A couple people mentioned they take melatonin to help them sleep in my CPAP thread. I’ve been having falling asleep issues, and I wouldn’t mind trying something natural.
Is there a “minimum” number of hours you should plan on sleeping (e.g. Ambien says something like “plan on 8 hours of sleep”)? Is there any sort of groggy hangover in the morning? What dosage do people take?
Inquiring minds want to know. 
A 3mg of 5mg tablet is enough for me, no need for 10mg tabs. There are now “extended release” ones that don’t work for me–I need the whole thing to hit me at once.
Melatonin won’t make you sleepy if you stay up after you take it. It will make it easier to fall asleep once you get into bed.
I have zero groggy after-effects. Usually I’ll take it around 10pm, sleep, and wake up around 1 or 2 when it wears off, but not so much that I have trouble drifting right back off.
My mother takes melatonin to help her get to sleep, but she frequently wakes up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep (which is just an old-person problem), so the melatonin must not hang around long in the body. I’d suggest trying it on a night when you’re free to take a nap the next day just in case, but I doubt you’ll have any issues, especially if you start out with a lower dose as Sattua suggests.
The sublingual tablet has the most immediate effect. I take both a sublingual and an extended release. Dosage is usually anywhere from 3mg to 10mg.
The body’s melatonin levels have decreased due to the usage of artificial lighting. People used to have higher natural melatonin levels when they sat there in the dark during the evening, so using melatonin as a sleep aid is just restoring what has been artificially decreased.
There’s no groggy hangover in the morning if you take it before 4 AM.
Please pay careful attention to the information in this article from MIT about the right dosage for insomnia. Melatonin generally comes in a low (300mcg) and high (3mg) dosage. The lower dosage has been proven to be better.
Do not fall into the trap of thinking more is better. 3-5mg is just too much.
I don’t have a hangover effect from melatonin, DH does with some brands. I’ve never noticed it affecting duration of sleep, just how easy it is to get there. Both DH and I have more vivid dreams with melatonin, and I understand that’s quite common.
I will caution you to start with low doses and work your way up. I can only take 1mg at a time, unless I want to have nightmares (and I’ve seen mention of this side effect elsewhere, so it’s not just my odd quirk). DH routinely takes anywhere from 6-10mg with no such side effect.
I tried some recently, based on advice I’d read on here. Got some 5mg tablets (because they were cheapest) and take about half of one if I have some reason to believe I’ll have trouble sleeping. Even half a dose of Simply Sleep or Tylenol PM makes me groggy well into the next day, but I’ve had no such problems with the Melatonin.
I’d agree, too, that it doesn’t really make you sleepy. Just makes it easier to go to sleep.
Even 3mg is WAY too much. Every time there’s another melatonin thread around here, I come in and make a note of it. The best way to dose is with sublingual liquid, because it’s easier to control the amount. Start with a couple of drops, if you don’t feel anything in 15 minutes take a couple more.
I don’t recommend melatonin pills.
What’s the danger of excessive amounts? Just asking because I haven’t heard of this.
I used to take the sublingual liquid from a dropper. I forget exactly how much, but whatever the package recommended. I was taking it every day and for the first few days, I’d be so groggy in the morning, I think because it was after a long spell of being really underslept, so once I was finally sleeping, I was out really deeply. The grogginess wore off after a few mornings. And it would only last for about 5 minutes.
Ive taken Melatonin for several years now and this is my advice:
-Go to Vitamin Shoppe and get the 3mg lozenges. They are much easier on the stomach.
-Try it for the first time when you can sleep in the next day. The first time is the most powerful.
-Dissolve one about an hr or two before bed time.
-After you have done them a couple of times, you only really need six hrs of sleep (but you should get about 7 1/2 hrs really.)
They help me get to sleep and stay asleep. They definitely aren’t for serious sleep problems… just that gentle nudge.
I have only used 3mg melatonin a couple of times for help with jet lag. It seemed to work great for that, though I cannot rule out placebo. My understanding was that it was supposed to help adjust your natural rhythms rather than directly cause drowsiness. If that is the case then I can quite imagine it may be less affective in some circumstances.
I’ve had sleep issues for a while and many many months ago a Nurse Practitioner respecting my wish not to take serious sleep medication suggested I try melatonin and a cup of chamomile tea at bedtime. I did it for a few nights with good results and stopped because I can’t seem to make anything a habit.
Last night after several weeks of interrupted sleep I really really wanted a good night’s rest. I dug out the melatonin - 500mcg chewable peppermint flavored tablets from Trader Joe’s. About 25 minutes later I was noticeably drowsy. I slept through the night and awoke this morning possibly a tiny bit reluctantly, but I did go to bed about an hour later than my goal bedtime.
If you have falling asleep issues, you probably also have waking up issues. In other words, you retire and awaken later than you would like.
Melatonin (as well as bright light exposure and avoidance) can help advance your circadian rhythm so that you fall asleep earlier (and awaken earlier).
The effect of a melatonin supplement depends on when you take it. For sleep phase advancement, you should take in the afternoon. In particular, for the commercially common dosage of 3mg, you should take it 7 hours before your desired bedtime (or more precisely, 5 hours before dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO), which begins about two hours before your bedtime). (See http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/91/1/54.full)
To take advantage of DLMO, by the way, you should avoid bright light beginning two hours before your bedtime. Because blue light (460 nm) is most critical in melatonin suppression, you could get yellow-orange “sunglasses” that block blue light to wear at this time of night.
Lastly, bright light (such as outdoor sunlight or 10,000 lux indoor light (possibly less for blue light)) within the first hour of waking will also serve a phase-advancing function.
Once you have shifted your circadian cycle to a more suitable retiring or waking hour, you must then maintain that schedule consistently, retiring and waking at the same time every day, including weekends.
ETA — Also, as for the amount of sleep: You should aim for 7.5 to 8 hours. Degradation of waking performance has been noted at 7 hours of sleep. Sleeping less (but above 7 hours) is correlated to longer lifespan. Additionally a REM-sleep cycle is about 90 minutes, and you’ll notice that 7.5 hours represents five full cycles. So waking after 7.5 hours will be close to waking at the end of such a cycle, which is thought to be easier than waking in the middle of one.
I swear by the TJs chewables. They work beautifully on my particular brand of insomnia, an inability to just fall asleep. Once I’m out I sleep fine, but the falling part is what I’ve never done well. Melatonin is by far the best thing I’ve found for it, and the TJs formulation is perfect. Gentle, easy to take, and even tasty!
Thanks much! I’ve read everything, and I’m going to start with the TJ chewables. At 500 mcg, they seem to be a happy medium. I’ll report back in after I give it a go.
For me a tiny dose works better than large doses. I get weird side effects from 5mg, but 300mcg tablets work on me.
They mostly just make it easier to fall asleep for me, I don’t think it matters how long I sleep. I don’t get groggy the next morning.
I just wanted to report my success. Last night, I took a 500 mcg chewable from Trader Joe’s. Since I got my CPAP, I’ve been up 1-2x a night. Last night, I slept through to 6:30 AM before having to get up (nature hollered). I am very pleased. Also, little to no grogginess this morning. Awesome!
Cool! I’m glad it worked for you.