mstevens

Waking up around 4:30 AM and not being able to get back to sleep can be indicative of a few different things.

First of all, is there any chance you may be diabetic? If you are, uncontrolled diabetes can see blood sugar levels fluctuate. If blood sugar drops too much during the night, cortisol spikes to wake you up. This is essentially your body telling you that you need to eat something to raise blood sugar levels. To resolve this, you need to get diabetes under control.

Waking up around 4:00 AM is also associated with histamine intolerance. Histamine is involved in the waking up process, but if our body has issues with histamine (often due to any of a number of gastrointestinal issues) then we may have a degree of histamine intolerance which can wake us up a few hours early. This is an area where modern medicine is not entirely helpful as there are no specific lab tests for histamine intolerance. The way it's usually diagnosed is through an elimination diet - where high histamine foods are eliminated over a few weeks and you monitor symptoms for any changes. Histamine intolerance can get kind of complicated and to resolve it, you need to identify the root cause - which is often gut-related like dysbiosis, SIBO, Candida overgrowth etc. Best to Google histamine intolerance for more info. If you wish to seek medical assistance for histamine intolerance, you really need a functional medical doctor.

There are a number of supplements you might like to try:

Melatonin helps you to fall asleep, but not necessarily to stay asleep.

Magnesium Glycinate helps you to relax and can be very useful for sleep issues.

GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter which essentially calms the nervous system and helps sleep.

5HTP is an amino acid precursor used in the formation of Serotonin. If you suffer from anxiety or mild depression, this can help resolve that and improve sleep.

These are just a few thoughts and suggestions. As someone who had exactly the same issue of waking up at 4:00 AM, I have been through this myself!

15 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Just taking 1 cap of Magnesium Citrate (133 mg) after dinner, gives me a sound sleep.  Don't even wake to P any more.  Sleep time is around midnight, wake anytime between 0600-0800 hrs.

Good that Magnesium Citrate works well for you, and at such a low dose! It's a good form of Magnesium, particularly for constipation.

12 hours ago, how241 said:

I tried both for the first time ever. I took 1.6mg of melatonin and 1 Magnesium Glycinate.

When you say 1 Magnesium Glycinate, do you mean 1 capsule / tablet? How many mg is it? You can take 300 - 400 mg of Magnesium Glycinate before bed to help sleep, if required. If less works well for you, then all good!

If it's mould, do NOT use bleach. That will cause it to spit out massive numbers of spores, mycotoxins etc which will spread throughout your residence and could result in growth elsewhere as well as inhalation. Instead, use 12% Hydrogen Peroxide or a dedicated anti-mould product like Concrobium or Decon 30.

If you have sufficient savings / income to have a pleasant life, Australia would be a much better choice than Thailand.

Thailand is great if you prefer to eat Thai food all the time, if you have no savings / low income and need a cheap lifestyle, if you wish to chase hookers etc.

I think Australia has one of the best lifestyles in the world, so long as you have adequate income / savings - and that makes it a better choice.

It all comes back to the sort of relationship you wish to have.

Some guys are happy to be in a relationship with a lady they support financially. This is often the case if you're dating a much younger lady / a former bargirl / a lady who would otherwise be out of your league. In relationships like this, money is certainly a bit part of the reason she's with you.

Personally, I prefer to date a woman closer to my own age who is educated, enjoys work and values a degree of financial independence.

If you are dating a lady and supporting her financially, you need to be clear from the outset the level of financial support you're able to provide AND STICK WITH IT. It might be that you pay for everything and give her 20,000 baht per month which she can do with as she pleases She then has to plan how to use that money accordingly. If she runs out of money before the end of the month, she has to wait until the calendar rolls over to the next month.

Many of the problems with constant requests for money are because reasonable boundaries were not set from the outset. Be fair, but firm.

On 6/29/2025 at 1:18 PM, djayz said:

Can anyone recommend a good breakfast place in BKK? I do like the breakfasts served in some of the pubs here, but I'm looking for a place / buffet which serves coldcuts, cheese and freshly baked bread and some good coffee. I assume one of the hotels, but which one? 

If you're willing to spring for it, the buffet breakfasts in the likes of the JW Marriott and the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit are superb....but pricey.

Double Tree by Hilton on Sukhumvit soi 2 has a very good buffet breakfast spread with the fresh baked bread, croissants, cold cuts etc, and is not as expensive as the aforementioned two. I think it was about 550 baht or so last time I went which, admittedly, was a year or so ago.

On 3/24/2025 at 9:30 PM, Globenauta said:

Someone also suggested magnesium glycinate, is it helpful or not? And if so, is it available in Thailand?

Magnesium Glycinate is an excellent choice and can be very helpful to those who have sleep issues. It's an inexpensive supplement and worth trying. Try taking 300 - 400 mg before bed and see how that works for you.

I can't access it from New Zealand.

Perhaps a long shot, but could it have been hacked by Cambodian hackers who have been messing with various websites in Thailand?

55 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Like everything the government does. it's free for tax recipients, it's only costs the tax-payers. 

So you pay for it in taxes but it's free. Right...!

On 6/5/2025 at 6:07 AM, DonniePeverley said:

"Free health care through taxation."

Err, if you pre-pay for it with your taxes, how can you call it free?! "Pre-paid", perhaps?

On 6/4/2025 at 11:11 PM, billd766 said:

IMHO the "social media" should be regulated and each poster should be accountable for what he/she writes.

Regulated? No. But absolutely, people should be hel accountable for what they say, especially in a case like this when those words can be terribly harmful.

12 hours ago, JackSinclair said:

Looks good.......

 

 

Fake!

17 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

Health?

Money?

Sick of life?

 

My guess is all 3

I think for some foreign retirees in Thailand, things didn't work out how they had hoped / expected. Perhaps they miss home or friends and family from home. Perhaps their relationship with a Thai woman didn't work out. Perhaps they never felt part of the community and always like an outsider. Perhaps increasing prices made the lifestyle they sought unachievable. Thailand is a fantastic place for a holiday but it doesn't always work out as a place to stay long term. I think, for whatever reason, it just doesn't work out for some guys as they had hoped and that disappointment and lack of genuine life satisfaction can cause them to become grumpy old men.

2 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Gawd, surely she's a he. 

 

Got to be one of those transgender dudes 

Yep, according to UK press, born male but now female: 

https://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/25196966.norfolk-smuggler-flew-back-thailand-drugs/

Details of entry bans and blacklists are not shared between Thailand and India. So long as you don't have a denied entry or blacklisting stamp in your passport, you will have no problems entering Thailand.

5 hours ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

Angle Witch and G-Spot gone????  That's how long it's been since I've been down there.  Hope those that go have fun and spend a lot of money.  It will really help the economy.

Angelwitch still going strong. G Spot long gone.

In the absence of other symptom, wanting to urinate not long after consuming coffee is nothing to worry about. Remember, coffee is a diuretic and caffeine increases urine production, which can lead to more frequent urination.

13 hours ago, lambshankredemption said:

 

How was this discovered? Did you have actual stomach issues or did you just ask for specific tests? 
 

I’m already taking Magnesium Glycinate (together with L-theanine and L-tryptophan) before going bed. 

I went to a functional medical doctor and did a stool test and an OATs test. One gives a breakdown of all the bacteria species in your gut whereas the other shows various metabolites that relate to a more limited number of gut bacteria, Candida and other nasties. I got these tests in Australia and I don't know what is available in Thailand but I imagine some stool tests must be available.

I had terrible sleep patterns for a while. I go to bed around 10 PM and would wake between 3 AM and 4 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. This went on for a long time and I tried everything from all the usual supplements, all the right sleep practices etc. Nothing worked. Eventually it was discovered I had stomach / digestive issues. As it was explained to me, the microbes in my gut were producing gas and whatnot and that was likely causing inflammation, increasing cortisol and waking me up early. It wasn't until I took antimicrobials to sort out my digestive issues that my sleep normalised. Even now, I still take two supplements before bed which help me get a deep sleep, 5HTP and Magnesium Glycinate.

I had sleeping issues on and off and tried various supplements.

Melatonin worked to help me fall asleep quickly but didn't help me staying asleep all night long. I'd often wake up around 3:00 or 4:00 AM and be unable to get back to sleep.

What worked best for me was the supplement 5HTP. It's a naturally occurring amino acid that promotes a positive mood and helps with sleep. It's non-addictive and you can take it for a period of time. I take 100 mg, but you can take  higher dose. Note, it's better to take it for several weeks as it takes a while for it to work and it's not used like, say, a one-off sleeping pill that will put you to sleep immediately. It's cheap and safe and worth trying if you have sleep issues. I take it shortly before bed and combine it with 100 mg of Magnesium Glycinate. Together, they help me get a decent night's sleep.

12 hours ago, yang123 said:

Playskool (sp) is in Nana Plaza, not Soi Cowboy.  

Try again ....

Playskool in Nana closed many years ago.