Anyone can have trouble maintaining sleep cycles, but older adults are far more likely to have difficulty sleeping than younger adults. Often this will simply result in them taking daytime naps or experiencing daytime drowsiness, but it can quickly develop into a level of insomnia characterized as chronic as well.
Chronic insomnia in elderly people is very dangerous, as it can easily cause issues like urinary retention, blurred vision, and cognitive impairment, which can spiral into complications that put their health or life at risk. This is why many older adults will turn to prescription medications for the treatment of insomnia.
Unfortunately, potentially inappropriate medication use can often make your situation even worse, as while they may ease your sleep problems, prescription drugs can also cause side effects, interact badly with blood pressure medications, cause you to develop withdrawal symptoms, or harm your health.
That is why OTC sleep aids for elderly people are a better choice. The only issue is, with so many over the counter medications on the market, it can be hard to know which to pick. That is why we have made this guide to the best sleep aids for elderly people, to help all older adults enjoy good sleep hygiene.
The 5 Best Non-Prescription Sleeping Pills For Elderly Patients
RestAgain – The Best Sleep Aid For Elderly People Overall
RestAgain is a natural sleeping pill made by FA Nutra that has long been popular in the United Kingdom and which is now seeing a boom in sales since being launched recently in the United States. It is ideal for older adults and the geriatric population as it is both safe for them to use and extremely effective.
It has been carefully designed to help people fall asleep, stay asleep, and enjoy a normal sleep wake cycle, without putting them at an increased risk of experiencing any complications or adverse effects.
The RestAgain formula boasts ashwagandha root, l-theanine, magnesium, valerian root, GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), 5-htp (5-hydroxytryptophan), calcium, melatonin, vitamin b6, vitamin b12, and vitamin d, all of which are optimally dosed and scientifically proven to possess sedative effects.
Melatonin is a hormone that is produced by the pineal gland in the human brain and required to control your sleep wake cycle. Oral melatonin supplements boost your production and levels, aiding sleep onset and REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep, the most restful kind), so you wake up feeling fresh (1).
Ashwagandha extract is made from the roots of the evergreen winter cherry shrub. It can relieve stress, anxiety, and high blood sugar levels, promote calmness and relaxation, and boost concentration, focus, memory, sleep health and quality, and testosterone production (2).
The amino acid 5-htp can cross the blood brain barrier and stimulate the pineal gland, to aid the production of a neurotransmitter called serotonin. This will promote calmness, relaxation, and good sleep latency and sleep quality, improve your mood, and reduce anxiety, stress, and sleep disorders (3).
Ashwagandha and 5-htp also work especially well in a sleep medication that contains both, such as RestAgain.
L-theanine is another amino acid that promotes calmness and relaxation, but which also boosts immune system, brain, and spinal cord health and functions. This will help you get a good night’s sleep and avoid any of the side effects that stimulants can cause, preventing them from causing sleep disturbances (4).
The neurotransmitter GABA is a melatonin receptor agonist that promotes relaxation and combats stress and anxiety (5). Valerian root extract will boost your natural GABA production and make its effects more potent, so the two work especially well in natural sleep aids that contain them both (6).
Calcium and magnesium are both minerals that improve sleep quality (7)(8). Between them they can promote calmness, happiness, relaxation, and REM sleep, soothe the muscles, boost sleep onset, and prevent cramps, low blood pressure, dry mouth, and other issues that can cause a sleep disturbance.
Vitamin b6 and vitamin b12 both boost neurotransmitter biosynthesis, brain health, the production of testosterone, and your metabolism, circadian rhythm, recovery time, and overall health. They also treat depression and mental issues and promote healthy sleep patterns and more restful sleep (9)(10).
Vitamin d then improves your mood, nutrient absorption, and recovery time, promotes relaxation, and prevents vitamin d deficiencies and the health issues that they can cause. This will make sure that you can fall asleep quickly and enjoy a better sleep schedule (11).
With its diverse formula, RestAgain can promote sleep enhancements from every angle. It will improve sleep quality, prevent sleep problems, treat depression, anxiety, and insomnia, and make sure that you wake up feeling totally refreshed each day, without putting you at risk of experiencing any side effects.
Throw in its very reasonable price tag and ability to treat insomnia, and RestAgain is easily the best sleeping pill for elderly people who are having trouble sleeping or dealing with anything from chronic to transient insomnia.
Pros
- The most powerful natural sleep supplement available over the counter without a prescription
- Will not cause any adverse effects or withdrawal symptoms
- Uses only optimal doses of high quality, clinically proven natural ingredients that work well together
- Very reasonably priced
- Helps you fall asleep, stay asleep, and enjoy better sleep quality
Cons
- As one of the newer sleep aids for elderly people, reviews are still quite limited
- Can only be bought directly from the official RestAgain website
Luna Sleep Aid – The Best Organic Sleeping Pills For Elderly People
Luna Sleep Aid is a fairly priced, organic, herbal sleep supplement made by Nested Naturals that has been created to help you enjoy good sleep hygiene and quality, so that older adults can wake up feeling totally fresh and invigorated and avoid issued like daytime drowsiness and restless leg syndrome.
The Luna Sleep Aid formula consists of melatonin, l-theanine, GABA, valerian root extract, chamomile extract, lemon balm extract, passionflower extract, and hops extract.
The first four were seen in RestAgain and they will again provide the same benefits, only to different degrees, due to the differing dosages. They will promote sleep, relaxation, and calmness, prevent anxiety and stress, and stop side effects from certain other medications keeping you awake.
Chamomile extract is widely consumed either in chamomile tea or sleep aids as it contains the chemical apigenin. This relaxes the central nervous system, relieving anxiety and stress, promoting calmness, and helping combat many issues that cause difficulty sleeping, such as sleep apnea (12).
Lemon balm extract comes from a plant in the mint family that is rich in minerals and vitamin c. Some research shows it can have a similar effect to chamomile tea, as it’s said to be capable of relieving stress, anxiety, and insomnia and improving the quality of sleep a person gets by up to 42% (13).
Passionflower extract is claimed to relieve or completely cure anxiety, hysteria, insomnia, and seizures. This is said to be down to it having the ability to boost a person’s natural production of GABA, which would make it significantly easier for them to relax and fall asleep (14).
You then have hops extract, which is said to have antioxidant properties and be capable of reducing anxiety, depression, insomnia, stress, and tension, and combatting various other sleep issues and disturbances, to help you fall asleep quicker and enjoy a much better circadian rhythm (15).
Unfortunately, while it is one of the better sleeping pills on the market for older adults, there are a couple of issues with the Luna Sleep Aid that we do need to address.
Not only are some of the proven ingredients present in quantities other than their optimal dosage, but two of the new ingredients need more research to conclusively prove that they work, while another may even cause you to feel hungry, which itself can disturb your sleep cycle.
These issues aside though, there is still enough evidence that the Luna Sleep Aid can help you sleep better and is unlikely to cause side effects. It is therefore still one of the best sleep aids for elderly people seeking sleeping pills that are totally organic to try.
Pros
- Over 50 percent of its ingredients have been clinically proven to be useful in sleep aids
- Very reasonably priced
- All of its ingredients are 100 percent organic and will not cause any real side effects
Cons
- More evidence is needed to conclusively prove that some of the ingredients work
- Some of the ingredient dosages are too low to produce their optimal effects
- One of the ingredients can make people feel hungry, which can make falling asleep more difficult
- There have been complaints about it having an unpleasant taste and smell
Olly Sleep Gummies – The Best Gummy Sleep Supplement For Elderly Patients
Taking sleeping pills is a great way to help people sleep, yet many older adults have a hard time or just don’t like swallowing lots of pills or capsules. Olly Sleep Gummies are great alternative for these people, as they are a nice tasting, enjoyable to use gummy supplement with a delightful Blackberry Zen flavor.
Olly Sleep Gummies use a formula that is one hundred percent natural and gluten free. It also contains only active ingredients that we have already looked at in melatonin, l-theanine, lemon balm extract, chamomile flower extract, and passionflower extract, although many of the dosages are quite different.
The active ingredients are then supported by some natural colors, flavors, sweeteners and stabilizers, which are used to create the bulk, texture and flavor of the gummies, rather than to benefit your health.
Melatonin and l-theanine will again tackle the underlying cause of multiple sleep disorders, to promote rest, relaxation, and REM sleep, improve immune and nervous system health and functions, and regulate your sleep wake cycle and circadian rhythm.
Chamomile flower extract reduces anxiety, inflammation, insomnia, sleep problems, and stress, promotes calmness and relaxation, improves sleep onset and duration, and optimizes your sleep cycle, without putting you at risk of any side effects.
Lemon balm extract is said to promote relaxation, mood and brain function improvements, and better levels of anxiety and stress.
Passionflower extract is then said to improve your natural GABA production, make you feel tired, combat anxiety, hysteria, insomnia, and seizures, and make falling and staying asleep much easier.
The are, unfortunately, again a couple of issues with Olly Sleep Gummies that we do need to point out.
While some of the ingredients have not been conclusively proven to work, others are present in doses that are too low to produce optimal effects. Some older adults have also complained about the gummies getting stuck in their teeth.
Despite its shortcomings though, if you are seeking a reasonably priced natural sleep aid that is enjoyable to use, will not cause side effects, and does not require you to swallow any capsules or pills, Olly Sleep Gummies are one of the best options for you to try.
Pros
- Many of its ingredients have been proven to help you sleep better
- A good option for people who can’t or don’t like swallowing sleeping pills or tablets
- Gluten free and very reasonably priced
- Very unlikely to cause side effects
Cons
- Some of its ingredients are not conclusively proven to help you sleep
- All the proven ingredients are present in doses that are too low to produce optimal effects
- Some older adults have complained about the gummies getting stuck in their teeth
Nuun Rest – The Best Dissolvable Sleep Supplement For Elderly Patients
Nuun Rest is unlike any of the other sleep aids for elderly people that we have looked at as, instead of being swallowed or chewed, it is designed to be dissolved in water and consumed as a drink. This makes it a good option for people who don’t like gummies, pills, or capsules.
Its stated goals are to promote calmness and relaxation, help you fall asleep and sleep well, and relieve issues like COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), which is common in older adults, especially if they smoke, and can lead to a poor quality of sleep.
It aims to achieve this by using just two active ingredients, magnesium and tart cherry juice powder. These are then supported by a number of different flavors, colors, sweeteners, and preservatives, while the formula is totally keto friendly and dairy, gluten, GMO, soy, and artificial additive free.
As we have seen in other sleep aids for elderly people, magnesium calms and relaxes the brain, body, muscles, and nervous system, promotes recovery, and prevents dehydration, cramps, and many other issues that can cause sleep problems, to help create the ideal sleeping conditions.
Tart cherry juice powder is claimed to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that boost your natural melatonin production, sleep quality, recovery time, physical performance, and muscle function, and reduce muscle soreness, inflammation, and many other issues that can cause sleep problems (16).
This combination of effects will promote recovery, rest, and repair, to ensure that you get a good night’s sleep and wake up feeling fresh and rejuvenated, while the supporting ingredients make the product enjoyable to use and create its Blackberry Vanilla and Lemon Chamomile flavor options.
The issues with Nuun Rest stem from the fact that tart cherry powder needs more proof that it actually delivers on all of its claims and both of its active ingredients are present in quite low doses.
Needing to be drunk just before bed with a large amount of water could be an issue for some as well, as it may cause them to wake up to urinate, disrupting their sleep cycle and lowering their quality of sleep, while the dilution can cause the ingredients to have a short half life, reducing their efficacy.
Regardless of this though, if you are looking for sleep aids for elderly people that don’t require you to use any capsules, gummies, or tablets, Nuun Rest is still one of the best options for you to try.
Pros
- Promotes physical and mental calmness and relaxation
- Contains only natural ingredients
- Reasonably priced and sold in a choice of two flavors
- Keto friendly and dairy, gluten, GMO, soy, and artificial additive free
Cons
- There have been complaints about a chalky taste or it not dissolving well in cold water and leaving residue in your cup
- Drinking too much liquid right before bed may cause you to wake up to urinate during the night
- Tart cherry powder needs more research to conclusively prove it works
Fenotrex – The Best Sleeping Pill For Elderly People On A Budget
Fenotrex is a natural sleep aid produced by the Health Research Institute. They say it’s a fast acting sleep pill that promotes restful sleep, relaxation, and better concentration and sleep patterns, treats insomnia, anxiety, and overstimulation, and prevents daytime drowsiness, exhaustion, and sleep disruptions.
The Fenotrex formula features calcium, magnesium, vitamin b6, and a proprietary blend of valerian root extract, hops flower extract, skullcap extract, chamomile flower extract, GABA, passionflower extract, l-taurine, and inositol. It also contains no additives and a whole serving fits into just a single pill.
We have seen calcium, magnesium, vitamin b6, valerian root extract, hops flower extract, chamomile flower extract, GABA, and passionflower extract before in various dosages in the other sleep aids for elderly adults that we have looked at and they will again provide the same benefits to some extent.
A skullcap is a flowering plant in the mint family that is said to improve your mood, combat anxiety and inflammation, boost brain, heart, and immune system health and functions, and treat chronic insomnia (17).
L-taurine is an amino acid that improves brain, eye, heart, skeletal muscle, and nervous system health and functions, reduces your “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, promotes fat burning and weight loss, and enhances your overall health, while some studies even claim that it can be used to treat insomnia (18).
Inositol is a type of natural sugar some studies say regulates blood sugar and cholesterol levels, insulin sensitivity, and your mood, aids weight loss and serotonin production, treats polycystic ovary syndrome, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stress, promotes relaxation, and helps you fall asleep far quicker (19).
The main issue with Fenotrex is that most of its ingredients are present in doses that are too low, while a couple also need more research to conclusively prove that they work. However, this should not be a big surprise, given its low price tag, and most sleep aids in this price range will suffer from a similar issue.
So, while it admittedly will not be the right choice for everyone, Fenotrex can still be one of the best sleep aids for elderly adults who are looking to improve sleep schedules, promote calmness and relaxation, and combat anxiety, stress, and insomnia while shopping on a very tight budget.
Pros
- Contains a number of ingredients that are proven to combat anxiety, insomnia, and sleep issues
- One of the cheapest natural sleep aids for elderly adults on the market
- Has a very small serving size
Cons
- Only available for purchase directly from the official Fenotrex website
- Reviews from past users are hard to find
- Some of the ingredients are not conclusively proven to combat anxiety, insomnia, or sleep issues
- Most of the proven ingredients are used in doses that are too low to produce their optimal effects
What Is Best Sleeping Pill For Elderly Patients?
Sleep aids for elderly patients are just as effective as a prescription medication for the treatment of insomnia, yet don’t put you at risk of side effects. There are a number of very good sleeping pills on the market today to choose from, although the best choice for the majority of older adults will be RestAgain.
A non-clin sleep med that contains only the optimal doses of numerous natural ingredients proven by randomized controlled trials to promote sleep improvements and treat the underlying cause of many common sleep disorders, it is almost guaranteed to stop most older adults from having trouble sleeping.
If they do not sound like the right sleeping pills for you, one of the other sleep aids for elderly people on our list surely will. For everyone else though, we highly recommend you avoid alcohol consumption, try RestAgain, and see how it improves sleep hygiene and stops you having difficulty sleeping for yourself.
