Red knows whereof she speaks in this issue.
(She got edjamakated in such stuff, she did.)
Ryan, one of the mistakes people make is assuming "herbal," "natural," and such words are somehow different from "medication by prescription" in that they won't have any side effects or interactions. Ah...wrong. (You have to be off Kava for something like two weeks before any kind of surgery, for example, unless bleeding to death is on your "To Do" list.)
I've used both Valerian Root and L-Tryptophan years ago, and both knocked me on my butt sleep-wise. I honestly don't remember anything about "sleep hangovers" on either. I just remember being startled that I slept. (I've been on three of the newest - they have commercials - sleeping pills and all they do is destroy my motor control. They do not, however, put me to sleep.)
No matter what you use, you have to "work with it." Experts recommend a "sleep ritual." Do the same things every night, to clue your body that it's now sleep time. If a hot shower makes you drowsy, take one. Make sure your room is in total darkness. For some reason, clean sheets knock me out. Makes for a lot of laundry, but it really helps. Whatever it takes for your own personal space to be "for sleep." Some experts say no television, I've found that when I had one in the bedroom and a vcr, I could put in the same movie and listen to the first five or ten minutes of it repeatedly. It was like a signal to me that it was OK to go to sleep now.