121–130 of 132 posts
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Weird, where are you that Melatonin is prescription only and difficult to obtain? I Can get it at any drug and grocery store I walk into in a variety of doses.
The UK.
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Bananas contain L-tryptophan. Your body converts L-tryptophan to melatonin (+ serotonin and vitamin B6).
Isn't that the same stuff that's in Turkey and 5-HTP?
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It’s not permitted to be sold by chemists in the UK. If so it would be an over-the-counter medicine. Rather, it looks some online chemists skirt around the rules by having an “online doctor” issue you with a prescription. But the UK-based ones I found were very expensive and it is surely cheaper just to import from the US via eBay etc.
biovea.com ships it to the UK.
Question for people on melatonin. I tried 0.5 mg does, from cutting a 1 mg pill in half. Didn't have much effect. Had a concussion three months ago and started taking 2 mg based on a post concussion study I read. this did markedly improve my sleep. 1. Did anyone experience a good effect only at higher doses 2. I'm doing much better day to day on this dosage, but I don't want to impair my own production. Do I need to…
As I understand it, Melatonin can be administered as a hypotic (taken in larger doses (1mg - 3mg) before bed), or it can be taken in smaller doses hours before bed to trigger the natural release of Melatonin and start the sleep cycle. (I mentioned this in another comment).
Thanks! I'll try that and see what happens.
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As I understand it, Melatonin can be administered as a hypotic (taken in larger doses (1mg - 3mg) before bed), or it can be taken in smaller doses hours before bed to trigger the natural release of Melatonin and start the sleep cycle. (I mentioned this in another comment).
Oh, interesting. So 30 min or so before, 1-3 mg would be effective, but with a lower dose I should try 3-4 hours before bed or so? Thanks! I'll try that and see what happens.
if you're thinking about trying the option where you take it a few hours before bed time, make sure you're going to bed at a consistent target time (10pm for example). Since this method is more targeted at resetting your circadian rhythm.
If you feel like you have more serious sleep/wake problems I would definitely recommend seeing a specialist. I was surprised to learn that people who say things like "I can't go to sleep until x o'clock" or "I can't stay awake beyond x time" probably suffer from circadian rhythm problems that are treatable.. but the treatment isn't always as intuitive as you might think.
> administering melatonin prior to exposure to UV radiation increases cell survival and reduces oxidative damage. Topical melatonin applied to skin 15 minutes prior to exposure to UV radiation completely prevented skin redness (erythema) in a small randomized double-blind study of human subjects This isn't necessarily good news. Sun burn is your body's way of reducing skin cancer. When your body detects too much expo…
Like even if the mechanism of action is perfectly sound, how does your body adjust with that over many years?
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I too suffered from insomnia regularly for most of my life (for at least 25+ years that I can remember) and just have managed to figure it out this past year. The major things for me have been light therapy in the morning, carefully watching my diet (certain foods cause mild digestive problems but this seems to really mess with my sleep), meditation and trying to control inflammation (again, partly through being very…
What foods were causing you problems?
For anyone taking Melatonin as a sleeping aid: The dosages it is being sold at are way too high. Recent studies point to 0.3 mg being the right amount for adults [1]. That dosage (taken over a period of several months every day at the same time) helped me get through a period of insomnia last summer, when basically all the other medications failed or had too strong side effects. [1] http://news.mit.edu/2001/melatonin…
“Many health food stores are now selling melatonin, to induce sleep and “prevent cancer.” They have taken some information out of context, and don’t realize how dangerous melatonin is. It makes the brain sluggish, causes the sex organs to shrink, and damages immunity by shrinking the thymus gland. It is the hormone of darkness and winter, and is produced in the pineal gland by any stress which increases adrenalin. Ad…