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Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted to Know (2018)

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61–70 of 156 posts

Re: Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted to Know (2018)

#61
post #55

Melatonin is not like a sleeping pill where more will necessarily make you more drowsy. It is a hormone that signals to your body that it is time to sleep. I can't find it right now, but there was a study of different doses in a large number of people that determined that just 0.2mg was more effective than larger doses for most people. And I've found that's true for me too. When I use melatonin, I use 0.2mg, and I fa…

The best melatonin pills would be both chewable and small dosage, but unfortunately they are hard to find. I suspect manufacturers have a hard time selling smaller doses because people think they’re getting a superior product with larger doses. Personally I settled for a 500mcg chewable dose that I split in half with a pill splitter.

Sublingual tablets have always worked best for me.

For higher dose people, I would investigate a smaller dose that dissolves in your mouth/under your tongue.

Re: Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted to Know (2018)

#62
post #48

I've had this experience lately of waking up around 3 or 4 AM and having a hard time falling back asleep for 30 mins or so. Nothing catastrophic, but a bit annoying. To address this, I've tried a couple of different things to help sleep: melatonin; and valerian root extract. The valerian root worked great, until one night it gave me the worst sleep paralysis night terror of all time. Sleep paralysis is nothing new to…

You can also try sitting up in bed and meditating until tired.

Re: Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted to Know (2018)

#63

Melatonin is a hormone, and is contraindicated for those with existing or predisposition to mental health conditions. In fact, that used to be a warning on the label in NY state. It's not something to play with.

It's also unregulated and the actual dosage compared to the label can be wildly different, and can even be contaminated.

Re: Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted to Know (2018)

#64
post #48

I've had this experience lately of waking up around 3 or 4 AM and having a hard time falling back asleep for 30 mins or so. Nothing catastrophic, but a bit annoying. To address this, I've tried a couple of different things to help sleep: melatonin; and valerian root extract. The valerian root worked great, until one night it gave me the worst sleep paralysis night terror of all time. Sleep paralysis is nothing new to…

You can also try sitting up in bed and meditating until tired.

Meditation is great and I enjoy it :) Relaxing and falling asleep isn't a problem for me. Just waking up in the middle of the night feeling wide awake is a bummer sometimes. Yes I can relax and fall back asleep again but it's a bummer that it happens at all.

Re: Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted to Know (2018)

#65
post #4

> the correct dose A single correct dose is a myth. The author even sort of notes that with the differences between teenagers, 25 year olds and the elderly. There's also a wide variety of sleep disorders which are touched on in the article. I've suffered with 2.5mg before for long enough to understand that it doesn't work for me, no matter how many studies you have with 95% CL that the dose is much lower. The 5mg tab…

How did you cure your DSPD? I am asking for a friend..:P

Re: Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted to Know (2018)

#66
post #55

Melatonin is not like a sleeping pill where more will necessarily make you more drowsy. It is a hormone that signals to your body that it is time to sleep. I can't find it right now, but there was a study of different doses in a large number of people that determined that just 0.2mg was more effective than larger doses for most people. And I've found that's true for me too. When I use melatonin, I use 0.2mg, and I fa…

I use 0.25mg and agree completely. The most annoying part is I can't find any pills less than 1mg so have to do a shitty job of separating them into 4 quarters.

Re: Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted to Know (2018)

#67
post #48

I've had this experience lately of waking up around 3 or 4 AM and having a hard time falling back asleep for 30 mins or so. Nothing catastrophic, but a bit annoying. To address this, I've tried a couple of different things to help sleep: melatonin; and valerian root extract. The valerian root worked great, until one night it gave me the worst sleep paralysis night terror of all time. Sleep paralysis is nothing new to…

That sleep "problem" may not be a problem; plenty of evidence suggests that before we invented electric lights, segmented sleep was the norm.

These links might get you started on the topic:

https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-used-to-sleep-in-two-shi...

https://www.medievalists.net/2016/01/how-did-people-sleep-in...

Re: Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted to Know (2018)

#68

Hmmph... I'm taking 20mg most nights. One 10mg at bedtime, then another 5 hours later if I wake up again. Even that isn't enough to really put me to sleep if I'm stressed out. For me, "more is more" seems to be true...

If you're stressed out and have trouble falling asleep, you could look into a 'body scan' routine when you lay in bed. Lots of guides to find about it, but it's simply focusing on parts of your body and on your breathing.

Re: Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted to Know (2018)

#69
post #53
post #4

> the correct dose A single correct dose is a myth. The author even sort of notes that with the differences between teenagers, 25 year olds and the elderly. There's also a wide variety of sleep disorders which are touched on in the article. I've suffered with 2.5mg before for long enough to understand that it doesn't work for me, no matter how many studies you have with 95% CL that the dose is much lower. The 5mg tab…

Melatonin is not like a sleeping pill where more will necessarily make you more drowsy. It is a hormone that signals to your body that it is time to sleep. I can't find it right now, but there was a study of different doses in a large number of people that determined that just 0.2mg was more effective than larger doses for most people. And I've found that's true for me too. When I use melatonin, I use 0.2mg, and I fa…

How do you dose it though? Lowest dose I can find is 1mg pills and even those are pretty rare in my country. Do you get 1mg pills, crush them and measure out on precision scales?

Re: Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted to Know (2018)

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That happened to me too. Not pleasant. Melatonin should never be taken by those with existing or predisposition to mental health conditions.

"mental health conditions" is rather broad along with the intersection between insomnia and depression. you probably just suggested that nobody should take melatonin because you had anxiety.

Suggesting that people with mental health conditions do not self medicate with supplements that can be particularly harmful to those with mental health conditions is entirely reasonable.
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