I took Melatonin that contains rice powder-- do I have to start over?

[Blarg]

So I already had to restart my Whole 30 on day 5 because it turns out that the case of broth that my partner bought from Costco (the one that looks exactly like the fully-compliant broth that I normally use) lists cane sugar as the 3rd ingredient and I used it in 2 sauces. That was demoralizing, but I bit the bullet and began again. I realized this evening that the melatonin that I take so that I can sleep contains a small amount of rice powder . . . it's listed in print so fine that I needed a magnifying glass to see it and was not on the part of the label where the other ingredients were listed. I have since triple-checked all other pills of any kind to be sure I was not missing something else that was non-compliant. I am told that Advil and other strictly-necessary OTC's are ok despite having some small amount of starch.

Normally I don't sleep very well and take both melatonin and an antihistamine that is sleep-inducing to get a few hours of shuteye, though I take breaks from the antihistamine since using it uninterrupted is not great for you and it becomes less effective the more you continually use it. My nighttime ritual would also include a couple of glasses of red wine if I weren't on the Whole 30, and I have successfully gone without alcohol for the duration. So my question is: do I have to start over again because of a few possible milligrams of rice flour each night? I'm on day 4 of the re-start (almost back to where I was before the sugar-broth fiasco) and honestly I nearly cried when I thought of having to restart again, going without the melatonin, or having to spend more money on a new supplement that is compliant-- doing Whole 30 is already breaking the bank since I am a woman of modest means right now. If I do have to start over, does anyone know of a compliant brand of melatonin? Below is a picture of the offending brand.

 

[Blarg]

I should also add before anyone suggests it (I have read all of the applicable threads, I swear), that I also take breaks from the melatonin because I know that it also loses efficacy with continual use. I also see that many people are a big fans of "Natural Calm" or soluble magnesium-- I tried this once about a year ago as a sole sleep aid when I was taking breaks from the other stuff and while I found a mild (as in barely perceptible) effect from it, it was not nearly as useful to me as a sleep aid as melatonin or OTC Doxlamine succinate. I'd still lie awake most of the night on that stuff. Moreover it is expensive-- too expensive for me to justify for something that doesn't work very well.

[jmcbn]

Rice IMHO, IME with a son with multiple food allergies, and to my knowledge, is probably one of the least allergenic/inflammatory grains, although it's still up there.

If it were me I'd be starting over, because rules are rules, but as you know we tend to offer up our advice & point people in the direction of the 'Should I be Starting Over' article and let them decide for themselves.

You've started over once before, so if it would be tough for you to do that mentally then keep on keeping on, eliminate the melatonin (which, when taken long term prevents the body from producing melatonin on it's own), and leave at least 30 days between your last ingestion of rice to the reintroduction on non gluten grains.

With  regards to your sleep, do you practice good sleep hygiene? No screen time for an hour or so before bed? Dim the lights in the house after sunset? Black out blinds & no blue light in the bedroom? Ensure the bedroom is cooler than other rooms in the house? Regular bed time & wake up time? Spend at least 15mins outdoors in the morning (or at least at the same time every day), or more when it's cloudy? Eat your first  meal within an hour of wakening?

Yes, natural calm is favoured here - but you can buy a straight up magnesium supplement (or one with added calcium), and there is also plenty of anecdotal evidence that eating starchy veg at meal three helps with sleep.

Hope this helps.

[SugarcubeOD]

13 hours ago, Blarg said:

I should also add before anyone suggests it (I have read all of the applicable threads, I swear), that I also take breaks from the melatonin because I know that it also loses efficacy with continual use. I also see that many people are a big fans of "Natural Calm" or soluble magnesium-- I tried this once about a year ago as a sole sleep aid when I was taking breaks from the other stuff and while I found a mild (as in barely perceptible) effect from it, it was not nearly as useful to me as a sleep aid as melatonin or OTC Doxlamine succinate. I'd still lie awake most of the night on that stuff. Moreover it is expensive-- too expensive for me to justify for something that doesn't work very well.

Have you tried getting magnesium trans-dermally?  Like take a bath with a few cups of epsom salts in it... (yes, actually a few cups, not a sprinkle).  Epsom salt is super cheap from your drug store/grocery store and it's the best way to get a good dose.  If you don't have a bathtub, you can make a foot soak... your feet are actually the best place to absorb the magnesium so make sure if you're having a bath and you're too tall for your tub, like me, you bend your legs and make sure your feet are in.  The epsom salt combined with a relaxing hot bath could help.. worth a try I'd say.

[Blarg]

First, I appreciate your suggestions. I was hoping that because it was such a microscopic amount of rice powder that it might not really effect the need to start over, but the 'do I start over' article really has only one right answer and that is "if you have any discipline or respect for yourself you will." I'm starting over for the 2nd time now due to things hidden on labels rather than a lapse in willpower, though I have to admit that my Whole 30 has now turned into a Whole 40 made of nothing but shame and reluctance. I now regard all food with a measure of suspicion because I really don't think I have it in me to start over again a 3rd time, and despite spending more time than ever reading labels and meal planning I have somehow unintentionally failed twice in 10 days. I really hope I see results because Whole 30 is not a sustainable or happy way for me to live.

3 hours ago, SugarcubeOD said:

Have you tried getting magnesium trans-dermally?  Like take a bath with a few cups of epsom salts in it... (yes, actually a few cups, not a sprinkle).  Epsom salt is super cheap from your drug store/grocery store and it's the best way to get a good dose.  If you don't have a bathtub, you can make a foot soak... your feet are actually the best place to absorb the magnesium so make sure if you're having a bath and you're too tall for your tub, like me, you bend your legs and make sure your feet are in.  The epsom salt combined with a relaxing hot bath could help.. worth a try I'd say.

As for magnesium-- the only supplements that have ever been even mildly sleep inducing were magnesium orotate, which is the most bio-available version of magnesium and not coincidentally the most staggeringly-expensive. At $55 a bottle, that stuff had better put me out like a horse tranquilizer, but instead I would describe it as 'mildly relaxing some of the time."

14 hours ago, jmcbn said:

With regards to your sleep, do you practice good sleep hygiene? No screen time for an hour or so before bed? Dim the lights in the house after sunset? Black out blinds & no blue light in the bedroom? Ensure the bedroom is cooler than other rooms in the house? Regular bed time & wake up time? Spend at least 15mins outdoors in the morning (or at least at the same time every day), or more when it's cloudy? Eat your first  meal within an hour of wakening?

Yes, natural calm is favoured here - but you can buy a straight up magnesium supplement (or one with added calcium), and there is also plenty of anecdotal evidence that eating starchy veg at meal three helps with sleep.

I do what I can to make a decent environment for sleep: keeping it dark, loading my computer with a program that eliminates blue light emission after sunset, I commute by bicycle so yes I get sunlight and exercise daily, and I even choke down a small breakfast because I heard it was better for your metabolism despite a strong preference to subsist on black coffee for the first few hours of my day-- my hunger kicks in late. Dinner is usually my biggest meal of the day and it usually contains some starch, most often in the form of sweet potato. I even meditate with regularity. As for the other stuff, a lot of that is not consistently possible with my current responsibilities and finances. For instance, living in a rickety old creole shotgun in New Orleans with no doors on any room but the bathroom, and which has only one window-unit air-conditioner and a wall-mounted gas heater for climate control means that we are just happy to be warm or cool enough and to have a gas/electricity bill that is less than $400 a month. My daily responsibilities to work and community may start at 6am or end at 2am on any given day of the week, and that often means that if I wanted to take a break from a screen for an hour before bed that I'd have to stay up an hour later. I am also a classic 'night person'-- my whole life if I were to sleep when I naturally feel sleepy, I'd be waking up at 1pm and going to bed around 7am. Being a night person in an early-bird's world has always meant difficulty sleeping when others do, and somehow it's gotten worse with age-- it's just a fact of my existence that I don't much resent anymore, but still need solutions for so that I don't regularly go multiple days without sleeping at all, (and that can happen pretty easily with me).

I guess I'll keep on keepin' on and try to rely on something other than rice-tainted melatonin for rest. I have bad joints from old athletic injuries, but sometimes if I just run myself silly before bed it helps. It's light out later now, so it should be safe to run closer to bedtime, and so long as Advil is still on the menu I can mitigate the joint pain. Any words of encouragement from those who have succeeded at a tough Whole 30 experience are welcome and appreciated.

 

[SugarcubeOD]

I'm really proud of you for starting over! That may not seem like much coming from an internet stranger, but it's true!

Eating a template meal within an hour of waking will help (but potentially not cure) your sleep issues... it may take a while since you're dealing with a lot of history here but it absolutely won't hurt the situation.

I did have other suggestions for helping with sleep including sleepytime tea, essential oils etc... but I"m sure you've tried these things if you've gotten to the $55 a bottle options... 

Keep fighting the good fight!