Revisiting Melatonin

I have been taking Schiff 3mg Melatonin from Costco....Bottle of 300 for $8. Never had any side effects.

Someone on here not too long ago wrote that they took Puritan Pride's 200 mcg tablets because higher doses are not good either. I bought them online and unfortunately so far has not helped. I have no trouble falling asleep; it's staying asleep. I know that I should take another one when I wake up in the middle of the night but (1) I am too tired or lazy to get up to swallow a pill (2) Concerned I may be too tired in the morning. (I have to get up at 530 am for work) Does anyone out there have success with Melatonin for sleep maintenance? And do you get up in the middle of the night popping them? Thanks.

I hope everyone practices top notch sleep hygiene, including diet and moderate exercise, and optimizes their CPAP therapy. These should be your first steps. Melatonin supplementation should be done afterwards if problems still exist.

And yes, many of you are taking too much. Read the study - http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2005/melatonin .

Also if any of you are new to melatonin and haven't taken it before to know if you might have a problem with it...google "melatonin side effects". It is just like anything else out there...not without some nasty side effects for some people.
I know because I am one of them and that was with a tiny, tiny dose and not with some of the massive doses some of you all are taking.

Pugsy wrote:Also if any of you are new to melatonin and haven't taken it before to know if you might have a problem with it...google "melatonin side effects". It is just like anything else out there...not without some nasty side effects for some people.
I know because I am one of them and that was with a tiny, tiny dose and not with some of the massive doses some of you all are taking.

Pugsy I should say that in my case it actually was my sleep doc who recommended that I give melatonin a try, along with light therapy, to keep my sleep cycle from getting out of whack. (Also hopeful that it might reduce the need for hypnotics.) Since I had tried it in the past I wasn't too receptive when he brought it up but I thought I'd look into it again. That's what prompted me to start this thread.

As I indicated in the initial post .3mg seems to be the dose that has proven most effective in studies, which is a tiny fraction of the doses I tried years ago. As I understand it Melatonin is a hormone and the use of it should not be taken lightly. -Kennerly

Kennerly wrote:Since I had tried it in the past

My comments are mainly for newbies to melatonin who think that since it is OTC that it is totally benign and totally without side effects. Since you have taken it in the past without apparent negative side effects I wasn't really targeting you.

I was just making a general comment about it mainly for newbies who have never taken it. Melatonin can have some rather nasty side effects and people should always educated themselves as to what might happen in rare instances with anything they ingest.

Doctors tell people all the time to take something that ends up with some nasty side effects for a small portion of the population.
Melatonin is no different. I am speaking from my own personal experience here and if it can happen to me it can happen to others.
There's a reason the side effects are posted...it's because I wasn't the only one.

So those of you who have taken it in the past without issues...don't worry about it but if you are new to the idea of melatonin and haven't ever taken it you might want to research it just a little.

I agree Pugsy.

Here is a Mayo Clinic link I came across. It focuses on the possible side effects:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-livin ... q-20057874

LSAT wrote:I have been taking Schiff 3mg Melatonin from Costco....Bottle of 300 for $8. Never had any side effects.

Use the same. Normally 1, occasionally 2, but only for a few days and then I take some time off of it. Seems to make it work better when I take it again. I normally don't have trouble getting to sleep though, typically out in 10 mins or less. Use it when I really need to sleep in an allotted time.

It has more than melatonin in it though. I don't have the bottle with me to recall.

Pugsy wrote:Also if any of you are new to melatonin and haven't taken it before to know if you might have a problem with it...google "melatonin side effects". It is just like anything else out there...not without some nasty side effects for some people.
I know because I am one of them and that was with a tiny, tiny dose and not with some of the massive doses some of you all are taking.

What side effect hit you Pugsy? An uncontrollable urge to help people with their CPAP therapy?

OhHelpMe wrote: What side effect hit you Pugsy? An uncontrollable urge to help people with their CPAP therapy?

No, that was caused by another drug.

With the Melatonin it was extreme vertigo. Onset about 30 minutes after taking it. Bad bouncing off the walls drunk vertigo along with the nausea. Miserable night...even laying in bed and not moving I had visions of my early pregnancy when I had morning sickness 24 hours a day for 6 months.

Couple weeks later repeated the tiny dose just to see if it was maybe a fluke coincidence. It wasn't a fluke...about 30 minutes after taking it the vertigo/dizziness hit but this time I went straight to bed. Still a miserable night.

There won't be a 3rd experiment with Melatonin. I learned my lesson.
I gave the bottle away to my mom who has no issues with it at all.

Pugsy wrote:Couple weeks later repeated the tiny dose just to see if it was maybe a fluke coincidence. It wasn't a fluke

Since melatonin is OTC and not regulated by the FDA each mfg can use different fillers which can affect each of us differently. That is where the brand name can be meaningful.

Guest wrote:Since melatonin is OTC and not regulated by the FDA each mfg can use different fillers which can affect each of us differently. That is where the brand name can be meaningful.

Don't remember the brand name...this was over 5 years ago. Walmart bought though and not walmart brand as I don't buy walmart brand anything.
I won't be trying it again...I don't care what the brand name is.
Even if I knew the brand...likely the formula has changed multiple times since then.

Pugsy wrote:I won't be trying it again...I don't care what the brand name is.

Didn't think so, lol

Pugsy wrote:Even if I knew the brand...likely the formula has changed multiple times since then.

Very possible.

Guest wrote:

Pugsy wrote:Couple weeks later repeated the tiny dose just to see if it was maybe a fluke coincidence. It wasn't a fluke

Since melatonin is OTC and not regulated by the FDA each mfg can use different fillers which can affect each of us differently. That is where the brand name can be meaningful.

That's pretty much a red herring drawn across the trail. The selection of fillers is small and they have very few and very limited side effects.

One filler that is sometimes used is lactose and lactose intolerant people sometimes worry about this. But if you use a brand that has lactose as a filler and use the amounts of melatonin in the article above, you are getting such a tiny amount of lactose that you will never notice it.

If you want to insist that fillers are a problem, name one that has ever caused a problem.



ChicagoGramps