Melatonin

[LSAT]

I've used a moderate dose of Melatonin for years....about 1.5mg. I recently had some trouble sleeping and during my annual physical I discussed it with my doctor. He recommended an increase in the Melatonin dose. Recently I saw this article...
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mel ... on=parents&

[Julie]

What I found interesting was one of the 'comments' by this woman -

"Right there with you! I've struggled my entire life with my sleep issues. I found out in my 30's after I discovered melatonin that I was prescribed it as a baby because I never slept! I lost jobs, let people down, had important moments ruined by my complete exhaustion. Finally, I've given in that I will never sleep like a normal person. My goal is to be asleep by 4am. If I don't take melatonin I am up for days. Days! I have never experienced the 'hangover'. I refuse to take the prescription counterparts. I also suffer sleep panic attacks, mostly when I'm dozing off and never in my awake life, and chronic nightmares. The nightmares are pretty much daily. I'm used to them now. I've tried an awful lot. And if it was so damn simple as they make it sound I'd sleep in a sensory dep chamber."

She sounds like she very likely has apnea, but will also likely never twig to it because she's all hung up on the "it must have been the melatonin".

[Wulfman...]

Out of curiosity, I did a search. 209 pages of links to it on the forum.

viewtopic/t111599/search.php?keywords=Melatonin

Lots of discussions.......lots of people who have used it. I remember Snoredog mentioning it quite a bit......but he died shortly after you joined the forum.
I've never needed or felt the need for anything like that to help me sleep. My little blower puts me right to sleep when it starts.

But, thanks for that link.


Den

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[Sir NoddinOff]

I've been using it for years and find that a 0.5mg mini-dose of sublingual (under the tongue) melatonin works as well as larger doses. I suspect it helps trigger my bodies natural production.

From the article:
The proper dosage, according to a seminal 2001 study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is 0.3 milligrams. The research was conducted by Richard Wurtman, who pioneered the pharmaceutical use of melatonin as a sleep aid in 1994. Pills and supplements often sell 10 times that suggested amount in a single dose. This can lead to higher plasma melatonin levels the next day, which can cause a “hangover” effect that leaves users groggy.

Here's some more info on the aforementioned study:
http://news.mit.edu/2001/melatonin-1017

[SGearhart]

I'm glad to see it works for someone because melatonin doesn't have any effect on me. . . I'm envious.

[davep700]

Someone also wrote

I also take melatonin occasionally. I have had trouble sleeping for decades. I went for a sleep study about a year ago, and they said I have sleep apnea. But melatonin is a lot less expensive than the treatments for sleep apnea and has always been effective for me.

Don't worry, someone else replied strongly with the proper explanation.

Melatonin also doesn't seem to do anything for me.

[Chevie]

I've used a moderate dose of Melatonin for years....about 1.5mg. I recently had some trouble sleeping and during my annual physical I discussed it with my doctor. He recommended an increase in the Melatonin dose. Recently I saw this article...
.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mel ... on=parents&

So what are you going to do about your own use of melatonin?

Thanks for the article, but I made the mistake of reading some of the comments under the article. Damn, people are stooopid, and evidence has no effect on them.

[LSAT]

I've used a moderate dose of Melatonin for years....about 1.5mg. I recently had some trouble sleeping and during my annual physical I discussed it with my doctor. He recommended an increase in the Melatonin dose. Recently I saw this article...
.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mel ... on=parents&

So what are you going to do about your own use of melatonin?

Thanks for the article, but I made the mistake of reading some of the comments under the article. Damn, people are stooopid, and evidence has no effect on them.

Reducing the dose to 1mg

[ChicagoGranny]

Reducing the dose to 1mg

If I remember correctly, some months ago it was you who posted a link to some science that said normal daily body production of melatonin is 0.3 mg. The point being, if you take more than 0.3 mg daily, you are treating something besides the body's failure to product enough melatonin for sleep.

[teachcsg]

Like any other medication / supplement I've heard mixed results from my patients. Some would swear by it while others said they did not feel a difference. Maybe its the placebo effect at work (??) I did have a patient once tell me that she too could go 'days(!!)" without sleeping. I was setting up a BIPAP for her and she said nothing helped her. Medications, supplements, blacking out the room, no caffeine etc.. She looked a little 'jumpy' but other than that she appeared fine. Now, there was no way for me to verify her claims but I didn't /don't see a reason why she would be lying. The BiPAP was a replacement machine for her-no issues with mask, pressures etc..
But as the article states, if it is true that your brain 'melatonin receptors' become immune to the melatonin supplement why not try weaning yourself off and see if those receptors will 'work' again. Maybe by coming off it for a while you can once again take a small dosage and feel the same effects as before.

[SewTired]

Just an FYI. In the mid-90s, when I started to lose eyesight in one eye, there were reports of vision problems for people who took supplemental melatonin. Perhaps that has changed, but please check on it. I don't remember what the problem was, but my retina specialist specifically told me not to use melatonin.

[Chevie]

Just an FYI. In the mid-90s, when I started to lose eyesight in one eye, there were reports of vision problems for people who took supplemental melatonin. Perhaps that has changed, but please check on it. I don't remember what the problem was, but my retina specialist specifically told me not to use melatonin.

This dude recommends high doses to prevent eye problems - http://www.secondopinionnewsletter.com/ ... elated.htm .

Disclaimer: I would not take even a tiny amount of melatonin.

[SewTired]

Just an FYI. In the mid-90s, when I started to lose eyesight in one eye, there were reports of vision problems for people who took supplemental melatonin. Perhaps that has changed, but please check on it. I don't remember what the problem was, but my retina specialist specifically told me not to use melatonin.

This dude recommends high doses to prevent eye problems - http://www.secondopinionnewsletter.com/ ... elated.htm .

Disclaimer: I would not take even a tiny amount of melatonin.

This dude may be a doctor, but he's not an ophthalmologist. You'd be amazed how many drugs are given to patients without the doctor knowing that this one causes deafness and that one causes eye damage to someone with some other problem. I point this out so that people KNOW that your doctor doesn't know everything because there is simply too much to know.

[RogerSC]

I've been taking a .3mg (300mcg) dose of melatonin for years now. It does help me get back to sleep when I wake up in the morning. Stopped taking it a while ago, for about 3 weeks or so, and getting back to sleep in the morning after I first woke up wasn't happening. Yes, anecdotal and probably influenced by my state of mind (couldn't run a double-blind test on myself *smile*), but it was real to me. My opinion, reinforced by what I've read, is that as one gets older one's melatonin production goes down. A dose like .3mg helps make up for the deficiency caused by age.

[davep700]

How much of a given mg dose of Melatonin taken orally actually becomes available in the body?