Melatonin

[Sunfish]

hi all -

i've searched and found it mentioned in passing in previous posts on insomnia, but am wondering if any of you have in fact found melatonin to be helpful with sleep issues? (for the most part i've only seen people list it as something that didn't work...)

i never had a problem with sleep (those were the days...) until this past spring. the problems were severe for awhile but for the recent few months have stayed pretty much the same. i had so much going on this year that the sleep issue, while always there, was never the first and foremost. but now i really do want to get it sorted out to the degree possible.

i know all the good sleep hygene stuff and...well, mostly do it.

for me the issue 90% of the time isn't falling asleep but staying asleep. essentially i wake up every 2-3 hours. i can't identify any reason why i'm waking up.

before my move i spoke with my neuro (local autonomic doc), GP, & endo. the neuro & GP offered sleep meds but i didn't jump on it, particularly b/c i knew i wouldn't try them until after my move & would rather do it with a doc here. the endo though brought up melatonin & while i'm waiting to get more hooked up with docs here i decided to give it a go.

i'm wondering - for those of you who have tried it - was it an immediate effect or something that took a few days to help. i have felt it "kick in" and while falling asleep isn't usually the big issue for me am falling asleep even quicker than normal. i also can tell that i'm in sort of a "fog" or "daze" when i wake up during the night....but i still wake up. haven't noticed anything negative & no residual effects in the morning.

any thoughts? melatonin wisdom to share?

thanks in advance,

:-)melissa

[Ernie]

Hi,

I took Melatonin for at least 5 years and it worked until I got acutely sick 4 years ago. Now I need chemical medication. I hope that when I get better I will be able to use it again.

It worked the first night I took it and it worked everytime except when I was really stressed out or overtired.

Ernie

[Sunfish]

ernie (and others pre-emptively) -

did you take it to help with falling asleep or with sleeping through the night or both?

thanks!

:-)melissa

[Radha]

i take melatonin, 3mg time release, and i think it helps to fall asleep and stay asleep, but it doesnt work as fast as a chemical, so i would take it an hour or 2 before you go to bed, but everyone's different, hope it helps you

radha

[Ernie]

Hi,

I have both problems and if I remember correctly I took it for both reasons. I wake up about 20 times per hour so I really need something to help me sleep and stay asleep.

Ernie

[MightyMouse]

I didn't get any more sleep on melatonin, nor was it more refreshing. I did have some really whacked out dreams--very very vivid. Probably has to do with the way it interacts with serotonin.

Nina

[Eillyre]

Sorry to hear you're having sleep trouble too, Melissa.

I've been taking Melatonin since April and have noticed a tremendous difference in my sleep because of it -- I still don't sleep well, but so much better than before(my welcome to Evie gives my night time drama more detail!). It didn't help me fall asleep faster, but I was able to get more sleep that was actually refreshing and actually woke up less frequently. The difference was clear from the first night I took it and has continued to improve (a little up and down, but still better in general) since then. If I'm overtired, I don't find it as effective.

I take 3mg each night at approximately the same time (about an hour before I go to sleep because, as Radha said, it's not particularly fast-acting), give or take 20 minutes -- if you're taking it long-term, taking it around the same time each night is supposed to make it more effective because the melatonin is working on improving your sleep cycles.

If you can find one brand that works well and stick to it, your chances of effectiveness are improved. Apparently, in Europe Melatonin is much better regulated than in the US, where the amount of melatonin in the pills is not always consistant from brand to brand. Something like that. So if you hop from brand to brand the body supposedly does not receive consistant amounts.

Nina, I've met a number of people who took Melatonin at a higher dose (e.g. 3mg)who also experienced very vivid dreams. They all said that when they started taking a lower dose, the dreams disappeared. I haven't any personal experience with that, but it seemed to come up consistantly. Just a thought. Or maybe it is a "Clash of the Serotonins" like you said.

[Sunfish]

thanks for all of the feedback.

i'm taking 2.5mg in a sublingual form (under the tongue) so it's faster-acting since it doesn't have to go through the GI tract at all.

it seems to perhaps be helping me a bit and not hurting so i'm going to keep it up for at least another week or so to give it a fair shot.

thanks again!

:-)melissa

[Evie]

When i have tried melatonin its been good for a few days (on a very low dose or i dont wake up the next morning in time for class) however after a few days i tend to feel sick and irritable. Im not sure why melatonin causes this response in me but i have tried many times and each time its the same response after a few days.

I think i am the odd one out though heh.

Glad you are getting better results

[Sunfish]

hmmm...i hadn't even made the connection - if there is one - but i've been a mess all day. totally crashed, in bed other than to grab salty snacks & fluids. i was thinking perhaps i've been pushing too much with my swimming even though it's felt good at the time but who knows...maybe it is related to the melatonin. ggggrrrrrr. i honestly have no clue but it would be nice to know so that i can avoid the precipitating culprit....i don't feel sleepy though any more than normal fatigue, just like what a "normal" crash is for me...shaky, weak, a genuine bundle of good stuff. and perhaps a bit brain fogged since i didn't even consider the melatonin. now i don't know whether i should take it tonight or not. oh bother.

:-)melissa, peeking out from under the covers (where she's been all day. yuck.)

[Evie]

Oh how annoying! Maybe go off it for a few days to see if its the melatonin or not?

although if its like a normal crash then maybe its just that and has nothing to do with the melatonin .... i dont think you get withdrawl symptoms or anything from stopping melatonin so maybe its worth a try to see if thats the cause or not.

*puts detective hat on*

hehe

hope you feel a bit better soon (in aus its really chilly atm ... its snowing in places that have not had snow ever before ... well at least not in the last hundred years or so .... under the doonas sounds like a mighty comfy place to be! well if it was not caused by illness it would be)

[HoldOnToHope]

My 16 year-old started taking 2.5 melatonin about a week ago and it's really been helping her fall asleep. I do have concerns about how long she should take it. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks much!

[corina]

For years I?ve been falling asleep easily and waking up after one hour of sleep and be awake for 3 to 4 (or even 5) hours. Meaning that I slept from about 11 to midnight, and then slept from about 4 to 7. I didnt?like it, but was used to it and didn?t care about it. Since my youngest sun is at highschool and he often has to be up at 6 and I?m making him breakfast (he?s only 11) my sleep is totally mixed up. I sleep all night, which is great of course, but when I go back to bed at 7am as I?m too tired too stay up I sleep for another 6 hours. I do wake up in between but feel like I can?t do anything. So it seems that I?m needing more and more sleep. And I don?t feel well on that days, with lots of brain fog etc. My PT thought it had to do with melatonine) maybe I have to much of it? Or it?s all mixed up? I wish I could share my sleep with some of you who need it, so tonight I?m sending off a back full of sleep and spread it!

Corina