Best sleep aid for camping/alpine starts?

[Benneke10]

I am generally a pretty poor sleeper, but always sleep especially bad when I am camping at high elevation and/or waking up early to do something in the mountains. As we are entering the spring mountaineering season, does anyone have any recommendations for medications to help with sleep? I have tried melatonin and it doesn't work well for me, I've tried some THC/CBD stuff with mixed results but open to any recommendations.

[J. Barron DeJong]

I am generally a pretty poor sleeper, but always sleep especially bad when I am camping at high elevation and/or waking up early to do something in the mountains. As we are entering the spring mountaineering season, does anyone have any recommendations for medications to help with sleep? I have tried melatonin and it doesn't work well for me, I've tried some THC/CBD stuff with mixed results but open to any recommendations.

I take ‘zzzquil’ (actually, the CVS generic version of it). It’s NyQuil, but with only the sleepy part.

[Soups]

Advil PM. Mixes well with the general soreness that accompanies such feats these days.

[kamtron]

The best advice I can give is to practice good sleep hygiene... like trying to get to bed at the close to the same time every day, turning off the devices long before bed, eating last meal a couple hours before bed, avoiding alcohol and caffeine. Weed doesn't help me sleep, although if I've come down off the high I can sometimes feel tired and sleep easily. AFAIK most of the pharmaceutical methods for sleeping aren't great to use long term.

Sleeping on ski trips is often somewhat disordered for me despite trying the above due to irregular wakeup times and also just the excitement and anticipation if I'm going for a big line. Getting to the trailhead or camp a couple hours before sleep time is helpful to not feel like I have to go from "on" to "off" fast.

[zion zig zag]

Ambien. Diphenhydramine (zzzquil, Benadryl, etc.) work partially by slowing respirations, which result in you waking more at altitude.


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[Cocximus]

Embrace you insomnia and push for objectives in one shot. I find it so much better than hauling sleeping gear just to lay in it restless for a few hours.

If you really need to sleep... talk to your doctor.

[Cruiser]

I use super small doses of melatonin. I find that it works a little better for me than benadryl but sometimes I'll take both.

[Bronco]

Advil PM. Mixes well with the general soreness that accompanies such feats these days.

This ^

[Peruvian]

I use super small doses of melatonin. I find that it works a little better for me than benadryl but sometimes I'll take both.

Melatonin has helped me stay asleep
on planes.

[billyk]

Ambien works the best for me, but tends to keep me woozy in the morning. Plus, it’s not something I want to use on a regular basis.

Melatonin helps some, but doesn’t always get the job done. But paired with magnesium, or CALM, works pretty good.

[Benneke10]

Ambien. Diphenhydramine (zzzquil, Benadryl, etc.) work partially by slowing respirations, which result in you waking more at altitude.

Could you explain this a little more? Can you reduce the dosage of Ambien enough that you don't feel drowsy the next day or does it not work like that?

[Benneke10]

Embrace you insomnia and push for objectives in one shot. I find it so much better than hauling sleeping gear just to lay in it restless for a few hours.

If you really need to sleep... talk to your doctor.

I usually get a half decent sleep when I'm actually in the backcountry, its the parking lot camping the night before in my car/on the ground/ in a tent that I usually struggle with.

[Benneke10]

I've experimented with different doses of melatonin and it almost always puts me to sleep for around 2 hours then I wake up to pee and can't get back to sleep for the rest of the night. I feel wide awake, and taking another dose at that point is not good..

I will try Advil PM! Thanks for that rec

[Benneke10]

I've experimented with different doses of melatonin and it almost always puts me to sleep for around 2 hours then I wake up to pee and can't get back to sleep for the rest of the night. I feel wide awake, and taking another dose at that point is not good..

I will try Advil PM! Thanks for that rec

[zion zig zag]

I've experimented with different doses of melatonin and it almost always puts me to sleep for around 2 hours then I wake up to pee and can't get back to sleep for the rest of the night. I feel wide awake, and taking another dose at that point is not good..

I will try Advil PM! Thanks for that rec

Advil PM is diphenhydramine with ibuprofen, fyi. 1/10th the price if you just buy the generics and take together. But, you get all of the downsides of diphenhydramine (slowed respirations, drys you out).

I’m not sure the doses of Ambien that can be prescribed, but for me personally, I’m way less groggy the next morning with Ambien than I am with OTC sleep aids that have diphenhydramine. That shit makes me tired half the day.

Hopefully Trackhead will chime in as I don’t remember the exact reasons that diphenhydramine slows respirations (acid/base balance?), but combined with altitude it can leave you micro waking 100’s of times to take “gulps” for air. Ambien does not induce sleep with the same mechanism so avoids that.

For me, it always the anxiety of whatever objective I had in mind for the next day as much as it was the uncomfortableness of camping, so quieting the mind was the most important part.

[skaredshtles]

What have you tried in the THC/CBD realm? I find that 5-10mg of Indica gummy will pretty much *ensure* a nice, solid 8 hours for me.

[Benneke10]

Thanks ZZZ! I will probably make a Dr appt to talk about Ambien. I have tried the 5-10mg indica route, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't but its the best I've used so far.

[AlpiNord]

Rookies. SomiSex for the win. 'It won't hurt and it might help.'

Tried that for a while until the she caught on it didn't always help me sleep.

I used to take 1/2 a generic Ambien to help me fall asleep. Vitamin I after I'd wake up and couldn't fall back asleep. As I understood it, Ambien might help you fall asleep, but not keep you asleep. Advil PM or Melatonin helped on occasions, but frequent use of Melatonin became less reliable and in the AM, diphenhydramine citrate made my lethargic.

Now it's just try to mellow (and 'let things go') before going to bed and allow enough time to fall back to sleep after waking in the wee hours. Sometimes doing a task I'd been chewing on helps to get it out of my head so I can relax better.

[skaredshtles]

Rookies. SomiSex for the win. 'It won't hurt and it might help.'

#humblebrag

NTTAWWT

[yeahman]

Earplugs

[mcski]

Hookers. no blow

[skaredshtles]

Hookers. no blow

Hookers and weed?

[rod9301]

I am generally a pretty poor sleeper, but always sleep especially bad when I am camping at high elevation and/or waking up early to do something in the mountains. As we are entering the spring mountaineering season, does anyone have any recommendations for medications to help with sleep? I have tried melatonin and it doesn't work well for me, I've tried some THC/CBD stuff with mixed results but open to any recommendations.

Ambien

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[rod9301]

Ambien is the only one that does not lower the oxygen saturation at altitude

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[m2711c]

Oprah says yes!


https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/heal...-care-routine/