# Post your experiences with melatonin **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 29, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206 "2016-09-29T15:00:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/21 "2016-09-29T22:42:34Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I am pretty sensitive to it, so I have to take a minute portion to not be groggy the next day. On the plus side that grogginess comes with a free side of calmness and centered feeling, but still makes it difficult to think quickly. If I take just a crumble of a pill, far less than a quarter of a pill, then I am not groggy the next day, and it is only slightly less effective at putting me to sleep. You can get liquid melatonin, marketed for children. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/22 "2016-09-29T22:52:58Z")
I find it can be a burden sometimes-- like when the police shoot first and ask questions later, plus it doesn’t even keep me from getting sunburned. Oh wait. You said mela_to_nin. Sorry. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/23 "2016-09-29T22:55:18Z")
Melatonin has always helped, a bit, the first week or so but always declines to virtual ineffectiveness very rapidly. IME. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/24 "2016-09-30T01:01:52Z")
Had a bad jet-lag experience last time back from Europe - after a week, my sleep cycle was still all over the place and not getting better. Forced myself into bed at 10.00 at night, took the melatonin, slept great - 8-9 hours. Body clock all reset. It could have been co-incidence, since it should take about a bit over a week to fully recover from the jet-lag, but it seemed like I was getting nowhere, and then suddenly - fixed! Bloody awful hangover next day, though. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/25 "2016-09-30T01:06:33Z")
Your mileage may totally vary. I use not more than 1mg melatonin. I find that it helps speed the onset of sleep, and then I wake up fully rested after about 3 hours. This isn’t what I want and probably not what most people want, but there’s a data point for you. ---
**Author:** ![Barrett\_Bonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@Barrett\_Bonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrett_Bonden)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/26 "2016-09-30T01:12:04Z")
Melatonin doesn’t put me to sleep, but a 300 microgram dose relaxes me enough that it’s usually pretty easy to drop off to sleep. Important to note, that many commercially available doses are [at least 10 times the recommended dosage](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/melatonin-dosage-and-risks_us_56deff8ce4b03a40567a1e1e). The too high doses of melatonin can cause next day grogginess and also burn out the brain’s melatonin receptors, so those dosages cease to be effective after a few days. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/27 "2016-09-30T02:19:31Z")
I’ve tried it three times and I always have ended up with the same result regardless of dosage: I sleep \*even worse \*than without it. Instead of waking up every 90 to 120 minutes, I wake up every 45 to 60 minutes. While it’s supposed to work really, really well with kids with autism, apparently making you sleep even more poorly isn’t unheard of if you have ADHD. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/28 "2016-09-30T02:25:25Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Same here. Works, but vivid dreams. > > And it does not make you drowsy, so you\* could\* drive after taking one. Maybe not the best idea, of course… Vivid dreams are probably part of the “working.” Part of my insomnia is that I can sleep for eight hours without getting any REM sleep, and wake up the next morning feeling like I barely slept at all. On the other hand, with the right mix of medications, I sometimes sleep only six or seven hours, but have bizarre and vivid dreams much of the night, and wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. Also, if I have a couple of bad nights in a row where I sleep just three or four hours, the first night I fall asleep, I go into REM sleep with vivid dreams much of the night, and wake up “caught up” on sleep, even if I slept just nine hours. REM sleep, the time when you dream, is the crucial part of sleep for feeling refreshed in the morning, somehow. Someone explained it all to me once-- and REM isn’t completely the be all and end all of sleep-- there is a time when you are using up a hormone called adenosine, (which is what caffeine mimics, and therefore blocks), and not exhausting all your adenosine can make you wake up groggy, but IIRC, in the short term, missing REM sleep is what most contributes to making you feel like crap. It’s the reason passing out from alcohol and “sleeping”/being passed out for nine or ten hours can result in you still feeling groggy in the morning, because alcohol disrupts REM sleep. Melatonin helps you get more REM sleep, somehow-- I don’t remember how. It binds with receptors, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/29 "2016-09-30T05:03:10Z")
Sundown Naturals 5mg melatonin (pricey) knocks me out fast but I will get the vivid dreams others mentioned and it took two of them to make it nearly possible to sleep through menopausal hot flashes. Now that I take HRT and no longer have hot flashes, I also switched to the melatonin blend Costco carries by Schiff (much cheaper); it’s 3 mg melatonin along w/ extracts of chamomile and valerian root as well as Gamma-aminobutyric acid, L-Theanine, vitamin B6 and dicalcium phosphate. I do not get vivid dreams, it takes a little longer to fall asleep (up to an hour) but I usually get a solid 7 hours. They smell a little funny but only for a second. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/30 "2016-09-30T06:17:38Z")
Mixing a low does of melatonin with valarian root works for me. The valarian seems to slow the overactive brain and the melatonin let’s you drop off. It might be sugar pills but I’ll take it if it works. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/31 "2016-09-30T07:46:58Z")
Godawful headache the next day every time I have tried it. I use valerian a bit and have some phenibut hanging around but need to take that about 5 hours before bedtime on an empty stomach for it to work, it is great to listen to trance music with after a couple of hours though. I don’t usually have too much trouble getting to sleep now I have addressed a magnesium deficiency, it is staying asleep that is my issue. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/32 "2016-09-30T10:16:41Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > First night I took it, it worked great. After that, it got less and less effective. In addition, I started getting some really bad side effects (weird pains and uncomfortablness/tightness in the torso, occasionlly leading to really bad vomitting) after taking it a while. I’d much rather deal with the groggy next day of Benadryl than go through that again. I had a similar experience with weird side effects. It seemed miraculous at first, but then I would get this feeling like a vein or something was bursting in my head, especially when I walked up stairs. It was quite scary! I quit and that feeling went away instantly. But I tend to get side effects from stuff quite easily. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/33 "2016-09-30T11:38:41Z")
Only works if I use 0.3 mg. The argument is that the extra stuff gets converted into something else, and that can keep you awake. Absolutely no feeling of drowsiness. Just take it at about 20 minutes before the point when you’re natural melatonin should have kicked in. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/34 "2016-09-30T11:54:26Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Melatonin helps those who are melatonin deficient. It doesn’t help anyone else. > > Your brain makes melatonin during the day when bright light, like sunlight, reaches your pineal gland. It releases that melatonin at night. Some people who spend most of their days indoors may be deficient in their naturally occurring melatonin on a regular basis. This may be why people tend to sleep better when they’re camping, even if they haven’t been doing vigorous activity during the day. > > If you’re not melatonin deficient, melatonin won’t help. This. > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > It works well for me but holy cow does it give me odd dreams. But also this. Sometimes I’ll take a combination of Melatonin, choline, 5HTP, and a mega dose of vitamin B6 before bed time just for the fucked up dreams. It’s an absolute blast. Keep in mind that none of those things actually cause the dreams, they just help you remember the crazy shit that’s already zipping through your brain while you sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/35 "2016-10-01T01:00:14Z")
> [@amaguri](#): > > Thanks, **Ludovic** – are you talking about a 5mg pill? So you take like maybe 1mg? > > **WOOKINPANUB** , I already have detailed, vivid dreams most nights-- so I guess I’d better steel myself for a wild ride! > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > You can get liquid melatonin, marketed for children. 3 mg, the smallest dose I can find. Haven’t seen liquid melatonin but Ill keep an eye out for it. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/36 "2016-10-01T02:50:00Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > 3 mg, the smallest dose I can find. Haven’t seen liquid melatonin but Ill keep an eye out for it. I found 300 microgram doses on a 6-hour time-release on Amazon, I’ve been trying them out, seems to be helping some, but I still need to keep testing. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/37 "2016-10-02T02:14:17Z")
I can feel the drowsiness coming on, right on cue, fall asleep nicely then exactly 4 hours later I’m wide awake. So, didn’t really work for me since I didn’t want to sleep in four hours spurts. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/38 "2016-10-02T11:05:44Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Mixing a low does of melatonin with valarian root works for me. The valarian seems to slow the overactive brain and the melatonin let’s you drop off. It might be sugar pills but I’ll take it if it works. I haven’t taken melatonin in years because I think I developed a _habit_ with it, so to speak. I hit a wall with it where it didn’t work anymore unless I took a double dose. I did that once. Never again. I work in the very early AM hours and sometimes can’t/don’t get to bed at a reasonable time. I take valerian, which isn’t habit forming. One dose and I’m dead to the world within a half hour. It won’t work if I’m really keyed up. That’s when I take a generic “PM without the pain reliever”. ---
**Author:** ![Waxwinged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@Waxwinged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waxwinged)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/39 "2016-10-02T15:17:14Z")
Both hubby and I use it on a regular basis to fall asleep fast. No side effects, from what we’ve noticed Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206/40 "2016-10-02T18:35:44Z")
I’ve tried different formulations of it and have never had any relief. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-your-experiences-with-melatonin/767206.md?page=3)