Melatonin-My Hero

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 6:37 am

dkeat wrote:
Sleepless on LI wrote:
Thanks for the input. How much do you take and do you take it daily? I'd be curious.
Hi Lori

I usually take 10 daily. When I travel I go as high as 50mg to handle the jet lag. I have never noticed any ill effects from it. Only benefits.

David

Wow, from what I have read, that is a very high amount, even at 10, but 50? Did you read what Ozij posted back earlier in the thread? How long have you been taking that type of dose? I have done a lot of reading up on the subject and it seems that 1.5 to 3 mgs. is the recommended, 3 being the most if 1.5 doesn't help, for someone with insomnia, sleep maintenance problems or jet lag. I was kind of taken aback by your dosage. If you've been taking that for a long time daily, I guess you are not one of the ones whose body has decided to ignore the melatonin in it. Good for you!

dkeat · Post by **dkeat** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 7:32 am

Hi Lori

If you are looking for a high quality source for low dosage melatonin check out http://www.lef.org.

This is the Life Extention Foundation, a non-profit organization. They have, IMHO, the highest quality nutraceuticals on the market. And the money that they make from selling pills goes into research.

Also, their website is a priceless resource for holistic therapy protocols and general health information.

ProfessorSleep · Post by **ProfessorSleep** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:05 am

So, Lori - did you get to talk with your doc? Been thinking of you and hoping you get something sorted out for yourself. It's an odd thing that occurs when a group of people get together, internet or otherwise. Find something wonderful to share and, without fail, 10 people will respond- 4 hate it 3 love it, 2 never heard of it but know something much better and 1 knows someone who died from it. I guess that's why YMMV goes without saying!

Hoping it works out for you. I hope you will continue to share your experience so we all can learn! Thinking of you--

Beth

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:09 am

David,

Thanks for the link. I checked it out and they put all other sorts of stuff into their melatonin tablets. I don't know if mine has that, too. Now I have to go read the label again. I don't think it does. And as I'd have to check into what each and every added ingredient is, does, side effects, etc., sounds like a lot of extra work right now. Also, I am going to try the sublingual type which they don't seem to carry. But thank you for providing me the opportunity.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:18 am

Beth,

Thanks for asking about me. I haven't been myself with a head cold since Friday night, so I really can't judge/gauge what is happening. Last night, I didn't take the melatonin. Instead, I took Nyquil for the first time in probably 20 years. I needed SOMETHING to knock me out. I have been using Afrin right before bed the past three nights, so I won't use it again tonight since I won't go past three days use of it. But I needed something that would open my nose up enough so I could wear my mask. Thank goodness I haven't missed one night yet due to the cold. I am praying by tonight it will be better and I won't miss using it.

In any event, on a different subject, how is your sleep going with the Aura? Still loving it? I hope so. Let me know. Have a great day...

tater pie · Post by **tater pie** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:34 am

As waking up multiple times during the night is a problem I have also, I thought I would try Melotonin to see if it might help me. I went to my Dr. yesterday and he said it was very safe and it did help some people--others it didn't but to give it a try for a month at the suggested dosage on the label. He said since it is unregulated that actually there are different amounts of Melatonin in pills made by different manufacturers and even one pill might have 3 mg. and another 2 or 1. That's the difference between prescription and non prescription drugs. The 3 mg. refers mainly to the size and weight of the pill itself. That's what he told me. I don't know myself. Anyway, I tried it two nights ago at 3 mgs and it didn't affect me one way or the other. I read the posts yestereday on this website and decided maybe I needed to cut it in half and use 1.5 mgs. I did that last night and actually woke up and stayed up longer using it than when I didn't use it. I gonna give it a break for a few days and try again. Maybe I'm one of those people it just doesn't work for. The doctor said it was one of the safest sleep aids out there so I don't think you have anything to worry about. I'll try it again and give it a month but I don't have much hope for it now. Hope you fare better!!!! Also Sleepless in LI, the times you wake up at night are almost the same times I wake up. I wonder if this is some kind of cpap thing??? I wonder how often and when other people on cpap wake up? Just curious.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:45 am

tater pie wrote:Also Sleepless in LI, the times you wake up at night are almost the same times I wake up. I wonder if this is some kind of cpap thing??? I wonder how often and when other people on cpap wake up? Just curious.

tater pie,

I'm so sorry it didn't work for you. I think it only works for people who may have sleep problems due to a less than perfect level of it in their bodies. Yours is probably just fine and not your problem. My doctor also said, just to try and break the nightly trained awakenings, use Tylenol PM for a short period of time. She was trying to keep me from using anything strong or addictive. I didn't like the idea of taking acetaminophen every night, so I opted to try the natural one first, the melatonin.

As far as why we wake up at those same hours, I can only guess that we both may have a two-hour in one position habit and those are the times we tend to change it. I usually am in bed by 11:30, so it's literally every two hours or so that I would wake up. Makes sense to me that that would be the reason. I don't know.

I wish you luck in trying to find an answer to breaking that waking habit. I can totally relate to what you're going through. I truly was amazed that I felt as great as I did when I wasn't sure how deep a sleep you could get into being disturbed every two hours, but I guess it's pretty deep since I did feel so well. I just started feeling the effects lately, though, and thought maybe I needed something to stop this vicious cycle. Let me know what your next step is and how it goes. Good luck, really!

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:36 am

Sleepless on LI wrote:I take 3 mgs. 30 minutes or so before bedtime,

You may find it works even better to take it approximately 2 hours before bedtime. It takes a while before the full effects of Melatonin are felt. Melatonin doesn't make you sleepy directly (unlike Benedryl, for example) but is the hormonal signal to your body to begin preparing for sleep. Natural melatonin production starts ramping up earlier in the evening (associated with the sun going down). It might also help to start dimming the rooms you are in around the same time you take the Melatonin, about 2 hours before bedtime.

BTW, I tend to not be on the computer much over the weekends and rarely drop in to the forum. Of course that is when threads like this seem to explode, and now I've got 4 pages of postings to catch up on!

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:39 am

Sleepless on LI wrote:From what I've read, it is pretty safe to use and they are even investigating its properties to be an anti-aging supplement.

I wonder if any anti-aging effect is simply because the user is sleeping better. Everyone here knows the effects of poor quality sleep!

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:43 am

Sleepless on LI wrote:Thanks again for this interesting info. I read it and it causes me to wonder where or how you get the type that you know is not overly high in content. Does the doctor actually write a script for it or is there a way to know how much is in the type of tablet you take? I can just hear my drug plan denying a script for something that I can buy OTC. And I don't want to ruin what seems to be a Godsend so far by having it stop working due to some manufacturer's error in overly dosing their pills.

At a vitamin / health supplement store I found Melatonin in 1mg scored tablets. This makes it easy to break them in half for a 0.5mg dose which is usually what I use when I need it (and I'm 225lbs). On occasion I'll use a 1mg dose such as when boarding an overseas flight in the late afternoon or early evening so I sleep earlier than normal helping me to adjust to jet lag much, much faster than my colleagues!

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:54 am

stunned1 wrote:he wants me to try 3mg. melatonin with 3 tablets of tryptophan before bed.

Couldn't you just make yourself a turkey sandwich? With leftover stuffing, and homemade cranberry-orange sauce and some rewarmed gravy and ...

Darn, I just can't wait for Thanksgiving to get here! Being a Canadian living in the US I get to celebrate it twice: once in October (for Canada) and again in November .

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:02 am

WAFlowers wrote:
Sleepless on LI wrote:I take 3 mgs. 30 minutes or so before bedtime,
You may find it works even better to take it approximately 2 hours before bedtime. It takes a while before the full effects of Melatonin are felt. Melatonin doesn't make you sleepy directly (unlike Benedryl, for example) but is the hormonal signal to your body to begin preparing for sleep. Natural melatonin production starts ramping up earlier in the evening (associated with the sun going down).

Bill, thanks for all the suggestions. I have to say, though, I really need the melatonin to work for me about two hours after I go to sleep. I never have any problem falling asleep. My problem is waking every two hours after that. So I think the 30 mins. is fine with my problem.

About the 1 mg. scored tablets, I have a pill cutter which is so much fun, I will sometimes just cut a full tablet that I need to take in half just so I can use it. So that is never a problem for me, rather kind of fun. Yes, I am weird...

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:46 am

Lori, you have a strange idea of fun, but I think I can understand it. My wife has some interesting kitchen gadgets (I'll admit that some were gifts from me) often seen first on "Good Eats" being used by Alton Brown (her hero) that fascinate me.

stunned1 · Post by **stunned1** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 4:52 pm

Hey Bill

Thanks for the turkey, stuffing, cranberry idea instead of the tryptophan. The only thing is if I do that every night I definitely won't have to use any stuffing in the Santa suit come Christmas time!!

Speaking of Thanksgiving dinner, this Sunday the whole family is going to the Old Mill for a turkey dinner. Do you remember the Old Mill when you lived in Etobicoke? I guess I should sleep good Sunday night!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family,

Lisa

itsme · Post by **itsme** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 7:17 pm

I started taking melatonin 3mg recently for relatively new insomnia, and at first it worked like a champ. I even had more vivid dreams than usual. But like some folks have mentioned its effect has worn off for me.

Until reading this, I thought I was just confused, but maybe I need to cut back to not overload. I'll give it a shot... too bad though I was enjoying 3mg effect before getting used to it

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