Melatonin and Insomnia

I took 2 mg time-release Melatonin last night an hour before going to bed. I have delayed sleep phase syndrome and was told that Light therapy along with Melatonin is very effective to shift the body clock. I WOKE UP AT 3AM AND COULD NOT GO BACK O SLEEP TILL 6 AM
I am just wondering as what others experience has been with Melatonin.

I find melatonin works well especially when taken with Ambien

Wavewrly

Hi Waverly,
How much Melatonin are you taking? I also take Ambien (10 mg). Are you taking it for Insomnia or sleep phase shift?

Snamvar, do you have DPS or a weak circadian rhythm that might skew in either direction? While melatonin doesn't work for everyone, it works exceptionally well for me and many others. However, as an OTC medication that is not regulated by the FDA, melatonin purity, dosage, and quality can vary quite a bit from one manufactuer to another. You might have to experiment with dosage and/or brand. Also, bear in mind that melatonin will never compensate for other non-circadian sleep issues that might be waking you up. Melatonin is not a sleeping tablet that knocks you out the entire night. Think of it as more of a "biochemical trigger" that tells your body it's time to go to sleep. It gets your biological sleep schedule "started" for the night, but it will not resolve any sleep-related issues beyond that.

Are you at the point in your therapy where you think you sleep comfortably with CPAP? Admittedly some of us can be woken up by CPAP noise, air pressure discomfort, mask pressure points, etc. when CPAP therapy is still new. Are there other potential sources of sleep disturbances in your sleeping environment that you might be able to eliminate?

Also, consider that some people's circadian rhythms take significantly longer to adjust or synchronize than others. Weak circadian rhythms tend to take longer to synchronize than strong circadian rhythms. They tend to more easily skew out, even in the resynchronizing process. This might be a good issue to work through with your sleep doctor in the loop. Make sure that you and your CPAP therapist work on resolving as many CPAP discomfort issues as you possibly can. Good luck!

I forgot to log in, Snamvar. The above message is from me.

Hi SWS,
I do have a weak circadian rhythm and DSPS. I have been on CPAP and have recently become quite comfortable with using it. I took the 2 mg time-release Melatonin that I bought from Whole foods. It's "source natuarals" brand and is supposed to be a high quality.
I pretty much followed the schedule from the Appolo light website using their questionaire and on light therapy schedule.They also have an interesting article on how to treat DSPS:
http://www.apollolight.com/pdf_files/Bi ... evised.pdf
I was told by m sleep doc to get sunlight exposure in the mornings for the DSPS, but I am doing the light therapy and Melatonin on my own.
Thanks for your input.

I take melatonin and ambien for insomnia. I dont feel the melatonin helps but just a small amount of ambien , maybe 1/4 pill puts me to sleep and I sleep all night. If I take a whole pill I wake in 4 hours. Then I must take at least 1/2 a pill to sleep the next night..

Waverly