Zhou Drift Off Premium Sleep Aid with Valerian Root, Melatonin, GABA | Sleep Well, Wake Refreshed | 30 Servings, 60 Veggie Caps

This is the real deal. I am a 34 year old mom of a 5 year old and 11 month old with a house full of pets. I work as well and you'd think I'd be exhausted by the end of the day (which I am), but I'm one of those "lucky" ones whose mind has thee hardest time shutting down. I will reel through the day's conversations, my to-do lists for tomorrow, you get the picture. I also struggle from anxiety (surprise) and mild depression in the winter. I was oh so close to heading to my general practitioner this winter (and we live in Fairbanks, so winters are EXTRA hard with the lack of direct sunlight) and getting back on Lexapro (I used that years ago when I was going through a tough time) and with a side of Xanax to help with the initial sleeplessness and anxiety that comes when I start Lexapro.Then, I decided to hop on Amazon and start reading up on any new sleep helpers like this. I did a TON of research, reading reviews on all the top rated products (did I mention I'm a perfectionist too?). I tried Calm, the pure magnesium supplement. Sure it might have helped somewhere in my body (and definitely gave me a BM every morning!) but nothing I could notice. So I decided to bite the bullet and go with DriftOff. I loved all of the ingredients, especially Tryptophan and Melatonin. I started taking it and it did just what it promises - I very gradually drift into a deep sleep. It doesn't conk me out like Xanax to the point where I don't wake up if I hear my baby crying which is a HUGE plus and I NEVER feel drugged at all when I wake up even prematurely in the night. Although I still will wake up in the middle of the night now and again (it's just habit from breastfeeding for so many months even though I'm done), the other thing I noticed is that the normal anxiety I deal with in the middle of the night (because my brain starts going over EVERYTHING yet again) has been absolutely gone after I'd been taking DriftOff for a week and a half. I mean, I actually tried to get myself to feel anxious about something but wasn't happening. Then after a couple weeks of using it, I was feeling happier during the day (this is the L-tryptophan affecting my serotonin levels I'm thinking). I couldn't believe it. So this product doesn't just help me drift off, but its residual effects help me during the day. I decided to add some more pure L-Tryptophan from Superior Labs (thee most pure) during the day to keep the serotonin affect going and I couldn't be happier or healthier.Honestly, I am very critical especially when this may seem a little expensive. But $20/month is SO worth the very real, therapeutic results this product has given me, especially when a Lexapro and Xanax cocktail with insurance would still cost me $15/month. Give it a try and give it a full month to see how it might help you with more than just sleep too.Stepping off the soapbox now...

A bit about me just to give an idea of how it may work with you: I am in the 25-30 age range, 5'6" 140lb, I have difficulty falling asleep, no difficulty staying asleep, and difficulty waking up in the morning because I fall asleep late, and do not feel rested, so I tend to sleep in a lot. I have also never taken melatonin before, so the dose in this supplement works on me; however, other reviewers stated they wanted a higher dose.One thing I realized with this supplement is that I need to take it on an empty stomach. For example, eat dinner at 6pm, then eat nothing after that and take the 2 capsules 30 minutes before bedtime, this way it becomes absorbed quickly and I can feel the effects strongly at 30 minutes, and after an hour it becomes difficult to resist going to sleep. If, however, I take this soon after eating a full meal (1-2 hours), or with food then it can take 1-1.5 hours to feel the effect, and even then it is not as strong. In general one should not eat before sleep for other health reasons as well, but it really helps with this supplement. I do have a sensitive stomach (too much caffeine makes me nauseous) so these capsules do make me feel slightly nauseous when taken on an empty stomach, but it is tolerable, and if I go to sleep within 30 minutes I fall asleep and forget about it.This supplement has decreased my time to fall asleep from about 1-3 hours to about 15-30 minutes (depending on other factors). It had no effect on me staying asleep/waking up at night, and it had no effect on how rested or not rested I feel in the morning. I have used it daily for a week before writing this review.When taken on an empty stomach, I feel a gradual calming, slowing, and heaviness in my body while my mind stays clear. When the effects are fully set in, most positions I lay down in on my bed feel comfortable, where before I would toss and turn for a while. Of course, I have to also relax my mind and try not to think of anything to relax into falling asleep, but the supplement really helps with the other half of it. So it's like me and the supplement each do half the job, if I don't consciously relax my mind and stay up talking to my husband or doing something, then it is harder to fall asleep with a busy, thinking mind and the supplement may not work as well.I'm happy with this product and will continue to use it as long as I need to. My only concern is whether the issues will return if I stop using it.

This supplement is helpful when used as a sleep-aid after a stressful day, or for when you need to get back into a good sleep schedule. The herbs and amino acids in this supplement are naturally relaxing, and the melatonin tells your body it's time to go to sleep. This is not going to knock you out or make you fall asleep. For more severe sleep issues, you are definitely going to need something stronger. However, I do find it helpful for those nights when I know I should go to bed, but I'm still stimulated from the stressful day I just had. I see the relatively small amount of melatonin in this product as a plus, as it gives you more flexibility on the dosage. If you just need a little help getting to sleep, you can take one capsule--if you want the full dose, take two capsules. Note that the serving size is two capsules for this supplement, so that does make this product a little pricey overall if you take two every night (at the current price that's ~20 dollars/month).Overall, the product is what I expected, and I'm a repeat buyer. Just be realistic with your expectations. If it were my first time trying something for sleep, I would probably try plain melatonin first as it's a lot more cost effective compared to this combination supplement. If that doesn't cut it or you're feeling too anxious to fall asleep with just melatonin alone, this is definitely worth a shot. If you have a severe sleep disorder, go to your doctor for a prescription drug--this probably won't cut it for more than mild or moderate occasional insomnia.