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Melatonin

gwern.net

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Re: Melatonin

#81

Post by foobarqux »

DanBC wrote: post #11

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…

There was a study by Kripke showing that many sleeping pills, namely benzodiazepines, tripled your likelihood of death even if taken very infrequently.

Zopiclone is not a benzodiazepine but I don't know if it has been studied in a similar manner.

Re: Melatonin

#82

Post by chmars »

jimzvz wrote: post #77
realitygrill wrote: post #13

I use melatonin regularly to regulate my sleep cycle. It's a very effective part of a regimen (sleep hygiene, f.lux, etc) that allows me to manage a nearly-decade long problem of insomnia. However, from a psychological standpoint, it's a very good thing melatonin is so safe. Every single person I've ever recommended melatonin to, I've directed to this article and discussed it with them. Every single such person then…

I have terrible sleep habits and often find it difficult to fall asleep before 5am. I have been considering trying melatonin but my major concern is that I will become dependent on it. I don't want my body to stop producing whatever small amount it already does through its use as a supplement. How dependent on it would you say you are? How well would you function if you were unable to get hold of it?

It's very unlikely that you will become dependent on Melatonin, it's simply not addictive. It isn't a sleeping pill either, it mainly supports an existing sleep disposition. If you don't want to sleep, you won't sleep.

Re: Melatonin

#84

Post by chmars »

ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #18

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.

How do you define 'freshness' with regard to Melatonin? How relevant is the date printed on Melatonin bottles?

Re: Melatonin

#85

Post by happyrock »

martythemaniak wrote: post #79
IanDrake wrote: post #74

I take 3mg and it works to help me sleep after an hour. I try to get to bed by 10:30. My biggest problem still is that my alarm at 6AM wakes me during my active dream cycle and most restful sleep. I'm not sure how to time shift that to meet my needs. Any advice?

There's alarm apps that will let you set your alarm based on sleep cycles. If that doesn't work, you can try various sleep measurement devices to wake you up at the right time.

I miss my WakeMate!

Re: Melatonin

#86

Post by refurb »

drugcite-com wrote: post #49
ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #18

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.

Thats a very good point, also it's important to look for off label side effects (Adverse Events) to the non prescription drugs. I own the site linked to in the 'Uses' section ( http://www.drugcite.com/?q=melatonin ), it's also to sort the data by date and gender to get more accurate information. This data is put together from numerous data sets including FDA FAERS.

Nice website! It's a great interface for the FDA collected data.

Re: Melatonin

#87

Post by chmars »

karlkatzke wrote: post #37

Interesting. I work on call shifts. (Linux sysadmin, one week out of three is 24/7 on call -- which works much better than rotating one day out of three.) I've used Melatonin for years to 'regulate' my sleep cycle so that I can stop my tirelessly creative brain from thinking about that article I read a few hours ago on Hacker News. My other 'hacks' to keep my sleep cycle regulated are f.lux where possible, using only…

Melatonin does NOT work as a remedy for jet lag. I don't find open access links to the relevant studies right now but http://www.nojetlag.com/melatonin.html might give you a first idea.

Re: Melatonin

#88

Post by WalterSear »

mrcharles wrote: post #54

I've been using melatonin on and off when I hit a patch of insomnia. It's pretty good; it just makes me super sleepy. Even with a low dose I end up groggy in the morning, however. But being able to actually fall asleep when I would otherwise lay awake for hours is worth the price of admission. I don't use it regularly but sometimes I just know when I'm going to have trouble falling asleep, and will take one about a h…

Have you tried taking it earlier in the evening? Half an hour before bed seems very late.

My professor in psychology grad school presented it's functioning and said it's best taken not later than ninety minutes before bed.

Re: Melatonin

#89

Post by domdip »

thebooktocome wrote: post #62
pesenti wrote: post #51

Melatonin is a clear-cut Good Thing. The gains I have laid out are large enough I consider it irrational for someone not to use it. I consider it irrational for someone to believe that a limited number of hand-selected studies can give you absolute confidence.

First, it's not a "limited number of hand-selected studies." The Brzezinski meta-study ( http://www.gwern.net/docs/melatonin/2005-brzezinski.pdf ) alone covered 17 studies and 284 participants. There's even a clear, well-documented causal mechanism, which can't be said for most of the supplement industry. Even if it were a limited number of studies, gwern's not going for "absolute confidence". (Indeed, requiring "abs…

Using a meta-study that showed tiny changes (statistical significance is irrelevant here, virtually any intervention could have had that kind of impact) to bolster a handful of anecdotes is pretty silly.

I don't argue that this doesn't help a fraction of people, but the case is pretty weak and the long-term results of tampering with a critical hormone are unknown.

No offense to the author but I've read at least 3 of his articles posted here and they all follow a similar pattern.

Re: Melatonin

#90

Post by dangerlibrary »

jimzvz wrote: post #77
realitygrill wrote: post #13

I use melatonin regularly to regulate my sleep cycle. It's a very effective part of a regimen (sleep hygiene, f.lux, etc) that allows me to manage a nearly-decade long problem of insomnia. However, from a psychological standpoint, it's a very good thing melatonin is so safe. Every single person I've ever recommended melatonin to, I've directed to this article and discussed it with them. Every single such person then…

I have terrible sleep habits and often find it difficult to fall asleep before 5am. I have been considering trying melatonin but my major concern is that I will become dependent on it. I don't want my body to stop producing whatever small amount it already does through its use as a supplement. How dependent on it would you say you are? How well would you function if you were unable to get hold of it?

Since you are here, I'm going to assume you are looking at a screen at least some of the time when you are awake that late.

You might consider installing blue-light reduction software like f.lux - it's drastically improved my ability to fall asleep late at night.

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