Melatonin?

Hi Bexy I use Melatonin on a regular basis without any problems. There are many women on these boards who also use it.

There are two types available, the normal melatonin is the one that will put you to sleep but there is a slow release one that will help to keep you asleep.

By what you say in your post the slow release one would be more appropriate for you.



Hope this helps.



Love n hugs. Chrissy

chrissyb - may I ask how much melatonin you take? I was told to try 1/2 mg but strangely in pharmacies here in the US I can only find 3mg, 5mg and 10mgs strengths, which means I will have to go online....

I take 6mg around 8:30 at night, and go to bed between 9:30 and 10:30. It's been a godsend. Before, I could be tired all day but for some reason once bedtimr rolled around I felt like I could run a marathon. Now I actually get sleepy at bedtime and fall asleep fairly quickly.

Thanks Chrissy - love 'n hugs back at you!

I missed the Dr. Oz show on Melatonin, but here's the link:

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/fact-sheet-melatonin

There are some interesting comments after the article, too.

HI everyone, I just watched Dr Oz, he had a doctor on who said 6 mg is 6x the recommended dose and said we should only need and take 1mg. Otherwise we are over dosing on the sleep hormone.  Given it should peak in the evening, they warned about taking extended release and taking it throughout the night. Only 1 mg a approx 2 hours before bed is what this doctor stated is appropriate.

Good luck everyone. I'm sure you can google his interview - It just aired last week.

It makes me feel groggy the next day.  I know it doens't effect everyone that way.  Perhaps you should try it on a weekend night  Good-luck

Bexy we have the same problem here in Australua unless they are prescribed by your doc then they are expensive. To overcome this I buy then on the net and they are shipped to me. So far I have not had any shipment confiscated and I've been taking them for over two years.

I've started 3mg melatonin in the last week.



I was told (by a non medical aunt) that the pineal gland, which produces melatonin, is affected by electromagnetic fields and light, so turning on the light in the night or checking the time on your phone can halt your natural melatonin creation, as can being near electrical currents.



Melatonin is supposedly lower in people who have or had cancer, wether this is a cause or effect I'm not sure. It's helping me sleep but dreaming about seeing our cat at the supermarket and other weird things has been slightly odd.

It's also only available here on prescription or from the states in the post, but the dr was happy to prescribe it.

Xx kk

I've been using 3mg almost daily for the past 5 years. I had strange dreams the first couple of times but that stopped and absolutely no groggyness in the morning. I take a couple of hours before bedtime and I can naturally fall asleep and stay asleep all night. Sometimes I wake but am able to go right back to sleep.

Blessings I take mine about an hour before bedtime but I know others take it about fifteen minutes before bedtime. Try a time ans see how it worked for you.. Good luck! Hope it works well for you.



Love n hugs. Chrissy

Just jumping in here late, in case anybody could use my info. 

I go to a naturopath here in Canada - been to a couple of them and they both indicated melatonin was recommended.  As others have said, research has indicated that melatonin levels in BC patients is low, so I anticipate being on melatonin for ever.  It's also an anti-oxidant.  And yes, I'm taking it even on chemo. 

Here's what my naturopath said about dosage.  Start with one pill - start with 3 mg (whatever the lowest level you can get).  Use same time EVERY night, just as you turn out the light.  NEVER take it in the middle of the night.  Keep lights out, anything illuminated turned off or around, curtains drawn tight.  Any light will stop the action of the melatonin.  Even if you go to the bathroom, do NOT turn on any lights.  If that dosage doesn't help you sleep, try 2 pills next night.  When you get to a dosage that makes you dopey in the morning, you've taken too much - no harm done but you've found your dosage - your dosage is 1 less than you took when you felt dopey.  Everyone is different - so dosage for one person won't work for another.  Although naturopath said usually dosage is 9 mg, but he's heard of folks who need more than that (20 mg is the most I've read about). 

Just sharin'.

Susan

Blessings,  I mentioned in a post above that I wake up groggy the next day, what I didn't say was that I too have a restless sleep on Melatonin.  I have begun to cut the 3mg tablets in half as it has been suggested that the common doses are way too high for most. What I have noticed is I am able to fall asleep much faster-and that's about it!!  Maybe trying what Albertan suggests would help-keeping eyes closed after taking it.  Bottom line-I don't think it helps everyone, and like you, I do better on Ativan or an antihistimine

lol I bet you slept well with atarax + codeine! lol

I took melatonin for a while during chemo at the advice of my onc's NP, and it was very helpful. She recommended taking anywhere from 3mg - 9mg at night. Taking 6mg did the trick for me. After a few weeks I stopped taking it and did fine, I think I just needed to get my body back on track.

When web, that's a new one on me, melatonin never effected my hot flashes one way or another. Interesting question though.