Happy Friday! I'm still trying to get back on track with my regular posting schedule. Coming off of a no-buy challenge and then going straight to New York was probably not a great idea. I should have a fit review of some sorts for Monday. 😅 In lieu of my usual Fit Review Friday, I have a post written by my husband. While I sleep like a log, he tends to twist and turn. He's not an easy sleeper while I love taking naps that last for hours. If you have a hard time falling asleep at night, you may want to keep reading.
Falling asleep has always been something of a challenge for me, especially on Sunday nights. I’m talking about having an issue with this for decades, before terms like “the Sunday scaries” saw usage. I used to also have a problem staying asleep. I’d say that over the last few years, that’s improved, but sleeping would sometimes cause me to have a panic attack. I’d start drifting to sleep, then my mind would do this stupid thing of thinking about how short life is and I’d freak out that sleeping was a waste of time. I’d wake up and just start doing random things around the apartment like cleaning. Basically any type of busy work to distract my mind and get me to the point of exhaustion.
One day while watching a cooking video on YouTube, the video was sponsored by a product called Beam. Beam has a few products that supposedly helps with various things like giving you energy, helping you recover after exercise, hydration, and the one that caught my attention was helping you fall asleep.
For a few weeks, I went back and forth on whether or not to try it. Honestly, I don’t put much faith in companies that are like “take this and feel that” marketing. Water with electrolytes after a workout? Nah, I’m good with regular tap water. But ultimately, I decided to try it. The video’s creator had a decent discount code and I thought if it did work, then I win. If it didn’t work, then I was just out of some money that I would’ve spent on some other random shit like lotto.
If you got this far and just want to know the yes and no if Beam works, then the answer is yes and if you’re interested in it, here’s a referral link. But I would recommend reading a little further.
You can get Beam in a pill form but I decided to do the hot cocoa version simply because one thing that psychiatrists will tell you is that having a ritual of sorts helps build habit. Having a cup of hot cocoa 30 minutes before going to sleep provides a certain level of mental unwinding.
TASTE
Does it taste like hot cocoa? Kinda. It has monk fruit instead of sugar and I’m personally not a fan of sugar substitutes; natural or otherwise. When I make it, I add in unsweetened almond milk to help alter the taste a little bit. I also add a little bit of some Crate and Barrel hot cocoa mix that we have left over. Long story on the C&B hot cocoa mix, but just know, we always tend to have a lot left over for a while.
WHAT'S IN IT?
Anyway, when I shared the link to Beam with some friends to let them know I was drinking it, they were like “of course that’ll put you to sleep, it’s magnesium, CBD, and melatonin”. Without a doubt, this stuff knocks me out. I’m talking like NyQuil level of knocking me out and it keeps me asleep throughout the night.
POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS?
The one thing that I’m not keen on is that my first few months drinking it came with some pretty serious and slightly disturbing dreams. I’m not usually a dreamer when I sleep and when I do dream, I don’t realize it’s a dream. On Beam though, it’s totally different. I find myself well aware that I’m dreaming and then I’m in the dream asking myself why on earth am I dreaming these things. An example of one of the more messed up dreams is that snakes were going after our cats and trying to eat and suffocate them and I was running around trying to rip off the snakes from our cats, while asking “why am I dreaming this?”.
Just weird dreams. However, over time, the dreams became way less frequent. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I had a dream, so I chalk it up to my body adjusting to Beam. Given that, the dreams are probably a “your mileage may vary” type of scenario. Maybe you’ll have them, maybe you won’t. Maybe they’ll be really odd dreams or maybe they’ll be the best dreams of your life, ever.
VERDICT
Will I continue using Beam? Yes. As long as it’s giving me that NyQuil knock out feeling, I’ll use it. It’s nice not having a panic attack as I’m falling asleep. It’s not cheap at about $70 for a month’s supply, but personally, it’s a price I’m willing to pay for the results I’m feeling. Will I try their other products or flavors? That I’m not sure of. I don’t workout enough to feel that I need a recovery drink and I don’t feel like I’m lacking energy, which seem to be the other two areas that their products focus on.
If you’re interested in trying Beam for yourself, receive 50% off your first order with our referral link. Using the code gives us a one time $20 off our monthly subscription.
(50% off your first order.)
I have a similar issue with sleeping. I have a hard time falling asleep. I tried melatonin pills, which worked great for a while, but then over time, I found myself waking up at 4AM, wide awake and unable to go back to sleep. My guess is that my body got used to it and then once the melatonin wore off, I was waking up. I did try the CBD sleep pills from Vena, but found I'd wake up in the morning with bad dry mouth. I'd be curious to try this mix and see if it is a different effect for me. Perhaps the combination of all three isn't as potent as taking one ingredient and ending up with the side effects from only taking one in higher concentration (if that makes sense!) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi there, if you do end up trying Beam, I would love to know what your experience is like. (If you also experience weird dreams, etc.)
DeleteLeslie's husband here. I haven't had any side effects outside of the dreams so far that I've noticed. I have had side affects with melatonin (wake up really groggy) and valerian root tea (never felt like I got into a deep sleep). Been doing Beam for a few months and I think the routine part has helped. I do notice that if I take Beam and try to push past the sleepiness and not go to sleep, then I do have an unrestful night of sleep. But if I go to sleep the minute I feel the tiredness start to wash over me, then the sleeping tends to be deep and undisturbed. Because of that, I tend to not take it on the weekends because video games, et al keep me up later than weeknights.
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