Melatonin is apparently a good thng.

Take a look at
Rest Easy: MIT study confirms melatonin's value as sleep aid

Personally I never found it did me much good.
derek

Same here. Did nothing for me either.

In fact, even on a small dose, both me and the wife felt sick in the morning after taking it.

I am just the opposite. It really works for me. It works so well, I am cautious as to using it as it may become a dependency for me.

Put me down as one who had terrible circadian rythm problens his entire life----even before apnea. Also put me down for one who is unlikely to fall asleep at a reasonable time without melatonin supplements. On the few nights I forget to take my melatonin I wonder why I have such a hard time falling asleep.

Talking about Circadian Rythm disorder, I have it big time. I have been taking Melatonin for the past couple of weeks and it does seem to help me sleep and stay sleep. I read that you should take it 12 hours before your wake up time.

It works for me too...I even take it when I need to sleep during the daytime since I work 24 hour shifts and sometimes need to sleep during the day.

As far as becoming addicted I beleive its impossible since it is a naturally occuring substance in the human body. We produce much more of it as youngsters and our production gradually tapers off as we age.

I thought this study was interesting, since many of us still feel tired even with CPAP therapy.

Could be we have too much Melatonin in the blood during the day, instead of at night where it's needed..


Afternoon Serum-Melatonin in Sleep Disordered Breathing
J. Ulfberg, S. Micic & J. Strom

The Sleep Laboratory, Avesta Hospital, Sweden
Published in Journal of Internal Medicine 1998; 244: 163-168

Summary
The authors measured serum levels of melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland which usually increases before and during nighttime sleep and falls markedly during daytime waking. They measured afternoon levels, expected to be low, in a group of 49 patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea prior to treatment, and compared results with those of 10 healthy non-snorers of similar age and sex.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea patients had significantly higher afternoon melatonin levels than controls--8.4 vs. 5.0 picograms per milliliter. Patients also showed much more variability in levels than controls; two patients showed levels 5-6 times normal.

Comments
This small, simple study gains importance for being apparently the first to investigate melatonin secretion in patients with OSA.

Melatonin secretion has been seen as a "biological clock" mechanism, which turns on in the evening and virtually ceases throughout the day. Therefore it may have some causal relationship with triggering sleep onset. Melatonin, sold widely as a "food additive," clearly has pharmacological effects of causing sleepiness, at least when taken at certain times of the day, and altering the timing of the daily rhythm of the body.

The occurrence of such high levels of melatonin in the afternoon as these researchers observed in patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea is unusual, suggesting disturbance of bodily cycles of sleeping and waking. It will be of great interest to see how these elevated levels change during the course of a day and whether they are related to timing of maximal sleepiness and likelihood of naps.

For more information on Sleep Apnea, please see our Sleep Apnea Section.

© 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 TALK ABOUT SLEEP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED


Taken from http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/sleep-dis ... ract71.htm

I can't sleep even with Melatonin, and thus far very few sleep aids have helped. I think my problem is that I just can't seem to stop my overly-active brain. I think that's why CPAP has been such a flop for me, I can't stop focusing on the feel of the mask on my face, the concern that my next move or roll will cause a leak, the sound of the machine, etc.

I think sleep aids don't work for me because I then sit there fixating on whether I'm starting to feel sleepy yet, undoing any good the meds may be doing.

(For example, Benadryl often puts me to sleep, but I think that's because I don't take it AS a sleep aid. When I take it, it's for allergies, and so no such fixation on "I took it, why aren't I sleepy/sleeping yet?" occurs, and as a result, I get really drowsy and drop off.

Liam, who wonders if "sleep aids" are caused by "sleep hiv".