Sleep
- Thread starter Skywalker
- Start date
Sean D.
Kava Enthusiast
There's some talk about certain chemotypes being better for sleep. Someone sent me this: http://www.kavalibrary.com/Chemotypes.html
If what it is says is true, then chemo 2xxx is better for sleep and 4xxx better for "parties."
But I have not experimented with that yet myself. Usually if I take it easy and not take too strong a dose, I can sleep and wake up fresh and relaxed. However, Kava does not make me really "sleepy" so much as really relaxed. So for sleepiness I have some chamomile too. Trouble is, if it's the liquid that's keeping you up then maybe a chamomile or meletonin pill I guess are options too. I think some vendors have (paradise?) sometimes have Co2 extract pills/chews, but probably not as strong.
Good luck.
If what it is says is true, then chemo 2xxx is better for sleep and 4xxx better for "parties."
But I have not experimented with that yet myself. Usually if I take it easy and not take too strong a dose, I can sleep and wake up fresh and relaxed. However, Kava does not make me really "sleepy" so much as really relaxed. So for sleepiness I have some chamomile too. Trouble is, if it's the liquid that's keeping you up then maybe a chamomile or meletonin pill I guess are options too. I think some vendors have (paradise?) sometimes have Co2 extract pills/chews, but probably not as strong.
Good luck.
Last edited:
D
Deleted User01
I get up for the bathroom too, Shakas calls it the Zombie walk. I do a shell of Nene an hour before bedtime (I do something headier during the afternoon) and I sleep like a log. If I drink wine instead on non Kava days, I end up getting up more often and I don't sleep as well. You may be drinking too much before bedtime. Try starting earlier and stop 1 hour before bedtime and see if that helps.
Every once in a while it messes with my sleep, but it's pretty rare. I'll get stuck feeling really sedated but somewhat conscious...partially detached from reality and 'normal' feelings yet somewhat aware and uncomfortable with it. Eventually it smooths out and I end up sleeping good anyway, I wake up with a vague memory of the discomfort.
I get the same sleep disturbances sometimes. When I'm laying there trying to fall asleep all of a sudden I'm just awake and angry about it. It usually strikes if I've not eaten enough before kava. Whenever I can feel my kava splash into my stomach after drinking I know it could be rough time falling asleep. And by rough, I mean it takes me maybe 20 minutes to fall asleep instead of instantaneous sleep that I'm used to kava providing.
Steve T
Kava Enthusiast
I'm glad that you brought up the topic because I have had my own theories about how kava effects sleep.
Kava interferes with my sleep in the same way drinking alcohol or smoking cannabis would. If I go to bed krunk then I'm yawning a lot the next day, even being in bed 8-9 hrs. The yawning is from a lack of deep sleep. Or from waking up in a half-sleep state whether I remember doing so or not. IMO it can even make you wake up more easily from sounds or lights, since kava makes you sensitive to those.
Like alcohol it can help me pass out, but quality of sleep is different. I can be the guinea pig here since I have had insomnia problems for a while now. If I drink 4-6 tbsp (not right before bed) then my sleep is usually fine, any more then the effects are obvious. I can also tell because when I don't drink kava I may wake up a few times during the night, but I still feel more refreshed the next day.
2 or 5 chemotypes might help with passing out but they can also increase fatigue the next day, which is the catch 22 for anyone taking a med or supplement for sleep. The more you take the better you could sleep, but the more the hangover, and sometimes you don't sleep either way so you're tired *and* hungover.
If I were to rate NOBLE kava (tudei is horrible) as a sleep aid I would give it 3/5 stars. It helps indirectly by reducing anxiety, which is great, so therefore sleep should be better. I have taken awful meds which make you a zombie the next day: kava doesn't do that as much, and there are less side effects. However if someone has true insomnia kava is sort of a bandaid. For any normal person trying to sleep it should definitely be enough, and better than getting prescription drugs. The shit the doctors give you is unbelievable sometimes -- antidepressants with 20 hour half-lifes which make you incapable of driving a car for 3 days.
The only thing that really works for me is quetiapine/Seroquel. It has a short half-life and doesn't make me retarded, even though there are side effects. I drink kava in the evening and take that at night.
Kava interferes with my sleep in the same way drinking alcohol or smoking cannabis would. If I go to bed krunk then I'm yawning a lot the next day, even being in bed 8-9 hrs. The yawning is from a lack of deep sleep. Or from waking up in a half-sleep state whether I remember doing so or not. IMO it can even make you wake up more easily from sounds or lights, since kava makes you sensitive to those.
Like alcohol it can help me pass out, but quality of sleep is different. I can be the guinea pig here since I have had insomnia problems for a while now. If I drink 4-6 tbsp (not right before bed) then my sleep is usually fine, any more then the effects are obvious. I can also tell because when I don't drink kava I may wake up a few times during the night, but I still feel more refreshed the next day.
2 or 5 chemotypes might help with passing out but they can also increase fatigue the next day, which is the catch 22 for anyone taking a med or supplement for sleep. The more you take the better you could sleep, but the more the hangover, and sometimes you don't sleep either way so you're tired *and* hungover.
If I were to rate NOBLE kava (tudei is horrible) as a sleep aid I would give it 3/5 stars. It helps indirectly by reducing anxiety, which is great, so therefore sleep should be better. I have taken awful meds which make you a zombie the next day: kava doesn't do that as much, and there are less side effects. However if someone has true insomnia kava is sort of a bandaid. For any normal person trying to sleep it should definitely be enough, and better than getting prescription drugs. The shit the doctors give you is unbelievable sometimes -- antidepressants with 20 hour half-lifes which make you incapable of driving a car for 3 days.
The only thing that really works for me is quetiapine/Seroquel. It has a short half-life and doesn't make me retarded, even though there are side effects. I drink kava in the evening and take that at night.
DirTJerz
Error 404
I have been sleeping very soundly and deeply when I drink kava. My problem is actually waking up in the morning. I find myself hitting the snooze button a lot, falling back to sleep easily, and struggling to drag myself out of bed. I'm fine once I get moving, and it's not the same kind of tired as getting too little sleep, after drinking, or taking a pill. It's a very nice fuzzy tired. Just wish I could pop out of bed, although I never could really do that. Overall, kava is definitely good for me for sleep.
Crunked
Proselytizer
When I was drinking alcohol on a daily basis (but not heavily) I would usually wake at about 3.00 am and be wide awake. It would take a long time to get back to sleep and my sleep quality was poor. On kava I either do not wake at all, or if I do, I get back to sleep within minutes. My sleep quality is very good. One more reason I lurv Kava. 
Sean D.
Kava Enthusiast
That's like me. I'm not a morning person to begin with, but I'm fuzzy-feeling cool after drinking Kava the night before. That morning grogginess takes longer to ward off those mornings, but it does eventually. And then I'm generally more relaxed and more productive with less tension.
Global Kava Exports
Kava Vendor
I've used alcohol to get to sleep for years, I'm actually off the drink now (just a few days) and I've had some Kava now, just a little to try ease some back pain I'm having and then later I am going to hit it harder and see if I can get a decent sleep from it.
In Vanuatu I used to go to sleep really early, we would start drinking Kava at 4pm and by 6 or 7 it was dark and you would go home and watch a movie and then sleep but I would wake quite often needing to piss (just put that down to the amount of liquid intake) but I would usually get back to sleep no problem. On some nights though, It was impossible to sleep after the Kava, I was anxious and uncomfortable in my own skin. I still get that feeling from Kava when I have too much or if my stomach is too empty and I drink a strong strain, Malekula in particular sets me off which is why I rather the Marang.
My Kava use has dropped considerably the last few months and alcohol has taken its place but I am now looking to reverse that and drink more and more Kava. One thing stopping me from drinking Kava is how hectic my days are, I have no set workplace usually and can be driving up to 6 hours a day so I often don't get much choice on when or where I eat so I end up starving myself, then filling up on heavy foods and then being unable to get an effect from the Kava. But the main thing stopping me is the anxiety which I get sometimes from Kava. I need to get my dosage and my strain right and get it down to a science so I can drink the root of this lovely plant without getting a mild panic attack.
In Vanuatu I used to go to sleep really early, we would start drinking Kava at 4pm and by 6 or 7 it was dark and you would go home and watch a movie and then sleep but I would wake quite often needing to piss (just put that down to the amount of liquid intake) but I would usually get back to sleep no problem. On some nights though, It was impossible to sleep after the Kava, I was anxious and uncomfortable in my own skin. I still get that feeling from Kava when I have too much or if my stomach is too empty and I drink a strong strain, Malekula in particular sets me off which is why I rather the Marang.
My Kava use has dropped considerably the last few months and alcohol has taken its place but I am now looking to reverse that and drink more and more Kava. One thing stopping me from drinking Kava is how hectic my days are, I have no set workplace usually and can be driving up to 6 hours a day so I often don't get much choice on when or where I eat so I end up starving myself, then filling up on heavy foods and then being unable to get an effect from the Kava. But the main thing stopping me is the anxiety which I get sometimes from Kava. I need to get my dosage and my strain right and get it down to a science so I can drink the root of this lovely plant without getting a mild panic attack.