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ZMA = nightmares?!

McCoy1989

New member
Just wondering if this was a side effect... I ended up giving away a bottle of ZMA caps because every night I took them I would have ridiculous nightmares. I would take a week off, no nightmares. Day 1 back on every time and every consecutive night after I would have crazy dreams. Does it cause increased arousal?If so I would think that this would keep me in lower stages of sleep where dreams are more prevalent.
 
when I first started taking ZMA, I took it at night before bed. Kept me up all night, so I ended up taking it first thing in the morning instead. Hey they want you to take it "on an empty stomach" right? Who is on an empty stomach before bed? Can you say catabolism? Mostly it was the fact that it kept me awake though. So there is some merit to that part of your theory as far as I am concerned. As for the nightmares? Your story kind of freaked me out hahaha.
 
That's so strange! It's raved about as a sleep aid by various companies. I've just never had such a shockingly negative reaction to a supplement before. I guess that my being hyped up while I was trying to sleep kept me from hitting the deeper stages of sleep which kept me in the earlier stages which resulted in my remembering more of my dreams; AND I'm assuming that because I wasn't getting any rest I would get stressed which may have led to my negative dreams. BAM, full circle.
 
McCoy1989 said:
Just wondering if this was a side effect... I ended up giving away a bottle of ZMA caps because every night I took them I would have ridiculous nightmares. I would take a week off, no nightmares. Day 1 back on every time and every consecutive night after I would have crazy dreams. Does it cause increased arousal?If so I would think that this would keep me in lower stages of sleep where dreams are more prevalent.
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It certainly is, although many people only experience vivid dreams, without having night terrors. I wouldn't say it increases arousal, but I believe since both zinc and magnesium are nmda antagonists, it causes the vivid dreams, and in some cases, night terrors. And I'm not sure what you mean by your last sentence, but dreams are most prevalent during REM, not any of the other stages.

WARBIRDWS6 said:
when I first started taking ZMA, I took it at night before bed. Kept me up all night, so I ended up taking it first thing in the morning instead. Hey they want you to take it "on an empty stomach" right? Who is on an empty stomach before bed? Can you say catabolism? Mostly it was the fact that it kept me awake though. So there is some merit to that part of your theory as far as I am concerned. As for the nightmares? Your story kind of freaked me out hahaha.
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The "stimulant" like effect, which in turn keeps you up could be from a number of reasons, but does not seem to effect many people. And regardless of if you eat or not pre-bed, your body does not go into a catabolic stage overnight.
 
Yeah I figure 90% or more of people will say they sleep like babies on the stuff......I'm "lucky", I usually get at least one of any known set of side effects for any given supp. As for going to bed on an empty stomach (say 3-4 hours of no food/protein pre-bedtime) and then going another 8-9 hours of sleep w/o protein or food? I'd say that is a bad thing, but hey to each their own! If I have eaten within a reasonable amount of time before bed, OK...if not I would want to grab a scoop of protein before bed.
 
ZMA gave me what i classify as night terrors....i would literally wake up in the morning checking to see if things actually happened or not. i know of quite a few people who this happens to...........theres better this out there for sleep aids :D
 
I know that REM sleep is where the majority of sleep occurs but If I were consistently waking stage one is often associate with hypnogagic hallucinations (seeing lights or sounds that may not actually be occuring) as well as hypnic jerks (random muscle movements). If I was groggily experiencing these repeatedly throughout the night due to heightened arousal it may have contributed to my going into REM sleep feeling more stressed than usual. I should have clarified more in my initial post but I didn't want to ramble more than I already had ha.
 
very vivid dreams when i took it. not night terrors persay but pretty darn close. that is when it acutally helped me sleep. the rest of the time i was up most of the nights...
 
This is not the first I have heard this. I am one of the lucky ones and sleep like a baby on ZMA.
 
Yup, I have heard this quite a bit from many users.

Were you supplementing it as a sleep aid? If so, there are many better product out there....including Nimbus PS Night time, REDuction shots, and 3z....
 
throwing my experience into the mix. I felt like it actually hinderd my sleep. Never felt like I went into a deep sleep. Still have a half full bottle from 3 years ago. Thumbs down from me.
 
This is baffling to me why you guys just "gave up" on the supplement. Why not adjust the timing of the dosage? as I stated earlier, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Most of us use it for the proposed anabolic effect, not for a sleep aid right? You do need your zinc as a male, and for that matter your magnesium. If it made you sick or gave you migraines, OK I understand tossing it.....but simply because it does not jive with a night-time supp? kind of silly if you ask me. Some multi's do have a decent amount of zinc in them, but usually not enough.
 
Full time job + full time school = no patience or time for a cheap sup that requires potentially significant changes in diet. If the benefits were ridiculous then I would be making an effort to make it work but honestly it doesn't seem like it's worth the time to get slightly better sleep.
 
McCoy1989 said:
Full time job + full time school = no patience or time for a cheap sup that requires potentially significant changes in diet. If the benefits were ridiculous then I would be making an effort to make it work but honestly it doesn't seem like it's worth the time to get slightly better sleep.
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well its not really any significant change in diet or your lifestyle to toss in another supp to your morning regimen, other than its suggested you should probably take it on an empty stomach upon waking. You can always take a multi-mineral and get a decent dose or take just plain ol' zinc caps, not the aspartate form....I was taking ZMA for a long while, but just recently decided to use standard zinc and magnesium caps taken with my other morning supplements. probably the same effect in the end and its cheaper :)
 
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