to sleep...perchance...and NOT dream?

I have trouble sleeping. Falling to sleep, staying asleep. My norm is...sleep evades me no matter what. When I do sleep (and I use the term loosely) my brain turns on my inner DVD player and I'm subject to constant dreams, some of them horrible.

This was occurring before I started prescription drugs for insomnia. At 1st, the dreams stopped & I slept pretty decent, no noticeable side effects the next day. I had tried just about everything before seeing a Dr. Now that I've been on it for a while, the dreams are coming back and I can remember them. Couldn't remember them at first, with the ambien. 

I've been taking Ambien for about 2 years now. My only complaint is I'm becoming resistant to it. This happens to me with virtually every medication (herbal or not) that I've every taken. I have cut way down on my caffeine consumption, I try not to eat after 9PM.

If I don't take any meds I don't sleep much at all. I was like that before I started taking meds. Tried melatonin, valerian, etc. If they make me drowsy, it wears off after a while. So lets say, I've had maybe 2 hours of sleep, haven't taken any meds. I stay busy all the next day. When it comes time for bed, I should be tired, but I'm not. If I fall asleep, I won't stay asleep. You'd think I'd be exhausted!

All this insomnia and the stress resulting from it is why I've resorted to Ambien. I am open to advice from all who read this, especially if you have trouble sleeping. I have tried all the conventional things that are suggested for insomnia, so I'm looking for something new. 

Gosh, Gwen,what a miserable problem! I have two random thoughts that are likely off-base, but worth mentioning just in case.

I have learned that heavy doses of B vitamins will keep me awake AND make me dream like crazy. So now, I usually try to concentrate these supplements earlier in the day and it helps.

The second random though is sleep apnea. Have you been checked for that?

Thanks for your thoughts, Jocelyn. Truth be told, I'm miserably menopausal. I'm told that hormones are largely to blame for my sleep problems. They have developed in the past few years, along with other changes.

I've never been checked for sleep apnea, but I don't snore. My husband tells me I am so quiet when I am asleep, he wonders if I'm breathing at all! My biggest problem is falling asleep, 2nd is sleeping thru the night. When the meds start to wear off, I just wake up, like somebody has flipped my switch.

That's good advice about the B vitamins. I tend to take supplements at lunch so I don't think that's it.

Last night I tried Valerian Root (again) and it didn't seem to work at all. Sure works for stinking up a room thought! All you have to do is open the bottle! That stuff smells like Limburger cheese that's been left in a car for a weeks worth of hot summer days! Phew!

A few more quick things.

Acupuncture is fabulous to mitigate menopause symptoms. I have significantly less issues with hormones if I avoid soy.

I'm not sure if snoring always accompanies sleep apnea. My friend with severe sleep apnea has periods during her sleep where it doesn't sound as if she's breathing at all, either. (Though she does snore at intervals, too.) That your husband commented similar about you makes me think you might want to at least look it up.

I was waking regularly at 2:00 a.m. and tried passionflower and it helped get me over that hump. Since you mentioned valerian/herbs, I thought maybe you'd tried passionflower, too. If not, it's one more to try!

There are homeopathics, too, that can be really helpful, though some folks don't think they work. Calms Forte is one (from B & T - Boerike & Toefel - totally butchered spelling I'm sure), Calming (from BHI, if I recall).

I have another friend who swears by the Bach Flower Remedy called Rescue Remedy, though I haven't really tried it enough to see results. Except once. For a bee sting. It totally reduced the pain and swelling of the bee sting.

I have not tried passionflower. Will get some of that this weekend. At this point, I'll try just about anything. I've researched sleep apnea and priced sleep studies. Hubby snores like a freight train if he sleeps on his back or his stomach. My biggest problem seems to be falling asleep. I can't seem to do it without meds. Even if I'm exhausted.

I don't eat soy. Took soy isoflavones a couple of years ago when I started having hot flashes, but then read that they did no good and may be bad so I stopped.

Acupuncture is something I hadn't considered. Should probably look into that. I've heard of Calms Forte, that's been around for quite a while now. Will check it out too. Thanks for the helpful info!  Let me know if you think of anything else.

I agree with Jocelyn about the sleep apnea.  Snoring is not sleep apnea, it is the "not breathing" part that is problematic.  Excessive dreaming can also be a symptom.    There are other sleep disorders that can be checked out by a sleep clinic such as restless leg syndrome.  Just make sure its a real sleep clinic prescribed by your doctor. 
  Oddly enough we turn on the radio to help us fall asleep, it helps turn off our brains from the day's [or tomorrow's] activities.

I've googled from http://sleepapneafaq.wikispaces.com/symptoms
TO
http://mayoclinic.com/health/obstructive-sleep-apnea/DS00968

...and other websites in between. All mention snoring as a sign of sleep apnea. They also mention excessive daytime sleepiness & abrupt awakenings accompanied by shortness of breath, among others. Even if I've only had about 16 hours of sleep in 3 or 4 days, I am rarely sleepy during the day, unless I'm sick. When I wake up during the nite, I don't feel out of breath or even tired. I suppose I should just get up, but it just seems so abnormal to me to be awake at 3 AM. 

I realize that my mention of my husband's comment about wondering if I'm breathing at all may have been a little misleading. He really just meant that I breathe quietly, unlike him. He wakes himself up from his own snoring! When I read the symptoms of sleep apnea, my husband sounds like a textbook case. I lie awake and listen to him. He's been to the Dr. and discussed it. They've recommended a sleep study for him. We have to wait & see what the health insurance at his new job will cover. As I think about a sleep study for myself, I can't help but wonder what they do with people who can't fall asleep during the study? Unless I take medication, falling asleep in a strange place is even worse for me than in my own bed.

Listening to uninterrupted classical music on cd helps me sometimes. I always have a fan going on for "white noise". My husband prefers to fall asleep with the TV on some old b&w show like the Twilight Zone or the Honeymooners. I can't do that. The flashing light from the TV is too stimulating, not to mention the sound. I am very close to sleeping in another room, mostly because I don't want my restlessness to disturb him.

Did you ever try the passionflower, Gwen?

Well, here's how it went. DH was in the neighborhood of the health food/herbal store. I told him what to get, but he couldn't find it in a hurry (on his lunch break), store help was very busy & he had to leave.

I'm glad you mentioned it, because it slipped my mind. I will make it a point to run by there & get some.

These days, I try to combine errands whenever I can, but in this case, I need to make an exception! Thanks again for reminding me! 

Gwen, something you might try is either ginseng, St Johns Wort, or both.
Having battled with sleeplessness myself, mine due to stress, I found the ginseng to work great.  After a bout with depression, I tried the St Johns Wort, and have been just great since.  I take half the recommended dose for the ginseng, and on fourth the St. Johns Wort.  I always start out with a very low dose of any supplements and increase if needed.  Once I get to feeling ok, I scale back a little, then, if problems crop up again, increase, so on and so forth.
The problems with St Johns Wort is that it can interfere with prescription drugs.
Sometimes our problems are more mental than physical, and this often gets overlooked. Stress is hard to diagnose and many people don't realize they are under stress.

My wife is menopausal also and has had great luck with some herbal supplements.  Ginseng is one of them, and the other is some stuff called Women's Phase II, she swears by both of them, and I can very much tell the difference when she has forgotten to take them.

Hi Kurt, what kind of ginseng do you mean?

It's been years since I was around or using much ginseng. I do recall one herbal supplement I took for adrenal support (basically to repair worn out adrenals from too much, too continuous amounts of stress) contained siberian ginseng. I think.

One formula with ginseng made me hugely jittery. Another ginseng formula hugely increased my libido! (It's true.)

In the end, one of these formulas reset my adrenals which also helped my sleep. Adrenals control cortisol which controls blood sugar. My adrenals were so whacked I was getting a surge of blood sugar - high energy and wide awake! - at 10:00 or 11:00 at night. And a huge drop in mid afternoon--total nodding off time. I'd forgotten about that until the mention of ginseng!

Hi Jocelyn,
The ginseng we use comes from Canada.  I think my wife said it was American type ginseng.
The scientific name is panax quinquefolium.  It is organic, 100% pure ground ginseng root, no additives and is grown in the Cariboo region of B.C.  The dosage is 1-2 capsules per day, 600 mg each.  I generally only take 1 a day, but if I eat anything with processed sugar in it ( I avoid it as much as I can) I get grouchy and take another one.  We buy it online, and it is certified organic by British Columbia.

The company name is "Cariboo Chilcotin
web site is :
http://www.caribooginseng.com/products.htm

They have a lot of products and are easy to work with.

I know they sure work great for me.  I find that if I start out with at least half the recommended dose and work from there I can find the amount that works best, some of them I take half the dose every other day and they work fine.  I also stopped drinking regular coffee, got the same effect as with processed sugar.  We use turbinado sugar now, with no problems.  It is just a raw sugar.  We get it in bulk so it is cheaper.  Something about the processing used on sugar causes the body to react to it weird. 
Good luck finding something that helps.

Weed and Chamomile 

Hahaha! I was wondering how long it would take before someone recommended a certain "weedy" herb!  Been there, done that. Had to quit. Started getting real bad anxiety from it. Interestingly enough it was about the same time my sleep problems started. 

Since I started this thread, I have tried most of the suggestions. I've tried 3 different types of ginseng (not the one specifically listed here, but I'm hesitant now because the others didn't work). Passion Flower doesn't seem to be effective for me or dh and he is super sensitive to anything that induces sleep or relaxation. Reading makes him sleepy or watching an old black and white movie. Valerian Root works well for him.

I've done much reading on the subject of herbs and since I've had such poor luck with them on the insomnia issue, I've become more skeptical. I question the efficacy of them because they are from a plant, and much can happen during the life of a plant to affect it's medicinal qualities. I also wonder about who is processing the herbs and how "watered" down are they by the time they get to the market. I've tried different brands, different sources, etc. To no avail.  I might add that I've spent some serious $$ trying herbs that don't work.

So far, I've had the best and most consistent luck with ambien. I know, it's a prescription drug...but it helps me & I don't know what I'd do without it. Fortunately, I don't have any of the side effects that some people experience. It's done a great job of "dream" control. I still dream, but they aren't nearly as horrific as they once were. For a short while, it seemed like it wasn't working as well, but then I did a little research and found out it was more effective if you didn't have food in your stomach. I've made even more of an effort to curtail late nite snacking and that has helped.

In actuality, the use of cannabis as a sedative and pain killer is well documented.  What one does is make a tincture or extract of the leaves and stems, that contain more CBD as opposed to psychoactive THC.  The CBD has a relaxant effect, not sure about the changes in blood pressure that occurs during smoking tho(is gross anyways, brownies are superior)

thats very interesting about making a tincture with it. never crossed my mind. its too bad there is so much silliness surrounding it still. it covers up real uses and possibilities as well as efforts to standardize it.

I have always had sleep issues. I tend to get up to check things. so I guess that makes my issue more ocd. 

Leah Sattler wrote:
its too bad there is so much silliness surrounding it still. it covers up real uses and possibilities as well as efforts to standardize it.

The silliness that surrounds it is really ridiculous. Really, really ridiculous.

Wow, Gwen, it sounds like you have tried so many, many things! It's really cool we have modern medicine to fall back on if the natural routes don't work, and I'm glad you aren't having side effects from the Ambien.

The cannabis info is quite interesting, too - thanks "Cheese!"

And, Leah, when my kids were young, I woke at the drop of a hat, (all they had to do was stand silently beside my bed and I would wake up) but now I don't. I wonder if it's a mom phase thing and not OCD. 

While I can imagine after trying and spending so much money, one would just want to take a break from the effort, I do have one other suggestion. Acupuncture. That could help dramatically if it's a possibility for you.

Well you mentioned that you tried Meletonin, ... that and valerian root seem to be some decent herbs for insomnia... Have you tried using Black Cohosh for meno P? Maybe treating the MP is the answer to most of the problem...did you have sleep prob b4 MP?

Also  HOPS is marijuana's closet relative and grows wild all over my place and is an old remedy for insomnia.. they made a tea out of it and also made a 'sleep pillow.'

Doesn't soy make fake estrogen. maybe high soy in take would help. How many hours do you sleep a day ? i think 5-6  is the Norm for adults. Also sleep is sleep so try a afternoon nap.

Jocelyn Campbell wrote:


And, Leah, when my kids were young, I woke at the drop of a hat, (all they had to do was stand silently beside my bed and I would wake up) but now I don't. I wonder if it's a mom phase thing and not OCD. 

your probably right on there. maybe I will sleep normally once the kiddos are older. soon I will be in the "checking the infant" stage again. after not sleeping for more then 1 1/2 hr at a time for weeks and weeks it was amazing that I could still pop out of bed. I couldn't do simple mathmatical calculations for months but by god I could fly out of bed in an instant! hormones are some crazy crazy things. That innate "mom" instinct of making sure everybody is safe and happy doesn't go away when your sleeping I guess.

I wonder about the natural estrogenic plants. i think lavender is also one. of course if your going to go that route it probably would be alot less hit and miss to go with a standardized scrip rather then play around with 'who knows what amounts' in plant products but I may be mistaken. I have seen several otc herbal preparations but as with all of those you never really know if they have had any real testing for efficacy or standards. 

Wow Gwen, bless your heart what an ordeal to live with.... Your amazing to stay as upbeat and focused as you do.  I'm a mess without sleep.

The two things I've found that have worked for me when I'm not sleeping for what ever reason are Apple cider vinegar & meletonin, I use the vinegar 4 Tablespoons at night just before bed time and the chewable meletonin if I wake up with my brain running and can't fall back to sleep.

I've never had to use both in the same night, but I do have to repeat the meletonin a couple of times some nights when I've had to much caffeine.  Sometimes my sweet daughter will slip and make us caffeinated tea late at night - oh boy that will do it for me. 

I know that meletonin is a very light treatment and so doesn't work all the time or for everyone.  However, I would recommend the vinegar for all things dealing with aging - menopause, sleep troubles, indigestion, etc.

Just some thoughts.....

In the spirit of trying everything - you may want to give apple cider vinegar a try.  Do a search for the amounts others have used in treating these symptoms, because from what you said it sounds like you are very resistant to treatments.  Some people are, there bodies just metabolized things at a faster rate.  So part of your troubles could be that you need to take more than the average person to see results.

I hope you find some other things that work to add to your arsenal against sleep less nights.

All the best ♥

i have never heard of chewable melatonin. The last one I tried was supposedly a time release formula & didn't seem to have much of an effect. Apple cider vinegar is interesting to me. I've used it as a gargle and was please with the results. Right now, I continue with the ambien. I can take a half tab and it works consistently. I just can't take it too early or it wears off at 3 or 4 am. I was trying so many different herbals and spending so much money on ineffectiveness, I just kinda gave up and stuck with the ambien. It only costs me about $ 5.00 per month (insurance does help with that one) because I can cut them in half. Unfortunately, what the Dr. giveth, the Dr. may take away. I keep wondering how long they will let me stay on it. So we will see. It helps to hear about these options, that is for sure. Thanks everyone!

While we're on the subject of recreational drugs, alcohol is reputed to prevent people from dreaming. I think many alcoholics were once in just your situation: they adapt to drugs quickly, and have bad dreams; they find that alcohol helps, and they naturally increase the dosage until they develop health and/or social problems.

We all need to dream (technically, to go through REM sleep) in order to remain sane. I think an adult can live about 7 years without dreaming, but the final 5 of those are really not pleasant. It's probably for the best that your body insists on dreaming when it sleeps.

Have you tried meditation? I'm not sure what would be your style, but "mindfulness" (secular stuff, the sort psychiatrists publish peer-reviewed papers on) and mantra meditation are both fairly popular and accessible.

This would be the difficult way to address your problem, like running uphill, but if you can mentally go back to the content of your bad dreams while awake, while you know that you're safe, and make peace with those thoughts, or find ways to address the situations in your life that empower those thoughts, perhaps that will help.

And at any rate, a meditative state can be a great step toward sleep.

Bless you!

Joel, this is very interesting information. The changes a woman goes thru during premenopause are largely chemical. For quite some time now, my desire to drink any alcohol at all has lessened and continues lessening. Coincidentally, during this same time frame, the nightmares started occurring more frequently. I'm sure it's not due to any one specific thing, more a combination of them. Just to be clear, I have a been there done that attitude about drinking to excess. The partying days of my youth are far behind me.

I was watching a show about meditation the other night & previously I've read things about it too. I have tried it to some extent, controlled breathing, repeating a mantra, listening to soft classical music in the background, etc. At times, it has been very helpful towards relaxation and falling asleep. The thing is, once I'm asleep, it's like I have NO control over what the heck is going on in my head! 75% of the time, the dreams are actually welcome & enjoyable. The other 25% are literally a nightmare! Those are the ones I could live without. I had a doozy yesterday morning, right before I woke up. Unfortunately, seemed to set the tone for the day. The rest of the day was a stress fest. One thing after another. It seems the chemicals in my body that are out of whack can really affect my ability to deal with stuff. Yesterday was one of those days. 

Again, I'd like to thank everyone for the helpful advice and caring thoughts. That goes a long way with me. You are all appreciated! 

You're quite welcome.

I also want to second the recommendation for hops: apart from being a mild sedative, it's a relatively potent source of estrogen-like chemicals. It is definitely a very different thing from weed, maybe as different as digitalis is from tobacco.

It might be cheaper from a home-brew supply store than through an herbal remedy shop, and frankly it also might be better-characterized as to its strength (brewers can be a little too nerdy). Also I hear it can be grown where you live.

hi, this might be way out of line but how much physical exercise do you get? walking an hour or two a day at a moderate pace can tend to held with balancing hormone production and help regulate sleep. it has worked for me.

You do know that cannabis would be a very good remedy, right?  Or is there a reason that no one wants to suggest this?

Try not to focus on the medicine for your problem so much. Probably some of your habits are ready to throw them away. I don't know when you weak up, but go for a walk in the early morning. You have to wake your body in the morning. You need air. Walk. Walking is the best physical exercise. Drink good water. Don't eat to much in the morning or don't even eat in the morning. I don't eat till noon or later. If i do it's something with high water content. It's way to late to eat till 9 pm. That's way to late, eating till 9 pm is keeping the body awake, it's not letting him go to rest as it's normal for biological rhythm. 6 pm is the latest. How much sugar do you do? Soda, sugars and like, just not good. Total elimination. Go off caffeine totally or problems will stay. You have no idea what one cup of coffee does to your body and your sleeping. It's just crazy. It's a drug so handle it! If you can, put out of your sleeping room electronics. Get used to be in silence, you need peace. Music is another medicine you don't need. Don't switch on the light when you wake up in the middle of the night, it totally wakes you up. If you can't deal teh dark, if you have to go somewhere get a candle. Hope i helped, peace and sleep with you.

You could try an hour swedish massage to help you relax, a hot bath with lavender essential oil and a hot cut of herbal tea before bed.    Good luck!

My mother in law takes Passion Flower seed straight from the seed pod with gelatin coating still on. 1-2 per evening. Seems to work well for her. You can store these in winter months in freezer. Also there is a company called " Pure Herbs' that makes herbal extracts for hundreds of ailments. Very reliable company. You can find their web page online under pureherbs.com.

Not all weed is created equal.
Indica strains(felt in the body for me anyway) are about all you see now as they're so much more powerful but Sativa strains (mostly in the head) don't give me any anxiety at all.

It's about the only thing that shuts the brain down enough for me to get to sleep quickly.

I have always found a warm bath with lavender oil to be a great relaxer and gets me off to sleep - usually about an hour or so before going to bed and followed by a cup of chamomile tea.  Someone earlier in the thread mentioned these things and they do really work for me. Waking up in the middle of the night is more difficult as you may well have had a few hours sleep by then and the body is 'tricked' into thinking it is time to get up.  If this happens to me, I do get up and have a warm drink - as long as it is not coffee or anything stimulating.  Most times, once I go back to bed, I do drift off. There's nothing to beat a full night's sleep though and I do sympathise with you if you can't get one.
Bluebell 

I second the Passiflora.  Eating late keeps your body working.  Alcohol, especially white wine, can keep some people wide awake. Fruits, especially oranges and pineapple, can have a similar effect.  It's for a reason that orange juice is a breakfast drink.  Are you familiar with Autogenic training? Do you ever write down your dreams?

Wow! Lots of posts here!

Check out B vitamins. B12 is especially good for adrenals (adrenal exhaustion may be the root of your problem) and my natural Dr just put my son on them for his headaches, adrenal issues, and insomnia. It's only been a few days, so I can't give feedback. B6 is AMAZING for nightmares. I have 3 sons -8,11, & 17 - and B6 has worked 90% of the time for their nightmares. It's great stuff! Use a good quality, and don't put too much trust into RDA numbers. I use pretty high doses.

Really watch out for any damage you are doing. Do you drink enough water? Do you drink caffeine? Eat fast food? No veggies and lots of white bread & white sugar? Often times, the issue is not so much about what you lack as how you are damaging. Omegas are great for all-round health, as they let cell membranes function right. Trans fats are little globs of death fats. One thing I know; give your body the right resources, and it's healing power is astounding.

You may also try magnesium ( works as a muscle relaxer- too much will give you loose stools tho) and melatonin, which is a sleep hormone. If it's as severe as you are saying, then it's most likely a combination of problems. Load up on it all (within reason!) then try eliminating one thing at a time to see if you need it; that way you'll get the right combo. Magnesium & omegas have some negating effect on each other, according to my Dr, so don't take them together.Good luck!

will chime in on the hops. started growing some and noticed differences in flavor and vine vigor etc. Hops has been used for years grown on the equator side of the house to shade it during the hot summer. It grows quick and dies back to the ground. Should help with the thermostat and hot flashes.

read that people on probation having problems sleeping without their addictive medication have only found success in smoking hops. being i wouldn't know oneway or the other, i can not tell you, but i have been asking around for someone to try and let me know.

hops tea- i have tried it and it is a bitter beast. it didn't make me tired, but it did mellow me out. Made me think it might be good for bi-polar people too. I seem to enjoy it most mixed with other teas that blend some some of the bitterness. creeping charlie may be another herb that works.

finally, you might try caffein. caffein is said to help 'add/adhd' people sleep.

any updates on how people's success are doing would be great. interesting topic and when you need a resource like this thread, it's nice to hear the updates.

  Throughout "the change", I've had periods of time when I would just wake right up in the middle of the night and that was that. I eventually gave up and got up when I woke up, finding that I just didn't need as much sleep as I used to. Everything changes during the change, after all.
  And the dreams, yes lots and lots of dreams. Sometimes I used to feel like they weren't even mine, that they were just floating in from the Collective Unconscious and I was so wired and sensitive to all the energies around me I'd pick them up. I know that sounds wacko - unless you're a menopausal mess, then you'll know what I mean.
  Anyway, a few things have helped me. Sleeping in absolute darkness, and silence, and alone. I started drinking oatstraw infusion, not tea, it's got to be brewed at least 4 hrs. If I drink it all day long, after a few days all those good minerals start taking hold, and I feel stronger during the day, sleepier at night, and stay asleep. Stretching before bed, too, I was doing physio for my back, the therapist showed me easy ways to get my body more mellow. And acupuncture really helped, too. I still have nights I have to go back to the spare bed, but find these things are cyclical and I try not to let it get to me but it can make you crazy...now where's that oatstraw, it's starting again...

Hi Gwen,

I have horrible insomnia too,and have for years.
If I get 5 hours sleep that is a major plus for me.
More normal is 2-4 hours .

Even tho I am a great believer in herbs, for me - no herbal supplement in any combination, or singly, no homeopathic remedy has worked for me.

What has worked for me - is yoga and qigong.
Even these do not give me a full night's sleep, but they help.
And they help more the more I do them. Altho I find it hard to have the discipline to be consistent.

At the risk of speaking out too much - any precription sleeping medicine is habit-forming, no matter what yr doctor may say. And they are dangerous. So is insomnia.
Myself - when I absolutely must sleep I take a Xanax, but I never take more than one a month.

Good luck, hope you find something that works.

By now Gwen, I hope you are fully menopausal and not in the hovering stage.  I must say it does improve.  Majorly helpful for me : Red clover tincture, tea or infusion...or just go pick em and eat em.  Red clover is kind of a balancer.  
Some points to ponder:  if you wake up and are awake and are not sleepy during day then getting up seems to be an answer.  Who cares if it is not the norm.  https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/waking-during-night-used-be-normal
I have had much more pleasant sleep since starting yoga, in particular for me, aerial yoga.  Every piece of me is more relaxed.
And lastly, dreaming is the work of night time.  Your body is working something out that it cannot during the day.  It should not be hindered, but perhaps looked into especially if you remember themes.

Jocelyn Campbell wrote:.......
I have another friend who swears by the Bach Flower Remedy called Rescue Remedy, though I haven't really tried it enough to see results. Except once. For a bee sting. It totally reduced the pain and swelling of the bee sting.

A also use the Bach Flower Remedy Rescue. Just a head's up, it's 29 percent alcohol.