I've started taking 300 mg sublingually for insomnia and want to know
if there is a period of time before it starts working.

I wish I could give you a good answer, but I haven't found any studies
that evaluated sublingual GABA as a treatment for insomnia.

Here's a personal pespective: I tried sublingual GABA last year, and
after 90 days, I dropped it, since it did not seem to have any effect
other than to deplete my pocketbook.

The causes of insomnia are many and varied, and what works for one
person may not work for another.

Sigh.  Thanks, pf.  Again.  I'll give the GABA a try since I did buy a
small bottle.  And, who knows?  It might do something for me.  I'm
also trying hypnosis.  Insomnia is no fun.

By the way, as a brief aside on another topic (;o), my brother has
started to call my parents on a more consistent basis.  (He's the man
who won't allow my parents to visit his son.)  No intervention was
applied!

I would unfortunately consider using GABA-supplements a waste of
money... Not even in high doses will GABA become avaliable in the
brain, the blood brain barrier (BBB) stops it.

http://www.parteqinnovations.com/techs/lifesci/taurine.html
http://www.kingsoopers.com/HN_Supp/GABA.htm

I have used kava-kava and passionflower tincture because of insomnia,
and found it to be moderately effective. I hope you find something
that works!

:-) As2O3

As203,

Thanks for the links.  I've read the PARTEQ article and am going to
forward it to the alternative healthcare practitioner who advised me
to take GABA.  I will be interested in finding out whether this sort
of information was ever available to her.

On the herbal side, all of the herbal products, kava-kava, valerian,
passion flower, produce restless sleep and disturbing dreams.  And,
forget about melatonin.  I might just as well be taking LSD.

I've been seeing a hypnotherapist and a lot of the "underlying issues"
are surfacing through treatment.  I'm beginning to see how "buried"
emotions have an impact on levels of anxiety.  However, "stuff"
doesn't go away overnight and I may need to continue with additional
sessions for a few more weeks or months.

I'm also starting yoga classes and getting involved with distance
bicycle riding groups.

Whatever it takes!

Hey - I have no idea what GABA is, but I can tell you what has done  
w o n d e r s  for me - Melatonin.  I take 6mg about 2 hours before I
*want* (haha) to go to sleep.  It doesn't make you sleepy, but what it
does do (at least for me) is KEEP you asleep, which is a miracle for
me.  Even if I do happen to wake up (and almost always do at least
once per night) I go right back to sleep within minutes - a MIRACLE. 
Normally, I'd be up for HOURS trying to get back to sleep.  Try it.  I
believe it is completely harmless (although you are not supposed to
take as much as I have been, but it's better than drugs), and it is
very inexpensive.  I wish you well.  I know how horrible it is not to
get sufficient sleep.  :o)

mjw.  Thanks muchly for the suggestion.  I used melatonin years ago
and it makes me hallucinate - and not good hallucinations, either. 
But, I absolutely agree, if there is something that will allow you to
get back to sleep once you've been woken - hallelujah.
My husband hasn't been very sympathetic since he says it's all in my
mind.  Duh. That's the problem.  Can I reach into my head an do an
insomnectomy, though?  I don't think so.  However, I do know that what
set it off were a variety of factors that one could consider
initiating a psychosomatic effect.

 
But, honey, whoever you are I feel for you.  You almost feel like
family to me. ;o)  Would you happen to know if there is anything like
"group therapy" for insomniacs on the web?

In any case, I will give melatonin another go.  Stay tuned. ;o))

Mine has a tendency to treat me with that male "it's all in your
head/just think it away" mentality, too... which I *used* to be able
to do. I had always been very much a Mind Over Matter, left brained
girl.

I don't know about any insomniac web activity, but I do know that
being online is one of the LAST things you should be doing if you need
or want sleep.  The other is television.  Mother of Jefferson Davis,
the years I have spent up all night flipping through television
channels... and eBaying... sheesh.

Until recently, I hadn't slept more than 3 hours (at the most) at a
time for the past six years (stress and a child that didn't start
sleeping through the night til the age of FIVE).  Almost a year ago, I
"died" for a second due to eating something I had (unknowingly)
developed a deadly allergy to (stress, again).

Well, jump to about six months ago.  I started "dying" (or I certainly
BELIEVED it was happening again) more & more frequently.  I was
diagnosed on my 2nd ER trip (we have a
dumber-than-you-can-even-believe-kills-more-people-than-they-help
hospital, so it took going to a Patient First, or something of that
nature - thanks be to God there was a fantastic Doctor there) with
severe anxiety attacks.  They were (somehow) mimicking the death
experience (sans the turning very cold & blue - the brain is truly a
remarkable beast) I had had during the allergic reaction.  Well,
feeling like you are dying is NOT conducive to getting a good night's
sleep.  I was prescribed Paxil, which helped w/ the panic attacks, but
turned me into a hallucinating (?) zombie.  That stuff is HORRIBLE. 
It was so awful, I stopped taking it cold turkey after a few weeks.  I
was also given Xanax, which  DID help me sleep through the night. 
Unfortunately (or not) my doctor doesn't believe in drugs... which I
thought was a great thing... til I was given a pill that gave me
sleep!!!  Anyway, it's funny how not getting enough sleep can destroy
you.

I realize I am yammering away like a maniac.  I apologize.  I had the
beginnings of a "panic" attack earlier (I hate that term - doesn't
sound harsh enough for the way it feels!), and I think the Kava is
affecting me.  That's another thing you may want to look into, though
I believe it is better for the treatment of stress (which may very
well be why you can't sleep?).  I don't think it's doing me any favors
as far as getting to sleep.   I'm not very certain it's doing a whole
very lot about the stress either, but it does help.

I have two other suggestions, one that I began implementing a few
months ago that has really helped.   I have been listening to "story"
CDs in the alarm clock cd player - makes a difference if it's in the
alarm clock, for some reason... go figure.  I started off  with Bill
Cosby (how I adore that man), then started listening to "The Pond"
(it's a kid's radio show - very funny).  The other is to read in bed
w/ a flashlight.   Either way, GO to bed.  I also suggest removing all
television from your bedroom - I did, and better for having done it.

If stress is your problem, I can give a bit of information on a good
vitamin, and refer you to a homeopathic information thing-a-mabob I
came across.  That's going to be my next attempt.  A homeopathic
"remedy" for my particular stress.  I'm certain there is something for
insomnia as well.  It's very odd, though, and I can't see how in the
world it will do anything at all, but I will give it a go.

I'm also going to suggest something that you may have no need for
whatsoever, but I have found helpful.  FlyLady.net.  If you are
stressed, and any of it is stemming from trouble getting or staying
organized (or if your house is a wreck like mine is), this lady is
really great.  She definitely can help you rid yourself of some
"household" induced stress... If you're like me, anyway.  (I don't
have a clue how to keep house - everything was always done.  I never
saw how it got that way.)  It's totally free, a little odd, but very
helpful.

Whew, I'm all out of words.  And speaking of bed, it's time to go
there!  I wish you very well.  Let me know if you'd like the
information I spoke of.    And, apologies again for going on so.   :o)

Hi,mjw
Don't worry about how much you write - it's good to be able to
communicate with someone - to hear everything that you experience and
ways you have tried to help yourself.

I've tried Kava and it didn't work.  What happened was, which is
typical of my level of desperation to get a good night's sleep, I used
more and more until I was literally Kava drunk.  Frankly, a glass or
two of wine feels better than getting drunk on Kava.  I've tried
Valerian, and Yogi tea.  Yogi tea is a combination of all sorts of
herbs and Kava.  You take too much of that and the body naturally just
wants to get rid of it.  My experience with "natural" products is that
they are not all that innocent or innocuous.  Quite the contrary.

I've also gone to hynotherapists.  Although relaxing at the time of
the session, meaningless unless you are willing to fork over thousands
over a year or two.  Not unlike psychotherapy where that also tends to
be a crapshoot.

Unfortunately, although physicians are well-meaning and want to adhere
to the Hippocratic oath - do no harm - I agree that sleep medications
are the salvo.  But, doctors will only prescribe small dosages: "baby"
dosages, which is how one psychiatrist described it, and for really
short periods of time.  Ativan is one of the best sleep inducers I
know of.  But, because of Ativan's inherent tendency to create an
addictive response, docs usually prescribe only the stuff you
mentioned.  I had a total NIGHTMARE (literally, figuratively,
horribly) with one of them.  I would walk around the house in a trance
and hallucinate.  Trees were growing out of the floor.  And, this,
doctors claim, is medicine's answer to averting an addictive response.
 I say, if I can sleep peacefully through the night on Ativan, what
harm does one 1mg pill do to me?  Think of the consequences of a
medicine that could cause you to throw yourself out of a window? 
Well, at least it's not addictive.

I also went to an astrologer, thinking that, hey, maybe it's just a
bad transit.  I've kept all the e-mail notes that I have from my
on-line session with him and occasionally read them again.  He did
make a salient point about how "sensitive" I am to my husband's
energy.  My husband can be rather high-strung and rigid, and, the
astrologer mentioned, he was going through an intense period himself. 
So, in a similar way to how you experience your son not sleeping, my
own wires get crossed when my husband is stressed out.  My husband is
also nocturnal and frequently stays up until 4:00 a.m.  Being from
England, he also has quite a few bad health habits.  Not meaning to
disparage anyone from England, but I found on my trip there that they
are totally disconnected from their body and tend to treat it like a
drive-in movie.  So, to some degree that bothers me about him.  But, I
don't think that in particular keeps me awake at night.

I also stay away from watching t.v. at night, especially shows with
disturbing content or violence.  Ironically, sometimes I will fall
asleep in front of the t.v.  Most of the time I read.

Another thing is - and here is where the brain is truly a confounding
and powerful force.  Wherever in the house I've had bad nights, those
places hold a "charge."  In other words, I look at the couch and bingo
- bad night.  Just like thinking of a lemon makes you pucker, or
hearing the water running makes you want to pee.  When we travel, I
sleep.  My husband really resents that because he thinks that if I can
sleep anywhere else I can sleep here.  A therapist once asked him if
he could control is psoriasis by thinking it away and that sort of
stumped him.

So, in a way I know the answer, but the solution will be long in
coming.  Hey, I'm not too proud to even consult a psychic.  Although
our society disparages them as charletans, I've frequently gained so
much more from my interactions with them than with a psychologist or
psychiatrist.

So, mjw, I will check out the Web site you recommended.  Thanks for
sharing your life and experiences with me.

I failed to mention something important.  The brand of melatonin, I
found, makes an enormous difference.  The best I have found, so far,
is Natrol.  Black/dark bottle w/ dark & light purple labeling.

I've heard of Natrol - it's a popular brand.  I'll give it a try,
maybe a small bottle to start.  And, I'll give 6mgs a try, as well. 
Cheers, and thanks, again ever so much.

It stopped working :o(   Have you found anything that is effective yet?

MJW,

I've been sleeping pretty well for the last three weeks - thank the
goddess.  What seems to help is exercising every evening.  I normally
take a spin class, which is fairly high intensity.  My body is used to
it, so I don't experience the sort of "high" that people get whenever
they do heavy exercise in the evening.  I just usually get very sleepy
and sleep fairly deeply.

I've also started using a hypnosis sleep CD that my hypnotherapist
just created.  But, one of the most important factors is a 1mg tablet
of Ativan - it helps with the minor anxiety I have once I begin
sleeping.  That is the most important part.  It's not so much that I
can't get to sleep (but, sometimes that is true too), it's that I am
interrupted by my transient thoughts and worries.  So, I'm doing what
I can to "short-circuit" the nervous energy through exercise and it
helps.

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned astrology.  You may not be much of a
fan, but I am experiencing some very "high strung and chaotic
energies" in my life now, and what has been recommended is exercise,
meditation and massages to help release the nervous tension.  You just
have to come at the problem from all angles.  PLUS, let go and let
God(ess).  If stuff gets under your skin, just remember how trivial it
truly is in perspective.  That is my really big problem, and I
struggle with it all the time.  But, I don't judge myself, and I've
learned to be very gentle and forgiving.  It's important.

Best of luck.
purr

I was really surprised to read all the negative comments about gaba. 
Prescription drugs like xanax and ativan raise Gaba, and I feel taking
gaba directly does the same thing.  I feel very calm when I take it, I
take it in powder form so it works faster.  The are also some herbs I
found to be efficient.  Other supplements that work for me are
skullcap, kava kava,lemon balm, valerian, St. John's Wort.  But Gaba
(in powder or liquid form, is the fastest.  Relief is felt in minutes!

Kyleleelee,

Thanks for the feedback on GABA.  I work in the pharmaceutical
industry and I've heard that the latest in R&D for drug development is
genotype matching to specific drugs.  The statistics for depression
drugs demonstrate poor results - very few people benefit from
depression drugs and the reason may be because of genetic variability.

Anyway, to the point, I will buy either liquid or powder GABA is give
it a try.  The ativan is, frankly, a miracle, but I do want to wean
myself from it eventually since the docs tell me that it's supposed to
do something funny to my brain.  I'm not too sure I believe that
because I've never felt better.  It also could be the exercise, as
well, because working out really sends those endorphins shooting
through your body.  Practically nothing affects me after a good
workout. ;o)  And, thanks for pointing out that ativan is a GABA
"enhancer" - I didn't know that.  All I ever heard was benzodiazepine
- BAD.  Whenever I asked what a benzodiazepine was I was given a
pretty dismal picture of an "evil" drug.  In fact, I think it's a good
drug - and it helped me out quite a bit.

Cheers, for now.
Purr