Melatonin

Some of you have noticed that in the past I posted a lot between about 2 AM and 4 AM. That is because I have sleep issues. The problem isn't so much falling as asleep as staying asleep. It was usual for me to go to sleep about 9:30 PM and wake up at 2 AM. Then I would dink around for a couple hours before I was tired enough to get back to sleep. During this time I was too tired to do legitimate work so usually just frittered the time away in a not-fully awake state.

About a month ago I complained about this to my doctor and asked for Ambien. He wrote the prescription but suggested I give melatonin a try first, which can be easily found anywhere that sells vitamins.

To give you some background, when it gets dark the brain perceives this and starts producing melatonin, which is what makes you feel sleepy. When the brain perceives light it stops making melatonin, so you wake up. It would seem my problem was my brain wasn't making enough melatonin.

So I easily found melatonin at Whole Foods and started taking it nightly. What a difference! I fall asleep faster and into a much deeper sleep. I can tell because I have much more vivid dreams. I sleep through the night about half the time now. However, even on the nights when I wake up too early I just putter about for about half an hour, compared to the two hours I used to, and easily get back to sleep. Now I get up earlier and better rested.

I'm worried that I will develop a tolerance to it and be back to my usual problem eventually, but for now I'm enjoying the effectiveness. I don't promote things lightly, but in this case I'm so happy with melatonin I thought I would share it with my readers. If anyone else is taking it, I'd be interested in your experience.

Anything that keeps you off Ambien is good.

Melatonin is wonderful stuff for sleep onset and sleep maintenance.

Make sure you sleep in a darkened room. If you do wake up ... get up and get out of the bed and out of the bedroom. Don't go back to bed until you are sleepy. Don't associate the bed or the bedroom with sleep problems.

Try to avoid going from Night to Day in your bedroom lighting. Try to experience a "dawn" so that your brain is able to re-entrain escaped circadian rhythms. Resistance Hardware sells a seventy five dollar radio that has a great big bulb that is very dim a half hour before your alarm and slowly grows brighter and brighter as it provides a "fake dawn" to you. However, you can easily rig something similar for far less money on your own.

Causation may be an issue for you, so its rather easy to borrow an over nite oximeter. Usually a Home Health Care company will deliver it, demonstrate it and pick it up the next afternoon with no charge. Be sure to off the alarm and let it record all night long. See how often your nocturnal oxygen values go below 90 percent and how long they stay there. Your brain may be responding to low oxygen levels by trying to wake you up. That is usually good but sometimes mechanisms become too sensitive. One rule in the ER is a neck size of 17 or higher merits a test, but many thin people do have the same problem. Once you have the summary data from the machines morning printout, you can easily get an over night full sleep test either at a sleep lab or in your own home.

You eat protein, get various amino acids, those molecules go into the blood stream and get used, but when they come to the brain, they encounter the Blood Brain Barrier. They cross the BBB in an active, energy-dependent manner in which they compete based on size, shape and charge. You may need a little dietary changes or you may have acquired some parasites in your travels.

Melatonin is great stuff. Follow the directions for use, but when the bottle is empty see how things go without it and see what the underlying cause is. Whatever you do, avoid Ambien if at all possible.

Here are some Proper Usage Guidelines for Melatonin
It should be used under the guidance of a doctor and sleep professional.
It should be used at the correct dosage (0.3 - 1.0 mg).
It should be taken about 90 minutes before lights out.
It should be used for a short time (less than 3 months).
It should never be used in combination with other sleep-inducing medications.
It should never be used with alcohol.
It should never be used with children (younger than 18 years).
There are possible interaction effects and could change the effectiveness of your current medication regimen.

The biggest problems are that many people take too large of a dosage (which may make it less effective) or they use it for longer than 90 days.

Well this world is spinning out of control
I'm bracing just to keep hold
As the clouds move in
With a driving wind so strong.
Could it be that we're lost at sea
And we're drowning under the stars?
Up to me I would ride this wave
Before we drift too far



_______________________________
aliiiii

Quote: Pacomartin

The biggest problems are that many people take too large of a dosage (which may make it less effective) or they use it for longer than 90 days.

I've been using it almost every night for about a year now and don't know of any harm in doing so. Maybe the effectiveness is starting to wear off a bit but I still feel it helps.

Quote: sajjad321

Well this world is spinning out of control...

Melatonin will at least help give you a good night's sleep as opposed to getting dizzy. Seriously, I suggest you start a new thread for your observation. Personally, my idea of good poetry begins with "There was an old man from Nantucket."

Quote: Wizard

I've been using it almost every night for about a year now and don't know of any harm in doing so. Maybe the effectiveness is starting to wear off a bit but I still feel it helps.



Melatonin will at least help give you a good night's sleep as opposed to getting dizzy. Seriously, I suggest you start a new thread for your observation. Personally, my idea of good poetry begins with "There was an old man from Nantucket."

There are also those who believe this: http://www.alternative-cancer-care.com/melatonin-meditation-and-cancer.html

I don't know if you have tried benedryl for sleep but it certainly knocks me out if I take two.

Also for sleep, try Valerian root

There is some evidence that calorie restricted diets extend life expectancy but some scientists think the same extension of life expectancy can be obtained from melatonin ingestion since a calorie deficient diet will affect melatonin.

The consensus is that there are several "body clocks", melatonin can reset the primary one and thus re-entrain escaped diurnal values, but a more gentle way to achieve this is with regularly experiencing a "dawn" rather than going from dark room to bright room.

I'd wean myself off melatonin after about a year just to get a break from it. Restarting melatonin would be okay later if any serious change was noted in sleep or affect.