Can melatonin help?!?!?

Boyce wrote:

ChicagoGranny wrote:
. . . a corrupt organization . . .

Please list three governmental organizations that aren't.

Board of Tea Appeals
Office of War Information (OWI)
Works Progress Administration (WPA)

At least not now.

A little-known CIA-affiliate organization will be contacting you with further instructions.

5Mg Max per one night? = 10x recommended?

Yes.

I have just started melatonin, 3 mg per night, to see if it will help with deep and/or REM - I do not get enough of either, and never have. So far, not too impressed. If my Zeo is accurate, the last two night have been even lower than before. I can't afford to have less REM (barely getting 45-50 minutes in a 7 hour period).

Suggestions if this does not work?

VVV wrote:

5Mg Max per one night? = 10x recommended?

Yes.

So for those of us taking melatonin, a .5 dosage should be adequate?

I've been cajoling my brain into cranking out its own melatonin by using a special lamp -- some of the models of the special lights used to treat SAD have a "dawn simulation" as well as a gradual dimming feature. When I go to bed I turn the light on and have programmed it to gradually go dark over a period of about 20 minutes. Seems to be workiing really well.

Many of us go from lighted conditions to instant lights-off at bedtime, and I think our brains need the input from that transition from light to dark in order to produce a good amount of melatonin. For me using this lamp has worked better than taking melatonin.

kaiasgram wrote:I've been cajoling my brain into cranking out its own melatonin by using a special lamp -- some of the models of the special lights used to treat SAD have a "dawn simulation" as well as a gradual dimming feature. When I go to bed I turn the light on and have programmed it to gradually go dark over a period of about 20 minutes. Seems to be workiing really well.

Many of us go from lighted conditions to instant lights-off at bedtime, and I think our brains need the input from that transition from light to dark in order to produce a good amount of melatonin. For me using this lamp has worked better than taking melatonin.

I usually use my TV in my dark bedroom in a similar fashion. And no, I'm not really watching it as since with this SleepWeaver Elan, I can't see shit hardly out either eye once it inflates.

kaiasgram wrote:I've been cajoling my brain into cranking out its own melatonin by using a special lamp -- some of the models of the special lights used to treat SAD have a "dawn simulation" as well as a gradual dimming feature. When I go to bed I turn the light on and have programmed it to gradually go dark over a period of about 20 minutes. Seems to be workiing really well.

Many of us go from lighted conditions to instant lights-off at bedtime, and I think our brains need the input from that transition from light to dark in order to produce a good amount of melatonin. For me using this lamp has worked better than taking melatonin.

Now that is a bizarre idea. But if you're right..

1041 wrote:

kaiasgram wrote:I've been cajoling my brain into cranking out its own melatonin by using a special lamp -- some of the models of the special lights used to treat SAD have a "dawn simulation" as well as a gradual dimming feature. When I go to bed I turn the light on and have programmed it to gradually go dark over a period of about 20 minutes. Seems to be workiing really well.
Many of us go from lighted conditions to instant lights-off at bedtime, and I think our brains need the input from that transition from light to dark in order to produce a good amount of melatonin. For me using this lamp has worked better than taking melatonin.

Now that is a bizarre idea. But if you're right..

Not that bizarre, 1041. The onset of darkness is what signals the brain to start producing melatonin. Sleep hygiene specialists will tell you to start turning lights down or off in your home during the evening as you approach bedtiime, in order to start "telling" your brain to get ready for sleep. Even if you read in the evening they'll say to just use enough light to read and turn other lights off. They also say to make your room as dark as possible throughout the night, using blackout curtains if necessary, avoid the use of nightlights, and so on. I have a fair amount of outside light coming into my bedroom (not under my control), so my bedroom is never pitch dark. Maybe that's why the dimming lamp is helpful for me.

Oh, I know. I've been wearing blue-blocker glasses at night for some time to encourage my melatonin production, but it never occurred to me to block light in a gradual fashion.

The melatonin level is gradual, yes. But I am personally unaware of proof that how gradual the dimming of the light occurs is proven to affect melatonin production. Even a small amount of light may inhibit melatonin production to an extent, as I understand it.

That said, a gradual dimming of light can be an effective presleep ritual, as a signal to the brain that it is time to sleep, so I am not discouraging it, despite my personally being unaware of scientific documentation to support that the gradualness itself would have a direct effect on melatonin production. I would be interested in being made aware of it if studies have been done on that aspect of light-dimming and melatonin production.

http://www.sleepontario.com/pamphlets/melatonin.pdf

Sleepy Etech wrote:I was wondering has anybody used melatonin to have a more sound sleep and if so what were your results

Thanks this is a great forum

Well you now have 39 Replies in the thread you started. Have you been able to make any sense out of any of it?

I can tell you that what I took out of this thread came from this very first reply you received -

Java wrote:You should read this post about melatonin. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=82542&hilit=melatonin

My conclusion from watching the video, 1) you have to experiment with melatonin supplements to see if they help and 2) the correct dose is 0.5 mg and any more will not be of additional benefit and may leave a hangover effect or other as yet unknown bad side effects.

Having had undiagnosed sleep apnea for 10-15 years (looking back all the signs were there) I used melatonin help me to sleep but I wasn't getting good quality sleep. I called it "force quitting" as in forcing a computer to shut down! I took 1mg of melatonin each night for several years and it did help me to get to sleep very quickly.

However, after reading some of the posts here about some possible negative effects I decided to go off it "cold turkey" to see if I could sleep without it. I have now been off melatonin for 4 days and I'm able to fall asleep quickly and I'm sleeping 7-8 hrs.

Maybe now that I'm on cpap and my sleep quality has improved I will only take it if needed for jet lag or if I'm having a really hard time getting to sleep for some reason. I don't plan on taking it on a daily basis again.

Boyce wrote:....My conclusion from watching the video, 1) you have to experiment with melatonin supplements to see if they help and 2) the correct dose is 0.5 mg and any more will not be of additional benefit and may leave a hangover effect or other as yet unknown bad side effects.

I must have missed this part of the video as I seen this mention brought up twice now by two different users regarding the .5mg dosage being the correct / max recommended. This does strike odd to me since about every supplement and form of melatonin I have come upon both online/retail & health food store starts out at the very minimum as 2x that amount and the avg being around 3mg with max single dosage as high as 7mg in some packs.

It is rather perplexing to me that something supposedly natural and non-pharmaceutical is becoming so controversial and based on a video discussion is now being deemed as a bit of a 'hazard' to folks.

lazer wrote:

Boyce wrote:....My conclusion from watching the video, 1) you have to experiment with melatonin supplements to see if they help and 2) the correct dose is 0.5 mg and any more will not be of additional benefit and may leave a hangover effect or other as yet unknown bad side effects.

I must have missed this part of the video as I seen this mention brought up twice now by two different users regarding the .5mg dosage being the correct / max recommended. This does strike odd to me since about every supplement and form of melatonin I have come upon both online/retail & health food store starts out at the very minimum as 2x that amount and the avg being around 3mg with max single dosage as high as 7mg in some packs.

It is rather perplexing to me that something supposedly natural and non-pharmaceutical is becoming so controversial and based on a video discussion is now being deemed as a bit of a 'hazard' to folks.

Your biggest problem may be that you did not watch the entire video. When it was originally posted there was just one video but now it has been split into four parts (four URLs) with advertisements inserted.

If you watch all four parts and listen carefully to what is said the video becomes very clear on melatonin (supplemental melatonin that is).

You mention "hazardous". If you note in the video melatonin is never explicitly said to be "hazardous". It is said to be "hazardous to your sleep". I take this as intentional and quite different than the term "hazardous", althought "hazardous to your sleep" would certainly be a subset of "hazardous".

So if you are interested carefully watch all four parts of the video.

If you want to save some time and cut straight to the chase I will tell you someone of your age (45 according to your profile) should never be taking melatonin supplements except temporarily in the case of jet lag or rescheduled work shifts.

On the other hand, this much older guy is using the advice in the video on dosage to improve my sleep. The good results I am getting are likely because my body at my advanced age is not producing sufficient melatonin to tell my brain, "It is night, go to sleep."

This does strike odd to me since about every supplement and form of melatonin I have come upon both online/retail & health food store starts out at the very minimum as 2x that amount and the avg being around 3mg with max single dosage as high as 7mg in some packs.

If you watch the entire video this should no longer "strike odd" to you. That was the purpose of this segment of the show - to tell the public that we have it wrong on melatonin - 1) it is not a sleeping pill and 2) the dosages are not correct.

At some point I will make a thread on how melatonin is helping me. But first I want to see if the results continue beyond the four weeks of current use.

Your biggest problem may be that you did not watch the entire video. When it was originally posted there was just one video but now it has been split into four parts (four URLs) with advertisements inserted.

Aha! I was beginning to think Lazer is a real ditz, but that may be the problem - he only saw the first of four parts of the video.