Melatonin - New Info on Dangers, Dosage andPatient Selection

Interesting topic. My hubby was told by his dr last week(or rather the pa in the ofc who sees pts) that he should try Melatonin for sleep, he has insomnia, then when that did nothing for him she put him on Restoril.

Now finally he is going to be sleep tested. The PA asked him he was sure he wanted a sleep test, because 'she didn't think she could sleep with something like that on her face'. I could have smacked her - lucky I was with him on that visit, or pa would have talked him out of testing. She actually suggested he take larger dose of Restoril and more Melatonin. He refused to up dose of Restoril due to his job, driving a delivery truck for a soft drink company. He goes to work very early & didn't want any amt of a sleep aid in his system in case he was drug tested. He also didn't want a leftover quantity of either sleep rx or Melatonin making in groggy when he got to work.

I heard the pa pushing both rx & Melatonin as the answer, not sleep testing for OSA. However, I was there & he had already decided to be tested, so it was a matter of me telling her to write the order. I think many drs & pa's look at Melatonin as a way to brush off pts with sleep problems. Way to easy to tell pt to get some drug store remedy than to take the time to address the real problem - a life threatening sleep disorder.

jencat824 wrote:The PA asked him he was sure he wanted a sleep test, because 'she didn't think she could sleep with something like that on her face'. I could have smacked her - lucky I was with him on that visit, or pa would have talked him out of testing. She actually suggested he take larger dose of Restoril and more Melatonin. He refused to up dose of Restoril due to his job, driving a delivery truck for a soft drink company. He goes to work very early & didn't want any amt of a sleep aid in his system in case he was drug tested. He also didn't want a leftover quantity of either sleep rx or Melatonin making in groggy when he got to work.

I heard the pa pushing both rx & Melatonin as the answer, not sleep testing for OSA. However, I was there & he had already decided to be tested, so it was a matter of me telling her to write the order. I think many drs & pa's look at Melatonin as a way to brush off pts with sleep problems. Way to easy to tell pt to get some drug store remedy than to take the time to address the real problem - a life threatening sleep disorder.

I guess apnea diagnosis and treatment just isn't profitable enough for a primary care doctor for them to be interested in doing the work involved.