I've been taking some kava tea, taurine, melatonin, l-tyrosine and magnesium before sleep. I sleep like a baby on this stack.
500 mg of taurine makes me mellow and sleepy, anything over 2g gives me energy and lots of libido
Did you become dependent on taking melatonin? "prescription for nutritional healing" by balch mentions that this is possible.
I've been taking taurine, glycine, and arginine before bedtime with 100 mg pycnogenol. Taurine, because endurance exercise can deplete it, glycine for the sleep enhancements and collagen repair, and arginine to increase blood flow to the tissues during the night. I take about 2g of each. I sleep very well on this stack.
I will try this one as well. I am wary of taurine because I have adrenal fatigue, which was partially caused by abuse of energy drinks, which have taurine. So I feel that I should stay away from taurine and get it from food. Is this possible?
I used to be able to take Melatonin for three days straight each night at exactly the same time, an hour before sleep, and I would then be able to fall asleep naturally at the same time each night after that. But this is no longer the case and I don't want to become dependent on it by trying to take it longer; to combat my 18 years of sleep problems, I am doing many things: I stare at the sun for 30 seconds when I wake up, and I try to engage in some activity where I view the sun indirectly at sundown such as walking or doing dishes (I have fair colored eyes so I should not look directly for this longer period). I have also been turning down lights and cover with towels and covers as the sun goes down, and turning off all power devices except for my small fridge in my room (can't put it elsewhere, roommates). So far I am not having as much luck as I want so far, but as I treat my overall health my sleep quality does improve.
One thing I've tried in the past is lotus leaf tea, but it is way WAY more strong than black tea; use much less than black tea or it will keep you up all night long. I'd only use it sparingly, when you really need to be at your top game, as I believe it draws on your jing reserves, in Chinese herbalism.
I quite recently saw Ron Teeguardian's video on youtube about gynostemmae so I am considering taking it daily, forever!