't help me nothing. Obviously doesn't help me snooze, but I mean it is a good practice

[14:14] obviously [snorts] looking at your phone in bed or whatever other screens isn't going to do anything to help you sleep. It is just going to interfere, but yeah, just completely avoiding screens before bed hasn't solved my

[14:30] sleep. Now, this is a car. Now, the reason the car is here is because in some of the videos we've done together. Every time I'm like a

[14:45] passenger in his truck or a passenger in a lot of vehicles, I can fall asleep pretty easily. Like I don't know if it's the motion or again just because the sun's out and I sleep easier there and being in a car is

[14:57] lot of white noise there like on the road. Being a passenger in a car is something that has historically been really good at putting me to sleep. And I know my parents My parents told me that when I was a baby,

[15:10] what they did is they'd just drive me around the neighborhood until I fell asleep, which I think put a really bad habit like deep in my DNA. Uh yeah, being a passenger in a car, I do fall asleep really often, frequently,

[15:27] easily. Obviously, I can't really do that late at night. I guess I could order an Uber and just ask him to drive around in circle circles until I fall asleep, but you know, it's not exactly something

[15:39] overly reliable. Driving doesn't put me to sleep, and I wouldn't really want to do that late at night, just go for a a drive and hopefully fall asleep behind the wheel. That's not good for anybody. But, what I have tried is like just

[15:52] going into the car when I can't sleep in the passenger seat and seeing if that running in the garage or anything. I'm not trying to kill myself. So, you know, just in the driveway doesn't do anything. I think it probably needs to

[16:06] be in motion, but even then, I also think it maybe has something to do with the sun being out. Cuz that seems to be where I'm in my prime sleep form. Next up is changing locations, going from like bed to somewhere else. To mix

[16:21] keep the body confused. So, like going to the couch. I actually have a much easier time sleeping on the couch than I do in my bed. And I always have. That's me. Ever since I was a kid, if I couldn't sleep, I'd go to the couch, and

[16:35] then sometimes I'd fall asleep there, but I than I do the bed, but it's not guaranteed. So, like tonight, I spent 2 hours just trying to fall asleep on the couch after I spent like an hour and a

[16:49] half unable to fall asleep in my bed. So, it doesn't always work, but I will say better batting average when it comes to sleeping on the couch than it does versus my bed. I've also tried getting a

[17:01] new mattress. That did nothing. Love my old mattress. Love my new mattress, too. That plays no role in my ability to sleep or not. But, these mother sleep or not. But, these mother are comfy. That's which is nice. A comfy

[17:15] but it has done nothing to help me fall asleep. Another thing I've been doing a lot of, and this actually was working for a while, but now my insomnia is just beating my ass, getting more sun. So, ever since getting the farm, I've been

[17:29] outside far more often, like in the sun, which obviously with the circadian rhythm, this is something that you'll read about when it comes to sleep often. it did and was helping for a little while with me getting tired at night,

[17:43] but now it's I don't know It hasn't been as sunny, to be fair, because of how much rain we've been getting in Tampa, but being outside, being in the sun, has been something that has helped, uh you know, recently, but over the last

[17:58] month and a half, maybe 2 months, it hasn't been helping nearly as much, even though I'm getting just as much sun as I was then, and being outside and active, I'd say even more so now than I was when it was working, but I'm going to put it

[18:12] blame the sun for that. It was like it was it was doing what it was meant to do, and it is something very important, like being awake when the sun's out and going to sleep when the

[18:24] sun's down. Like that is just that's human nature. Obviously, with night shifts, that changes, and you can change your sleep schedule to adapt to it, but naturally, that's the way it works, and it was working for me getting

[18:39] even more sun, but now, not so much. But I'm not going to hold a grudge against it. It It's just it's been it it's been rough. Like I There are few things I haven't tried. What I haven't tried is like the heavy

[18:53] like like the real heavy stuff, like actual sleeping pills or like trazodone, I don't want any like tranquilizers or anything. The big thing is I don't want to be like fully reliant on pills to put me to sleep. I don't think that actually

[19:06] solves the problem. That feels like a band-aid and feels like probably a slippery slope that's not going to be good long-term for me. So, I've been avoiding things like that and just trying to like really grit my teeth and

[19:18] just find what will actually work for me. And I'm still on that journey to Uh so, hopefully hopefully I'll get the insomnia under control. I'm still strategizing, brainstorming in the think tank. Uh just

[19:34] wanted to do this little tier list here to show you where we're at right now. to show you where we're at right now. Anyway, that's really about it. Yeah.