Anecdotally: I feel like small amounts of caffeine after about 3pm destroy my sleep.
I practice "sleep hygiene" (UK NHS websites have a lot about this) and if that fails I get a short prescription for one of the Z drugs, usually 7 days of zopiclone, to 'kick' my sleep back into a pattern.
There are considerable problems with use of melatonin: It's not regulated in the US which means you will find it hard to accurately dose and the research suggests it's pretty lousy, unless you have jet lag. I'm in the UK, and melatonin is a prescription only medication, and GPs will usually not prescribe it for sleep disorders.
Comments
Anecdotally: I feel like small amounts of caffeine after about 3pm destroy my sleep.
I practice "sleep hygiene" (UK NHS websites have a lot about this) and if that fails I get a short prescription for one of the Z drugs, usually 7 days of zopiclone, to 'kick' my sleep back into a pattern.
There are considerable problems with use of melatonin: It's not regulated in the US which means you will find it hard to accurately dose and the research suggests it's pretty lousy, unless you have jet lag. I'm in the UK, and melatonin is a prescription only medication, and GPs will usually not prescribe it for sleep disorders.
http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD001520/melatonin-for-the-pre...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1370957/
http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/melatsum.htm