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These were effective, but not as consistently so as the above picks. I’d still encourage others to try since bodies react differently to the active ingredients in these over-the-counter sleep aids.
Rebalance Dream Sleep Mints (Melatonin-Free; 31-Pack) for $46: These melatonin-free mints are designed to slowly dissolve, with natural sleep inducing ingredients like L-theanine, L-tryptophan, GABA, and slow release Reishi mushroom. You can take up to three lozenges every night, and it took me three to feel any sort of calming effects. I like the idea of a slow melting mint alternative, but I’m currently testing the version with melatonin to see how it stacks up against the melatonin-free version.
Photograph: Molly Higgins
Olly Sleep Gummy for $17: Olly is a super trendy brand whose gummy supplements consistently go viral on social media like TikTok and sell out fast. These are tasty: blackberry flavored with a hint of mint, and they contain 3 milligrams of melatonin; L-theanine, which eases anxiety and promotes a healthy sleep cycle; and botanicals like chamomile, passionflower, and lemon balm extract. (Melatonin is generally considered safe for pregnant people, but a doctor should be consulted.) The first time I took these gummies, I felt the effects and fell asleep easily. I woke up around 2 am and took two more and eventually got back to bed. The next night, after taking two I didn’t feel the sleepy effects as strongly and doubled the dose to four gummies (6 milligrams) and fell asleep after an hour or so but again woke up in the middle of the night and took more. With so many people (both on the internet and in my real life) swearing by these Olly sleep gummies, I expected more.
Kona Sea Salt Deep Ocean Magnesium Water Drops for $12: Kona’s line of sleep and relaxation products use Magnesium from deep ocean waters in Hawai’i to support improved sleep and muscle relaxation. I tried a whole host of Kona Sea Salt’s Hawaiian water products, including Calm Mineral Spa Bath ($8) and Deep Ocean Magnesium Mist ($18), but I found the drops to be most effective, although I still regularly spray the Magnesium mist before bed. You just need to put one drop per one ounce of drinking water, and it quickly absorbs into the body, with a host of supposed benefits like regulation of the sleep-wake cycle and promoting deeper sleep without a hangover. It doesn’t really taste like anything except a slight salt taste, but it didn’t deliver solid, consistent sleepy results like other picks above.
Osea Vagus Nerve Pillow Mist for $38: This spray aims to create a calming atmosphere to help regulate and prepare the mind and body before bed. The longest cranial nerve in the body, the vagus nerve activates the body’s relaxation response to help regulate stress. Each spray of this mist gives a hearty spritz of a soothing essential oil blend of juniper berry, lavender, lemon tea tree, chamomile, and Moroccan rosemary to help relax the mind and body. The smell is almost hard to describe—it’s light, with slight herbal and citrus notes that made me want to douse all of my pillows and bed linens. It may have been a placebo effect, but this triggered something in me that made me feel like I was in a spa, and I always felt noticeably more relaxed, cozier, and ready for bed.
Not Effective (for Me)
Photograph: Molly Higgins
Earthing Pillow Cover for $140: I’m so confused by this product. The pillowcase is supposed to serve as a sort of conduit for Earth’s natural electrons, which give you a burst of negative charges to keep you “grounded” while sleeping and thus lead to more restful sleep. According to Earthing’s website this electron grounding is supposed to “rejuvenate, reduce inflammation,” and help you “reconnect with the earth.” In actuality, it’s a synthetic plastic-y faux leather pillow cover infused with carbon pigment that needs to be plugged in while you sleep. There is a huge safety warning and it even comes with an outlet safety test to make sure it doesn’t cause an electrical fire while you sleep. So, that’s reassuring. I found the leather material to be way too hot, sticky, and uncomfortable, and I woke up feeling very much Not Grounded.
Canary Nighttime Nourisher (60-Pack) for $18: I hate to do this, because all of Canary’s products are so darn tasty, but I didn’t feel the effects of these sleep gummies. These vegan tart cherry gummies use natural ingredients like ashwagandha, chamomile, and lemon balm for a more natural foray into relaxation. Although they are super tasty (like every gummy supplement I’ve had from Canary), I didn’t feel any noticeable sleepy effects while taking these.
BodyHealth Sleep for $42: Before bed, you take three capsules (which is a lot of pill to swallow) that are enhanced with “Perfect Amino” (which has no information about what it actually is), taurine, vitamin C, L-theanine, L-glycine, 5-HTP (I-5-hydroxytryptophan, which is often used for depression, with less evidence for helping insomnia); L-glutamine and GABA (amino acids), and 3 milligrams of melatonin. These horse pills were so hard for me to ingest and gave me acid reflux symptoms every time I took them. They may have helped to increase sleepiness but I was too focused on my heartburn to realize.
What Else Can I Try Besides Sleep Aids?
Before just running to the store for a quick fix, Monica Baena, adult-gerontology nurse practitioner at the George Washington Center for Sleep Disorders, recommends establishing good sleep hygiene. This includes keeping a set sleep schedule, creating a bedtime routine, and avoiding screen time, alcohol, and bright lights before bed, as well as making sure you’re getting physical activity during the day and caring for any other health issues that may contribute to insomnia.
Part of the importance of creating a bedtime routine is making sure your bedroom is optimal for your personal sleeping preferences, whether that’s temperature or using a sleep mask or a sound machine—whatever is going to make your environment more conducive to a restful sleep.
What Are the Risks of Sleep Aids?
“There is a potential for both dependence and tolerance to sleep medication—these medications are intended to be for short-term use,” says Hannah Sagedy, physician assistant at the George Washington Center for Sleep Disorders. Though sleep aids can be helpful at times to initiate and maintain sleep, Sagedy outlines some of their more serious potential side effects, like grogginess and memory issues. They can even increase the risk for abnormal sleep behaviors like sleepwalking or sleep-eating.
As a general rule, people shouldn’t drive or operate machinery while on sleep aids or mix them with alcohol, and everyone—especially pregnant people or those with preexisting medical conditions—should consult their doctor before use. The FDA only endorses prescription medications for insomnia like Ambien, as well as over-the-counter medications, which often are just variations of the same two active ingredients: doxylamine and diphenhydramine. However, OTC meds are not regulated in the same way prescription drugs are. Some of the active ingredients, like doxylamine, have actually been shown to increase the risk of dementia.
What Are Some of the Common Ingredients in OTC Sleep Aids?
While these should be used in moderation, there are certain ingredients believed to help in promoting healthy sleep that appeared in most of the sleep aids on this list. Let’s do a crash course.
- Doxylamine, found in OTC medications like Unisom, is one of the most common medications used for insomnia and is also used for nausea during pregnancy and allergic rhinitis. It stays in your system longer than other sleep medications, so it’s more likely to cause that next morning “hangover” feeling of lingering drowsiness.
- Diphenhydramine, used in OTC medications like Benadryl and ZzzQuil, is also one of the most common OTC sleep medications and can be used for allergies too. Both diphenhydramine and doxylamine work similarly and have similar side effects.
- Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone produced by the brain that helps regulate your internal clock. Increased levels of melatonin help signify it’s time for your body to sleep. Baena explains that “melatonin is a hormone released by the pineal gland in the brain. It is connected with the time of day and increases when it’s dark and decreases when it’s light. This helps with the timing of your circadian rhythms.” Sagedy warns that melatonin can give side effects such as drowsiness, dizziness, headache, and strange dreams. Melatonin has been proven to regulate the sleep-wake cycle, but since it’s considered a dietary supplement in the US, it’s regulated less strictly by the FDA than a prescription or over-the-counter drug. Melatonin is generally considered safe for pregnant people and children in low doses, but a doctor should be consulted before use.
- Other common ingredients include: vitamin B6, thought to aid in the production of melatonin; magnesium, which helps to regulate the nervous system and melatonin production; L-theanine, an amino acid that promotes relaxation; and GABA, an amino acid that helps calm the brain.
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