For those who were doodling on their desk when the world explained what melatonin is it’s a ‘dietary suppliment’ that is supposed to promote natural sleep’ (an ironic phrase if ever I saw one)
It’s produced naturally by the body in response to changes in light levels. But some people take supplements of it to help them sleep.
I take it because for my whole life I’ve had trouble sleeping, which is amplified by darkness. I take melatonin to compensate for sleeping in a lit environmnet. I also take it with alcohol which I would never dream of endorsing to others (it does allow me to drink less alcohol than otherwise but still it’s not something I would risk reccomending)
I take one 3mg tablet a day. I have recently recieved a fresh batch, which is 3mg but from a different company and not quoted as ‘slow release’ like the previous batch. That could mean nothing, but I must say, placebo effect or not, it does seem to be acting quicker than the old batch. So anyway, I said this was a poll so I better start polling before this OP has the effect of melatonin on it’s readers.
How many mg (miligrams) do you take?
How long have you been taking it?
How do you rate it’s effectiveness on your sleep compared to before you started taking it? (on a scale of one to ten)
Do you believe the hype (remember, hype does not mean ‘lies’ it can turn out to be truths) that it slows the aging process?
Do you take it with alcohol?
What effect does it have on your dreams?
Do you have more straightforward dreams or more confusing ones?
Do you often have dreams or daydreams or hypnagogic/hypnanomic experiences that alter your perception of what makes sense and what is logical? (Lately my semi-asleep self can have the most unlikely thoughts and concepts that at the time seem to make perfect sense)
what influenced you to being taking Melatonin?
To make this poll a nice round ten questions - what is the answer to the last question you asked yourself that had an answer? (nothing to do with melatonin)
[ol]
[li]3 mg[/li][li] 5 years or so (?)[/li][li] Hard to rate–it doesn’t knock me out, but it does make my sleep rythm WAY more regular. Let’s say 8.[/li][li] Haven’t heard any of that hype, I take it purely because it helps me sleep more regularly.[/li][li] Sometimes.[/li][li] None that I’ve noticed, but I’ve been taking it for a long time…[/li][li] N/A[/li][li] No.[/li][li] Heard it was a non-prescription non-“knock out” sleep aid and I’d been unable to sleep on a regular schedule for as long as I could remember (even as a kid).[/li][li] 10 cubic yards.[/li][/ol]
(P.S. You can make numbered list in vbcode by using the [ list=1 ] tag.)
It’s not for everyone. I had pretty severe side effects.
At first I took it and I felt great. But after about a week I would this weird head thing when I was walking up stairs–it felt as though a blood vessel was popping in my scalp. It was so bad I actually went to the doctor for it and didn’t think it was the melatonin (how could such a harmless substance cause that)?
I still don’t know what that was and would like to hear if anyone had a similar experience.
Oh, and it gave me some nastyass bad dreams. I stopped taking it for good after I figured out it was causing the head thing. Since then I’ve used herbs when I can’t get to sleep: chammomile, lemon balm, passion flower, and skullcap (varlerian made my heart feel weird; I’ve heard that it’s a cardiopulmonary stimulant).
So I say: Be careful with melatonin. It is not such a simple thing to use.
The one argument I’ve heard against it’s use is that it reduces the body’s ability to create melatonin naturally, thereby causing a dependancy on the stuff.
I use it only rarely, like when I need a sound sleep and there’s a possibility of disturbances. I wouldn’t think of using it daily.
I take 300 mcg. For me, the smaller dose is just as, if not more, effective than the larger.
Sometimes dreams are more confused.
No alcohol.
I find it works better if I take it early, say around 9-9:30 p.m. If later, I have problems sleeping. If I fight it when first getting drowsy, sleep is more difficult.
How many mg (miligrams) do you take? 3mg. I’ve read that it’s an arbitrary figure pulled out of some early pharmacist’s ass, but half a tab does nothing for me.
How long have you been taking it? About a year, on and off.
How do you rate it’s effectiveness on your sleep compared to before you started taking it? (on a scale of one to ten) 8.
Do you believe the hype (remember, hype does not mean ‘lies’ it can turn out to be truths) that it slows the aging process? Nope.
Do you take it with alcohol? Sometimes.
What effect does it have on your dreams?* They’re brighter. More vivid. And I remember them more often, but it might just be because I sleep more.*
Do you have more straightforward dreams or more confusing ones? All my dreams have been confusing to me.
Do you often have dreams or daydreams or hypnagogic/hypnanomic experiences that alter your perception of what makes sense and what is logical? (Lately my semi-asleep self can have the most unlikely thoughts and concepts that at the time seem to make perfect sense) *I get this when I up the dose above 3mg, or have too much alcohol with the stuff. Has to do with elevated plasma levels of melatonin. *
what influenced you to being taking Melatonin? *Doctor, actually. Had a very painful knee injury that made me unable to sleep, so he gave me enough to last a week. Came back to it a while later when I found myself not sleeping again. *
To make this poll a nice round ten questions - what is the answer to the last question you asked yourself that had an answer? (nothing to do with melatonin) Yes.
I take it to help get over jet lag. I’m not sure if it helps, but I’m not going to risk not sleeping. I drink too, and take an otc sleeping pill.
normal times I don’t take melatonin. There have been a few occaisions when I’ve woken up in the middle of the night wide awake, take a melatonin, read and fall back asleep.
As much as I loathe anecdotal evidence… This is IMHO.
I’ve been taking it for around 5 years, and I have no problem (other then those I had before I started taking it…) sleeping without it. I take longer to fall asleep, but I eventually do. And if I’m tired I have no problem falling asleep without it. Today I spread ten cubic yards of pea gravel with a rake, shovel, and wheelbarrow. I won’t take melatonin, and I’ll have no trouble going to sleep.