GABA and improving sleep quality

Supplements
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#1

I am very interested in sleep quality. At one time in my life I had sleep apnea. When I finally got a good night’s sleep with a CPAP machine I was totally amazed at the difference it made.

That was a long time ago but the lesson was learnt and I very much try to have good sleep quality. However I am a bit of a worrier and that can keep me awake.

I’ve experimented with a lot of different approaches. My usual sleep stack includes valerian, magnesium and glycine and 1.5-3 mg of Melatonin (not every night as it seems to fall in effectiveness so I cycle it).

I have taken GABA before bedtime from time to time and found it helps me with the 4 am awakening without morning sluggishness.

However I just looked on Amazon UK and it seems to be unavailable. The UK authorities seem to have periods where they clamp down on various substances, e.g. melatonin, GABA, DHEA, which makes it more difficult to get hold of them.

This book came up in my search:
GABA and Sleep: Molecular, Functional and Clinical Aspects Hardcover – Illustrated, 30 Sept. 2010

by Jaime M. Monti (Editor).

Unfortunately its £135, and the Kindle edition is even more expensive! It’s also old, but the contents look interesting.

I can hunt down these products but I am always slightly wary about purchasing from India and suchlike, plus the time to arrive and the guessing game as it if it will be held up or charged in customs is…not appreciated by me.

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#2
#3

Taurine affects the GABA system primarily by acting as an agonist at some GABA receptors.

I take 1 5 -2,5 gram if (when) I wake up in the middle of the night. It works almost 100% of the time for me.

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#4

Is it Taurine or GABA that you are taking?

#5

Oh I forgot to write. I use 1 5 - 2 5 gr taurine to fall back to sleep. It takes 20 min or so. But works really well for me.

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#6

Thanks Curious. Taurine is readily available in the UK. I’ve run out at the moment but I will get some more and give it a try: I usually took it during daytime, not knowing about the GABA agonism.

There’s so much to learn!

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#7

Are you saying you eliminated your sleep apnea, no longer use a CPAP machine at night and did another sleep test confirming no apneas?

#8

No, I eventually had surgical treatment, which involved microwave and laser, which cured it.

It has not returned. Occasionally I leave a recorder on all night and there is no recurrence of the awful snoring.

:slight_smile:

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#9

I think that is a very good idea! Years ago I was given an in-home sleep apnea test. A tech came to my house and set up a fairly complicated machine. Fortunately I didn’t have sleep apnea.

I think an audio recorder such as the one I have on my smartphone would work just as well.
In any case it would end any argument as to whether you snore or not.

#10

An audio recording isn’t definitive: you need a sleep clinic diagnosis for that. I’ve been to sleep clinics, but nowadays I think they generally send you home with a portable gizmo wired up, so you can sleep in your normal environment, which is much easier and provides better results.