Food and Vitamins

These are good to try when weaning off medication (but be sure to talk to your doctor first!) 

1. Sleep-boosting food. There are A LOT of foods that really help with sleep! Oatmeal with walnuts is a great food to eat at anytime, but especially before bed. Everyone's body is different and we all  process food differently. I recommend looking up the best foods for natural melatonin, the sleep inducing hormone, and see what works best for you (kale, cherry juice, almonds, chamomile tea and raw honey work for me). 
2. Eating healthier in general. Salads, power foods, high fiber, more calcium, all of it helps (beans, nuts, quinoa).
3. Not restricting calories. I'm not saying eat anything, but just make sure you aren't under-eating (especially if you're working out a lot). I learned very early that my low daily calorie intake didn't help my blood sugar levels, which can hinder serotonin production needed for sleep. 
4. Homeopathy. The jury is still out on whether this works, but I think it helped with my sleep anxiety, especially in the beginning. I spoke to my mom’s friend who is a professional homeopathy practitioner and she gave me her recommendation based on my symptoms. But I only did for the time she told me to. 
5. Ashwagandha Herbs. I took them for a few months to help me, especially in the beginning of my ‘sleep solutions,’ journey. I don’t know the long term effects, but I would say that you should use them to help in the beginning with the intent of weaning yourself off. For all I know it’s a placebo, but either way it helped me get to where I needed to. These are the ones I took:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005P0GTQY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1.   Here’s also an article about these vitamins. https://lifespa.com/5-reasons-use-ashwagandha-sleep/. 
6. Nutmeg. You can put a little in milk at night. It definitely works, but you shouldn't take too much either. I used it when I first started so it might be a good way to wean off of medication. 
7. Toast with Almond Butter. Healthy fats, helps with sleep and low in sugar! 
8. Warm Almond Milk. 6 skinned almonds that have been soaked all day or 1 tablespoon slivered almonds, 1 tablespoon walnuts, 1 tablespoon flax seed, 6 oz warm almond milk and any sweetener you like. Then put everything in a blender (all these ingredients are good for sleep, plus many other health related things). I drink this about 4-5 times a week (the night's I don't drink wine :).  If you don't like almond milk, you can use regular milk.