[kitsune66]

I started drinking sleepy tea to help me stay asleep at night but until recently it has been giving me disturbing side effects, the other night I drank some right before bed and my mind was awake but my body was shutting down, i felt like i was in between states and it felt very much like sleep paralysis. I would wake out of it instantly and get creeped out because I wasn't fully sleeping. I would try hard to stay awake but my eyes were closing and felt like i had no control over my body. My mind was racing through thoughts and it was very scary. I stopped drinking it completely but now i've been having vivid nightmares every night, the kind that makes you want to cry when awakening.

 

[vanuti vetru]

It was probably anxiety that caused this. I had similar symptoms when trying N-acetycysteine for sleep. My mind wasn't ready for the deep relaxing action of the substance, leading to sudden wake-ups and panic after just minutes of sleep. Still it's odd the effect was that strong for you from just an ordinary herbal tea. Looking at the composition of this product there seems to be nothing in it that would induce such effects by itself. Do you take meds? Perhaps chamomile interacted with them? (it's a strong inhibitor of certain enzymes)

 

[Allez]

I guess if you're taking any meds, look at the interactions with the ingredients.

Chamomile, spearmint, lemongrass, tilia flowers, blackberry leaves, orange blossoms, hawthorn and rosebuds.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/336160-the-side-effects-of-sleepytime-tea/

Bolded are the three primary ingredients in Sleepytime.

Has anything else changed beside drinking that?

 

[forestx5]

kitsune66 doesn't say what kind of herbal tea. I tried Kava Kava a long time ago and it does have a noticeable but mild sedative effect. I never had any success with melatonin or other natural remedies. My sleep issues were more than natural remedies could handle. I have had episodes of severe insomnia and found some relief with 75mg of Elavil (Amitriptyline) or 75mg of seroquel for inducing and maintaining sleep. My insomnia did eventually resolve and I am sleeping almost normally again. What a relief.

 

[vanuti vetru]

kitsune66 doesn't say what kind of herbal tea. I tried Kava Kava a long time ago and it does have a noticeable but mild sedative effect. I never had any success with melatonin or other natural remedies. My sleep issues were more than natural remedies could handle. I have had episodes of severe insomnia and found some relief with 75mg of Elavil (Amitriptyline) or 75mg of seroquel for inducing and maintaining sleep. My insomnia did eventually resolve and I am sleeping almost normally again. What a relief.

Name of the tea is in the topic: http://www.celestialseasonings.com/products/herbal/sleepytime-classic

I can recommend Kava Kava as well, for me it's the best thing for sleep that even surpasses benzos. But it's not legal everywhere.