MELATONIN AND FORGOT TO TURN CPAP ON

[IncyderEMT]

So, yesterday, my doctor started me on a Melatonin regimen (3mg before bed) because I'm a freak and can't seem to fall asleep without help. I went to bed when I started to feel tired, and I fell asleep without putting my mask on last night. I dont remember waking up numerous times like usual, but I feel like I got hit by a truck today. I'm VERY tired, can't concentrate, massive headache, groggy, grumpy, the whole 9 yards. My question is, does Melatonin have a hangover like effect? Or did missing that night of therapy really have me feeling this way? Any thoughts, cuz I'm hurtin' today!

Eric

Machine: REMStar PLUS @ 11 pressure setting
Mask: Paykel and blah blah blah Nasal mask (even though I'm a mouth breather)...but getting a full face mask next paycheck...

[LSAT]

Your body produces Melatonin naturally...adding 3mg (low dose) should not cause the symptoms you are reporting. I have used Melatonin for several years to help me relax at bedtime. It helps me fall asleep, but I still wake up after 5-6 hours and it takes another 30 minutes to fall back asleep.

[elena88]

Sorry you had such a bad night..

and youre not a freak, if you are a freak so am I !


My doctor prescribed that for me too after the valarian root made me feel like I pulled an all nighter with a quart of tiquila..


I know we make this hormone in our pineal gland, but when i took 3mg (in a dark room)

I got a screaming ice pick stabbing pain behind my eye awhile after I took it.. I was lying in bed with my eyes closed, and whammo..
it happened a couple times, so I gave up on it. Perhaps I dont make enough melatonin, and 3mg was too much.. I dont know..

but here is a link about it.. good luck! (oh, now I am on apap for three months, I can fall asleep much faster than I used to, and if I wake up
I fall back asleep more quickly.. things are getting better for this insomniac!)

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/ ... -and-sleep

[brazospearl]

Your post is sort of a good news/bad news situation, isn't it? Good news = the melatonin worked! Bad news = the melatonin worked FAST, so fast you didn't mask up! I expect there's probably somebody who can say that melatonin can cause your symptoms, but I'm certain that your lousy feelings today can be attributed to not using your XPAP. Seriously, it only takes one night to make you realize how much better you feel when you use it. Try both tonight and let us know what happens!

[WearyOne]

My son takes melatonin occasionally. It works, but makes him feel groggy and tired the next day and very hard to get up in the morning. I've taken it before and it doesn't help me much (might need a higher dose). He never mentioned a headache, but just like anything else, things affect different people different ways.

I do know that going all night without cpap can make you feel miserable, so that could easily be all or part of why you felt so bad the next day. The melatonin may also have kept you from waking up as much as you used to before cpap even if you were having events. In other words, it may have made it harder for your body wake you if events occurred. (Just guessing at this.)

[lcook7281]

My doctor recommended melatonin as well for me. Not for nightly use but on an as needed basis. I had the same problem with the 3 mg dosage. However GNC sells a 1 mg sublingual dosage. That works for me. Usually 1 tablet does it for me and every now and then it takes two.

Just thought I woud give my 2 cents worth.

Lisa

[WearyOne]

I forgot to mention that they also make an extended release version, too, if anyone has trouble staying asleep. That's my issue and the doctor had recommended that for me. Haven't tried it yet, though.

[remstarcpap]

your reaction to melatonin is very typical of the ridiculously large doses that are typically prescribed for sleep. It reminds me of a time many years ago when my not so old mother was visiting me, and having hard time sleeping due to a heat wave. I gave her 3 mg of melatonin and the next day she could barely stand up. Even after multiple triple lattes, she was still in a semi-stupor.

I've found that the best dose of melatonin for sleep onset problems is actually about 1/10 of a milligram. The problem is that nobody really sells it in such a small dose. What I often do is bite off a tiny sliver of a 1 mg or 3 mg pill. This seems to produce good sleep without a hangover. The actual physiologic dose that is secreted by the pineal gland is probably on the order of 1/10 of the milligram, or even less. That's why you felt the melatonin hangover which is a miserable feeling. Try using a much smaller dose and see if that helps you.

[GumbyCT]

They make pill cutters which I used on the 3mg melatonin tabs. I cut them in quarters and stick one under my tongue. 3mg is a lot to start out on.