How safe is a low dose of longCyproheptadine to sleep

[Honeycomb]

I could do with some advice regarding the use of a low dose Cyproheptadine long term to support my sleep.

Sleep is light and interrupted. It has been an issue for me since about hitting the menopause a few years ago. I have tried many things, mainly focusing on bedtime routines, easily digestible foods and bedtime snacks - including Ray Peat’s advice.

Over the last two years, I dealt as best as I could with obvious glycogen issues, using night snacks and drinks. That seems to have settled and is hardly ever an issue these days. I ensure that I eating well in the day including in the evening. I track my food/drinks and seem to need about 2400-2500 calories to maintain my weight. I am 5ft7. Unsure about my weight.

But I still don’t sleep well (light sleep) and I wake up several times during the night.

I need to sleep. I value sleep and I think it is key to health. I don’t like taking supplements or drugs and I don’t take anything unless there is an absolute need.

I have been experimenting with Cyproheptadine. One dose at bedtime.
0.5mg didn’t do anything for me.
So I tried 1mg and it’s worked wonders.
I have taken 1mg on and off a few times in the week over the last 4 months as a little crutch.
Lately I decided to take it for a longer period of time.
I took 1mg for 29 nights in a row then stopped. That was a week ago. I am now having the same issues as before.

It gave me deep sleep, if/when awaking in the night I had no trouble falling back asleep and on my days off work, when I could stay in bed in the morning I was able to get an extra 2 to 3 hours of sleep.

My morning temperature has also been really good and my hands have been warm all day. I don’t really get the drowsy feeling that many people experience either, certainly nothing a cup of coffee cannot solve. I have been eating well and more. I am sure that I have put on a bit of weight. Being underweight at the age of 52, it’s a good thing for me.

I have done a lot of reading on Cyproheptadine on the forum and must have gone through at least half of the 60 pages of Cyproheptadine threads. Very interesting experiences have been shared and I shall continue reading. But some members have mentioned liver enzymes rising.

My question is how safe is 1mg every night and for how long?

 

[charlie]

It's not safe to take long term and will damage the liver. Ray Peat himself has said taking it long term will eventually back fire on you.

 

[Honeycomb]

It's not safe to take long term and will damage the liver. Ray Peat himself has said taking it long term will eventually back fire on you.

Thanks for replying Charlie. Where can I find this info please? Do you remember if it’s in a newsletter or an interview?
I know that Dr Peat recommended it for many purposes. I cannot think of anything negative that he may have said.

What is long term?

Not sleeping is also damaging. I am really struggling at the moment.

 

[charlie]

Thanks for replying Charlie. Where can I find this info please? Do you remember if it’s in a newsletter or an interview?
I know that Dr Peat recommended it for many purposes. I cannot think of anything negative that he may have said.

What is long term?

Not sleeping is also damaging. I am really struggling at the moment.

He has said it quite a few times but I do not remember where and I do not know what long term is. He basically said any of the serotonin antagonists will cause issues eventually. And I believe it does this by harming the liver.

 

[InChristAlone]

Yep I was on just .5 mg for 2 yrs and my liver enzymes were high.

 

[Mephisto]

i took it for a few months without issues but eventually you will build up a tolerance and it will stop working, i took pretty big doses too, labs were all fine at the time.

 

[koky]

i took it for a few months without issues but eventually you will build up a tolerance and it will stop working, i took pretty big doses too, labs were all fine at the time.

ray told me 1/2mg daily is fine - just not more

 

[InChristAlone]

ray told me 1/2mg daily is fine - just not more

As long as you are monitoring your liver function. You seriously do not want to block up your bile.

 

[Honeycomb]

Yep I was on just .5 mg for 2 yrs and my liver enzymes were high.

Thanks for sharing. Before experimenting with it, I read lots of the Cyproheptadine threads and I remember you saying this on one of them. When you say “for 2 years”, do you mean every day during that time or on and off? Did you have any symptoms indicating a potential issue prior to your blood tests?
I have sleep issues and it is really helping me. I am not planning on taking it for the rest of my life, just wondering how long I can continue to take it safely.

 

[Honeycomb]

ray told me 1/2mg daily is fine - just not more

That’s interesting. Thank you. My intention was to take 0.5mg but it didn’t give me the desired effects. Having said that, I didn’t try that dose for long enough. So I may try that again. It sounds sensible. It will just be harder to cut the pill into 8!

 

[Honeycomb]

i took it for a few months without issues but eventually you will build up a tolerance and it will stop working, i took pretty big doses too, labs were all fine at the time.

Thank you for sharing. I can imagine that after a while the effects diminish. What kind of dosage, if you don’t mind me asking, and for how long did you use it for? Was it for sleep issues? Thank you so much.

 

[Mephisto]

Thank you for sharing. I can imagine that after a while the effects diminish. What kind of dosage, if you don’t mind me asking, and for how long did you use it for? Was it for sleep issues? Thank you so much.

Yes it was for sleep, I've managed to improve it quite a bit through diet, when i was a child I often went 5-6 days with no sleep but sometimes I'll have periods of stress when it's really hard and need something else. I took it for about 4 or 5 months, probably started at 1mg but when up to 6-8mg after it stopped working so well, I didn't get withdrawals or negative symptoms from what I saw, I was using haidut's product so not perfect for tracking the dose I think.

 

[InChristAlone]

Thanks for sharing. Before experimenting with it, I read lots of the Cyproheptadine threads and I remember you saying this on one of them. When you say “for 2 years”, do you mean every day during that time or on and off? Did you have any symptoms indicating a potential issue prior to your blood tests?
I have sleep issues and it is really helping me. I am not planning on taking it for the rest of my life, just wondering how long I can continue to take it safely.

Everyday, I had trouble going off because of anxiety. I now realize my anxiety was a bad gut, too much vitamin A, backed up liver. I still don't sleep amazing, but I've had more good nights doing the detox diet than I ever had on the "Ray Peat Diet". Antihistamines work so well because they just keep things stuffed away in the liver. High histamine and mast cell problems are toxic bile.