41–50 of 229 posts
The main side effect is being much more tired when you wake up, and that is cured by coffee. I love the stuff.
The problem with a lack of FDA regulation is that there is no guarantee on what you are taking. The freshness of the product and the veracity of what's in the pills will always be suspect to me. If I could trust where I get my melatonin from, I would gladly take it. But I've learned too much about how terrible this industry is.
I don't trust many, but I do trust Nature's Way, Now Foods, and Jarrows. They do proper batching and testing.
I've taken meltonin for 19 years now. I've moved up my dosage in the last few months. I stayed on a very low dosage for a really long time, but am up to 10mgs now, and sleeping wonderfully. The main side effect is being much more tired when you wake up, and that is cured by coffee. I love the stuff.
I noticed this the very first time I tried it - I slept in on a weekend, about 13h total and then felt very fuzzy and hung over.
That only happened once, and now I take it nightly.
Other recommended sleep hack: Tempur-Pedic sleep mask.
Seriously, it costs a lot more than the cheap plastic ones (although still only $30) but it is worth its weight in gold. For shift workers, it's great - you can sleep like a baby in full sunlight.
Melatonin does work wonders, but you never know how your own body might react to it. I have many issues with my sleep cycle and quality of sleep. Melatonin is one of the few things that alleviates my problems. However, for me, it's only good for one night. I can take melatonin for one night out of a month, and get a blissful, restful night of sleep. If I take it two nights in a row, evil side-effects start creeping u…
The problem with a lack of FDA regulation is that there is no guarantee on what you are taking. The freshness of the product and the veracity of what's in the pills will always be suspect to me. If I could trust where I get my melatonin from, I would gladly take it. But I've learned too much about how terrible this industry is.
There are some problems with Melatonin (as supplied) - you don't really know how much (if any) you're getting. Investigators found that quality control was very poor and some brands contained very little melatonin. (I can't find it now, but it was something like Consumer Reports or similar?) It's a prescription only med in some places (UK) so you might not be able to get it. But it is "remarkably effective"[1] for je…
A quick google gives me a big bunch of options for buying Melatonin in the UK - http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/HealthNotes-Search?search=%... for example. Doesn't seem to be prescription-only unless I'm misunderstanding.
Anecdotaly, I find melatonin usage helps my brain rewire itself every night. My belief is that increases the number of connections and associations that various concepts have, and it also elevates my mood. Not bad for something that costs mere pennies!
During the time I had almost no sleep, I would take quite a bit of melatonin in a desperate attempt to get some kind of rest. At times I would pop 25mg or more. I found there were no side effects, except perhaps being sleepy for the next couple of days.
I've also quit a number of times for various reasons. Just a few months ago I quit for three months due to surgery. I found quitting to be completely symptom-free, which kind of amazed me. I figured with years of usage, quitting would make it impossible to sleep. I based this opinion on numerous studies that show when you replace a naturally-occurring hormone with a supplement, your body stops producing it. Instead, I slept fine. Once I was out of the no-supplements period after surgery, I started back up with the melatonin. No side effects, and I almost immediately noticed an increase in creativity and mood.
I'm a supplement junkie. It's that irrational thing that I do, my black swan interest. Yes, I know, most of the market is just BS and marketing hype. But not all of it. Melatonin is one of the 2 or 3 supplements I use that I believe really make a huge and immediately perceivable difference. Can't recommend it highly enough.
The problem with a lack of FDA regulation is that there is no guarantee on what you are taking. The freshness of the product and the veracity of what's in the pills will always be suspect to me. If I could trust where I get my melatonin from, I would gladly take it. But I've learned too much about how terrible this industry is.