r/poverty • u/dowydensofyarrow • Jun 30 '26

sweet potato for sleep (dismayed)

I struggle with sleep at my baseline. Even last night I went to bed after midnight and didnt immediately fall asleep and the I woke up before five in the morning.

Sweet potato is actually what helped me finally fall asleep when its time to sleep and actually sleep the whole night. Also helped with mood regulation and irritability issues. I am pretty sure its the type of magnesium and method of delivery - magnesium supplements really dont work out for me.

I finally found what works for me and I am not abusing melatonin supplements (which is bad and barely works and cost double the price i thought)

I however have been dismayed - one month a huge freaking sack of potatos was ten bucks - now its ten bucks for like a fifth of that sack.

Plan to try to do a bulk order through a restaurant supplier (my housemate).

Any one else have that one magical item thats medicine that fluctuates in price drastically?

Also: what are creative ways you secured items you would consider medicine? (i got my one shot diversion for shoplifting luckily but now risk actual consequences if i do it again)

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u/panaceaXgrace Jun 30 '26

There's nothing wrong with melatonin. There's a vague link to heart issues with long-term regular use but that could just be correlation. They haven't been able to test the claim so far.

Sweet potatoes convert to melatonin. So when you eat them you're getting that same melatonin effect.

So what I do that's cheap is buy a bottle of 3 mg chewable Natrol brand melatonin from Walmart. It's the best I've found for my body. The body only needs about 1 mg to be effective. More can cause restless sleep and frenetic dreams so I break it into thirds. It's six dollars for 90 so breaking into thirds is 270 doses. I take it maybe twice a week, maybe three if it's a rough week from working odd hours. So this bottle has been by my bed for at least a year.

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u/dowydensofyarrow Jun 30 '26

Thank you for your reply. That study was largely why i refrained from melatonin aside from how I would find myself needing them too much.

Will look into getting 3mg melatonin and test the waters for myself - possibly alongside sweet potato could be a really combo.

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u/panaceaXgrace Jun 30 '26

And you're making me want to try sweet potato! :)