Melatonin

[ajw4790]

Hi!

I was told to try Melatonin to regulate my sleep cycles. B/c I have a hard time sleeping at night, not too big of a problem sleeping most of the time during the day. I am totally in reverse of normal. I also have RLS so that is also probably part of the problem with night.

Anyways, was told start with 3mgs for 2 weeks and then to 6mgs and then to 9mgs after increasing each after two weeks.

So, I went back and pretty much read all the old posts. So, for one it seems like that will be a high dose in comparison to what many have tried/take.

I also was looking at side effects. I found the popular one was vivid dreams. I kinda remember dreaming which I pretty much never do, so I think I did experience that.

I also had the grogginess/hard to wake up feeling. I also feel like my heart is very fluttery, maybe tachy but haven't caught it yet.

My weird possible side effect was last night (first time taking it) I suddenly had this very uncomfortable intense muscle pain in my legs, arms, and pretty much all over. It was weird! And very painful! I had no other explanation, and it was about an hour after taking it.

Has anyone else had this?

Does the grogginess in the morning go away after a while (couple of weeks) or is it pretty consistent?

Then, if it is successful to regulating your sleep cycle have most of you that have used it, do you continue using it, or do you stop after things are "better"?

Also, what kind of schedule is best? Take it an hour before sleep? Then allow for how many hours of sleep? So, how early do I have to go to bed?

For it to work do you have to be pretty consitent over days to time of taking and going to sleep, if the whole point is to regulate sleep cycles?

I am interested in anyones experience with this. I am wary on it, but trying to give it a try.

Thanks!

[ehl5]

I used Melatonin for a while to regulate my sleep cycles and it worked pretty well for me. I'm not using it at the moment because I ran out and have been too lazy to get more. One POTS side effect I did notice was the occasional tachycardia associated with it, but that's it. None of the other crazy side effects.

[flop]

My Dad (who does not have autonomic problems) uses Melatonin occasionally. He works abroad on oil rigs and often travels 6 or 7 hours in time-zone difference and then has to work night shifts, enough to mess up any-ones body clock. He uses it for the first few "sleeps" when he arrives at the rig site, and then again for the first few nights back home. He finds that this helps him to flip his body clock over more easily so he sleeps when he is off duty rather than being sleepy when at work.

I haven't tried it myself but my Dad didn't mention any side-effects.

Flop

[lloppyllama]

I use melatonin every night. Right now I take 5mg, but once this bottle runs out I'm going to start taking 6mg, which is the max dose my doctor told me to use. So your 9mg sounds high to me, but I might only be aloud 6mg at most because I am still only a teenager. It works well for me, I too have RLS, and so the melatonin helps me get to sleep and then stay asleep. I am also on nortryptiline 50mg before bed as well.

Good luck!

Mary

[ajw4790]

Hi again!

I tried 1.5 mg last night (I split the 3mg), and I had less side effects. Still dreamt more though... weird. But, it really didn't seem to help much at all with sleep. Maybe over time? At least I wasn't as groggy.

Are the effects always immediate, so would I need to increase dosage to get an affect, and work through the side effects?

Thanks!

[lloppyllama]

For me I take my 5mg and then about 20 minutes later I am out of it. So that is good if I am going to bed and just lay there for the 20 minutes while I wait, but if I find something I still have to do and try to stay up, I get really sick, and high too. So thats not good. I'm not sure when you take it exactly, but if your not getting 8 hours of sleep that would probably explain why you are so groggy. Maybe try taking with some bread or something like that at night, so that its not the only thing going into your stomach, perhaps that would help with the grogginess in the morning.

Good luck!

Mary

[Sophia3]

my two cents.

6 and 9mg WAY TOO HIGH.

Melatonin can affect prolactin levels...this melatonin IS A HORMONE, folks.

I sometimes take half of a 3mg pill. Bigger dose causes nightmares and hangovers. It can help reset things but caution must be used and an ENLIGHTENED doctor and pt.

Just my two cents. I don't want to turn this into a rant for or against this drug but I would never EVER take such high doses I am reading about here. No offense. I use small doses ON OCCASSION.

[goldicedance]

I agree with Sophia.

Melatonin is a hormone. I think that women of reproductive age should not take Melatonin. Also, I think that you have to be certain that you are taking synthetic Melatonin.

Lois

[Rachel]

I've been taking 3mg of melatonin for 6 months or so now. I've tried numerous sleep meds, but this is what worked the best for me.

I've had hypersomnia for years. No matter how much I sleep, I'm always sleepy when I wake up, even when my sleep patterns are normal. About a year ago I had insomnia thrown into the mix of sleep disorders, leaving me always sleepy, but not able to sleep. Sleep aids knocked me out so that I was able to sleep, but then I was always extremely groggy and had much more severe muscle weakness in the morning. Melatonin didn't do that to me. With melatonin I'm able to sleep through the night. I'm still sleepy in the morning due to the hypersomnia, but it's better than not sleeping at all!

Things haven't gotten better for me, so I am continuing to use melatonin. My sleep disorders are actually getting worse, so I'll probably have to talk to my sleep speialist about another med change or upping the dose of melatonin. I'm only at 3mg, so I can probably go up some.

I take the melatonin right when I crawl into bed. Then for about 30 minutes I'll read and talk with my husband. After that the meds starts to take effect and I fall asleep. But there seems to be an exception to every rule with me. Lately it has been taking over an hour for me to fall aslee. So who knows.

Melatonin lasts about 8 hours for me. I wish it lasted more!

I'm usually very consistent with the time I take melatonin, but only because we're fairly consistent with my son's schedule. After Will puts our son to bed, we get ready for bed and are in bed soon after William is down.

I've been seeing a sleep specialist regularly for quite a while, have had several sleep studies and done many med trials. Melatonin is what worked best for me. My sleep specialist said that it would be fine for me to take it for years on end. She has had many patients do that with no ill effects.

I've been very happy with melatonin. I don't respond well to most medication. I usually get the side effects, but not the benefits. With melatonin the only side effect I've had is increased dreams. But that may just be because I hadn't been dreaming for probably 6 months before I went on melatonin. I did have some strange dreams for the first two weeks, but that went away.

I hope the melatonin is helpful for you, or that you can find another helpful sleep aid.

Best wishes,

Rachel

[ajw4790]

Hi,

I took it earlier tonight. We will see. Thanks for ya'lls help! I know it is a hormone etc. What do you mean about the prolactin levels? What does that do?

I made sure to not start taking it just on my own, it was suggested by a specialist neurologist, who as far as I can tell knows what he is talking about. So, I figure it should be fine. I don't plan to take it long term or less it ends up being some kind of miracle drug.

As far as synthetic, i think it is, but not sure. It is the Nature's Bounty brand that I got at CVS, should that be fine?

Has anyone gotten low body temps while on it? Mine today was just above 97 degrees. Seemed off for me, but I don't take it regularly.

Thanks!

[Sophia3]

Well young females and uninformed docs may think this hormone is safe but I produced milk at one point on 3mg and have other breast issues I choose NOT to share here..... and have NEVER been pregnant!!!

had pituitary scan years ago and my ans doc is endocrinologist. He would NEVER want me to take this for long periods of time nor my ex sleep doc. Remember, many doctors tell us bad information so READ for yourself.

Oh, I thought all women knew about prolactin but here is an easy to read explanation,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolactin

[ajw4790]

Hi,

Yeah, i probably didn't ask my question the best... I knew what Prolactin was, just not the affect of Melatonin on it. Besides your personal experience, do you know anywhere where this information is published, because I have read out there what I can find, but haven't come across anything along these lines?

Sounds awful though! Hope to not have to worry about anything along those lines!

[ajw4790]

Yeah, I stopped taking it. I was struggling to regulate my body temp. It tended to be low when I had much of it in my system. Also, the tachy contd.

It also increased my RLS symptoms during the day-- uncomfortable! And add in migraine and everything else, it was pretty miserable until it pretty much wore off and I would feel better, but it was time to take it again.

Make things worse I had people jump on my case today in the midst of all of it, and tell me how bad of a person I was, and I can't manage time etc... Not, a good thing when you can't think straight! They have no concept of energy conservation. They constantly tell me that everyone has a lot going on etc. Which they do, but even under some of those circumstances it is easier to do things then, instead of when every waking moment you have to deal with this delicate balance!

I don't like being told I am a bad person because I do not have the energy to be superwoman and get everything done in the timeframe they see fit. I can manage my time, it just is differently then they do. (Sorry for my mini rant!)

So, I guess I to trying to find something else!

[Sophia3]

Sorry you had a rotten day.....this too shall pass.....I hate when people say things like that sometimes...even if it is true.

FWIW (For what it's worth) maybe melatonin WAS affecting your body temp but in general, the basis of autonomic dysfunction is body temperature dysregulation ! We can't cool ourselves easily or warm ourselves easily. for many years my body temp was 96 or 97 many days, When I had a low grade fever 99. I FELT ROTTEN.

Now my body temp is often 'normal' but I still freex and over heat easily.

So be kind to yourself in the next few days and I hope you can make peace with the folks you clashed with so that they may understand you more.

[JaneEyre9]

ajw--

I'm so sorry to hear the melatonin didn't work out for you. I ended up being sent to the ER after my first dose and had a fever for a week afterward. The people at the ER couldn't believe that I would react with extreme tachy, shakes, nausea, and a fever, but that's exactly what happened. So, just wanted to share that body temp can be affected. It was in my case.

Also, I'm sorry to hear you were being accused of bad time management. It's hard for us because we not only have to manage time but also energy. That is a very different thing, because you can always estimate how much time you have left to do something, but we have no way to predict our energy/functioning levels.

Hang in there--

Kristen