Revisiting Melatonin

[Kennerly]

I tried Melatonin years ago when it was the Great New Thing for insomnia. This was pre-apnea diagnosis and back when the recommended doses were comparatively massive to what is prescribed today.

So from reading through old threads I've found gobs of conflicting ideas regarding doses, brands, timing etc., though it does appear that a .3 mg dose is supported by an actual study.

I haven't been able to sort out which brands are reliable nor when to take it relative to bedtime. Or if most people who have success use it intermittently or long term.

TIA for any input. -Kennerly

[library lady]

I use melatonin occasionally. My PCP suggested 5 mg about 15 minutes before I go to bed, but I've discovered that for me, it's too much. It makes me sleep until nearly noon the next day, which I don't want to do. I've started to cut the tablets into quarters; sometimes I end up with slivers of a tablet because they are so little to begin with. If I cut 3 or 4 of them at a time they sit in the splitter until I need to take some - 2 slivers is often enough... or I take one of the larger pieces that resembles a fourth of a tablet and that is enough to help me get to sleep without making it too hard to get up in the morning.

I only take it if after I've gone to bed I have trouble getting to sleep.

[Kennerly]

Thanks for the response LL. So you take Melatonin when you're having trouble with sleep onset insomnia? How long after your usual bedtime are you comfortable taking it and how much sleep do you think it "saves" you?

[Guest]

I only take it if after I've gone to bed I have trouble getting to sleep.

I give it 10-20 min in bed first also. I found the smallest dose I could (300mcg) and cut those in 4ths. I don't want my body to stop making its own melatonin.

If you are trying to shift you bodys clock take it 15 min before bed or when getting ready for bed. I don't think the mfg matters that much but I do know melatonin is not regulated by the FDA.

Kennerly, Do what works for you.

[SleepyToo2]

I take half of a 2 mg tablet when I think I might need some help with getting to sleep. That is certainly not every night. I have never investigated cutting the tablet into 4 - I find I have a little of a hangover effect sometimes on the 1 mg dose, but I can live with that. The tablets are quite expensive, but since I take them only occasionally, and then only half, they do last a long time. PM me if you want further details.

[Kitatonic]

If I am on a red eye flight or having difficulty getting to sleep, I take an orange flavored, sorbitol sweetened sublingual tablet. It is only 1mg of melatonin and seems to work by the time the tablet has melted. Perhaps, the Source Natural sublingual has a suggestive placebo effect.

[englandsf]

I used melatonin (5mg then 3mg generic brand) before and after I started CPAP. Before it helped prolong sleep but not get to sleep. After it seemed to have little or no effect beyond slight "grogginess" upon waking.

[Julie]

I take 1/2 or 1/3 of a 3 mg tab at least 20 mins before I want to sleep, not every night, but on those when I e.g. have had too much coffee earlier, or feel a bit anxious over something, etc... maybe 3 x a week. I've taken stronger amounts but don't like the hangovers and don't need more because I'm not really 'insomniac', just have nights when I want to get enough sleep as I do tend to get up very early.

[Sir NoddinOff]

I take 1/2 or 1/3 of a 3 mg tab at least 20 mins before I want to sleep, not every night, but on those when I e.g. have had too much coffee earlier, or feel a bit anxious over something, etc... maybe 3 x a week. I've taken stronger amounts but don't like the hangovers and don't need more because I'm not really 'insomniac', just have nights when I want to get enough sleep as I do tend to get up very early.

I agree with Julie's approach... the least you can get by with, as seldom as can tolerate it, is the best plan, IMO. There's a Stanford study published recently that concludes that using too much melatonin usage causes long term sleep problems (I'll look for the citation, or maybe somebody can provide it ). Last year, it got everybody on CPAPtalk rethinking the high dosages normally recommended in the past.

[LSAT]

I have been taking 3mg for the past 3 years. I fall asleep within 10 minutes, but I can't sleep more than 6.5-7 hours. Obviously dosages and results vary a lot. Check with your doctor and then give it a try. It doesn't work immediately...give it a week or two.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Here's a link summing up the new research on melatonin:
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2005/melatonin.html

Here's a thread discussing the above issues with several links:
viewtopic/t100358/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9 ... my#p867242

[Kennerly]

This is all helpful information, I appreciate the replies. Except for Englandsf, sounds like everybody so far is using melatonin as an aid for falling asleep - though not on a nightly basis - and for some it helps later in the night as well.

I didn't realize it has such a rapid effect as some of you mention. Evidently whatever brands I tried years ago weren't any good. (I remember trying two different kinds.)

Anyone use it along with hypnotics such as Lunesta (which I take) or Ambien? Or been able to reduce their use of sleep meds by taking melatonin instead?

[Kennerly]

Thanks for the links Sir N.O. I'll definitely check them out.

LSAT you're the first person I've come across who takes melatonin on a regular basis. Also interesting that it took a week or so to work for you. Have you had any issues with side effects, or rebound insomnia if you miss a night?

[desert-doc]

Try Trader Joes 500 mcg (0.5 mg) chewable peppermint tablets. Take 1-2 about 20 min before bedtime. May repeat dose during night. MLT has a 4 hr half-life, so re-dose only if you can sleep for 4 more hours. To lessen its effect, go out into bright sunshine for 5 min in the morning (MLT secretion in the pineal gland in your brain is inhibited by light).

One other note: Be sure all lights in your bedroom are red, if you have any. Testing by NASA revealed that blue, blue-green, or white light wavelengths inhibit natural MLT production.

[RogerSC]

I take .3 mg every night. Seems to help me get to sleep, and helps me to get back to sleep. Get it on Amazon. I've read that as one ages, one produces less melatonin. While I don't consider myself "aged", I'm not as young as I used to be (few of us are *smile*).