Is this woo? "Sleeping Aid"

[Mobyseven]

I, like many people who are still up at this unEdly hour and sober, suffer from insomnia. To help me out, a friend of mine gave me some tablets that he said help you sleep. I only gave the packaging a cursory look before I accepted, enough to see that it was called "Sleep Aid", a promising name, and was Nyal brand, a brand I thought I could trust.

Well, a few hours ago I took a tablet, as it suggests, and I don't feel a damn bit tired. So I thought I'd take a look at what the active ingredients were, thinking I might be able to take a second pill with no real harm.

Here is what I saw on the packet:

WHAT NYAL SLEEP AID IS USED FOR
Nyal Sleep Aid combines 2 premium herbal sedatives specifically formulated to provide temporary relief of insomnia. Nyal Sleep Aid may also help relieve tension, anxiety and restlessness.

Herbal sedatives. I don't know about anyone else here, but that sure sends of woo alarm bells in my head!

Here are the active ingredients:

EACH FILM COATED TABLET CONTAINS:

Valeriana officinalis (Valerian) extract equivalent to dry root 2g.

Melissa officinalis (Lemon Balm) extract equivalent to dry leaf 500mg.

Valerian - helps promote sound sleep while easing anxiety, reducing nervous tension and restlessness.

Lemon Balm - helps to relieve nervousness, insomnia and anxiety.

This, once again, sets off red flags.

So my question is: Is this woo? Will the listed ingredients actually do what the company claims, or is it all just bunk?

And more importantly, if the ingredients do not do what they claim, do they do anything at all? Any known effects at all?

Thanks all in advance!

 

[ChristineR]

Valerian is a mild sedative that has been used as a sleeping aid for many years. Lemon balm is traditional. Studies show it is a tranquilizer, but there's no direct support for it being a sleep aid. There are many good sources out there, and I was going to link to my favorite but I can't find it.

Anyhow, yes these are legit herbal drugs. They aren't necessarily better than synthetic drugs, but people prefer herbs for various reasons.

References:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/lemon-balm-000261.htm
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Valerian.asp
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030415/1755.html

I found my links:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-valerian.html

They give Valerian a 'B' for insomnia, and don't have an entry for lemon balm.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

And remember when you buy herbals, there's no telling you'll get ANY of the active compounds.

 

[Mobyseven]

The links seem to suggest that Valerian 'might sorta work a little' and that Lemon Balm 'might sorta kinda work but only with Valerian'.

Not exactly glowing reports of effectiveness...

 

[Mobyseven]

And remember when you buy herbals, there's no telling you'll get ANY of the active compounds.

I didn't actually buy this - my friend down the hall gave it to me. It's manufactured by Nyal (or Valeant Pharmeceuticals Australasia Pty Ltd, possibly) who I thought were reputable?

It certainly doesn't seem to be very effective...

 

[kellyb]

Valarian never worked for me, either. Neither did melatonin.
Or antihistamines.
All those things are technically more than pure woo, but it seems that lots of people (possible most people) still find them ineffective.

Weirdly, a certain "self-hypnosis" technique does work for me, though.

 

[ChristineR]

Antihistamines will knock me out. But obviously they don't do that to everyone or they would sell them as cold and allergy treatments.

 

[Miss Anthrope]

Same report for me, Valerian and melatonin could mellow me out a little, but actually helping with insomnia, nope. While occasionally heavier OTC sleeping pills will work, it wasn't until I got a prescription that I found relief for my insomnia. (In my case my restlessness was exacerbated by fibromyalgia pain, and this low dose drug takes the edge off while quieting my brain enough to help me sleep) It's not heavy like Ambien or the like, but it does the trick where herbal and other "sleep aids" didn't.

Good sleep is very important to good health and functioning. Maybe you can see what your doctor can do to help.

 

[sophia8]

Have you tried meadowsweet? That works for me.

 

[Mobyseven]

Good sleep is very important to good health and functioning. Maybe you can see what your doctor can do to help.

I can see, but things aren't looking hopeful. The sleep specialist told me that likely the best way to fix things up is to strictly enforce sleeping times - in bed by a certain time, up by a certain time. Unfortunately, he also noted that given my lifestyle it was unlikely I'd be able to keep anything like that up for more than a week, thus putting me back to square one.

I'll give the Valerian another shot tonight, but if it's still ineffective, I think I might just give it back.

 

[petra10]

I've tried various things over the years but not much luck.I used to springle laventer oil everwhere,no help there.The best thing so far,and it doesn't always work,is what Kellyb suggests a sort of self-hypnosis.You kinda relax all your body starting at your toes and working upwards,try and imagine your floating on clouds or warm water.I know this is sounding a bit weird but it sometimes works for me.

 

[Miss Anthrope]

I can see, but things aren't looking hopeful. The sleep specialist told me that likely the best way to fix things up is to strictly enforce sleeping times - in bed by a certain time, up by a certain time. Unfortunately, he also noted that given my lifestyle it was unlikely I'd be able to keep anything like that up for more than a week, thus putting me back to square one.

I'll give the Valerian another shot tonight, but if it's still ineffective, I think I might just give it back.

I got the same song and dance from a sleep specialist, by my general doctor was able to help. I feel your pain.

You could try two benadryls with a shot of high proof liquor!

You also might try finding a higher concentration of the valerian. Sometimes you can get a liquid tincture at health food stores that allows you take quite a bit more.

 

[kellyb]

I've tried various things over the years but not much luck.I used to springle laventer oil everwhere,no help there.The best thing so far,and it doesn't always work,is what Kellyb suggests a sort of self-hypnosis.You kinda relax all your body starting at your toes and working upwards,try and imagine your floating on clouds or warm water.I know this is sounding a bit weird but it sometimes works for me.

My method is imagining a chalkboard, drawing a circle on it, and writing in the number "100". Then erasing the 100, and drawing in the number 99, and going down like that from there, and after erasing each number, saying to myself something like "deeper into sleep" (or something like that...it doesn't really matter...I think you could probably skip that part and it works just as well).
I pretty much never make it past 40.

I used to try counting sheep sometimes, but my sheep always misbehaved. They'd do stuff like jump over the fence in the wrong direction, stop to pee, etc., causing a traffic jam. So that was just frustrating.

But the numbers on the chalkboard thing works really well.

 

[JoeEllison]

You want some real fun? From what I've read, valerian does work... at about a tenth of the dose normally claimed to be in those pills. The exciting part is that valerian in high doses seems to prevent sleep.

So, have a great night!

 

[Mobyseven]

I got the same song and dance from a sleep specialist, by my general doctor was able to help. I feel your pain.

You could try two benadryls with a shot of high proof liquor!

You also might try finding a higher concentration of the valerian. Sometimes you can get a liquid tincture at health food stores that allows you take quite a bit more.

Hmm...I'll give that a shot. And if a higher dose doesn't work, I'll just ask the damn GP to help.

You want some real fun? From what I've read, valerian does work... at about a tenth of the dose normally claimed to be in those pills. The exciting part is that valerian in high doses seems to prevent sleep.

So, have a great night!

Er - do you have any sources for that? It seems to go against what the other links were saying.