One area I have been particularly experimenting with for a long time is good sleep.
I normally take 1.5 mg of Melatonin around 4 times a week. Here in the UK it is unavailable so I have to import it. (When I was in Malta it was available OTC so I brought back 2 packs x 30 x 3 mg, which lasted quite a while).
A few years ago I found Patchworks UK: www.patchworksuk.com.
I tried their Sleep and ‘Clarity and Focus’ patches. The latter seemed to do nothing so I didn’t bother but the sleep patches (you put them on your arm at night) worked well.
Subjectively I got a better night’s sleep. Unfortunately I’ve gone through about 3 fitness watches in that time so I have no reliable data. Patches are easy to use, and it’s not taking another shedload of pills…
The patches had Melatonin in them.
Sadly these patches are no longer available in the UK. Patchworks informed me that they were contacted by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and were informed that now, ‘Products containing melatonin regardless of formulation or route of administration are considered to be Prescription-only medicines…’ So they have ceased selling them.
There are still patches available on Amazon UK, but I tried some (not linking) and I felt groggy each time. I even tried cutting them in half but still slept long and heavily so they were far inferior to the Patchworks ones and I stopped using them.
I no longer have the packaging, but I do recall it had a US flag on it so they may well be available still in the USA.
, BUT I am intrigued about the patch idea and wonder how effective it is. I see they have a triple mag patch and I’d love to slap some patches on and reduce my magnesium pill intake. There is also a creatine patch, but 1/5 of the normal dose. And then who knows how that translates to absorption?