I've seen melotonin mentioned a handful of times now. What it is? My in-laws say they take it for jet lag but that's not real helpful.

I have taken Melatonin for many years. (I am 44). I have adhd and started Adderall last year. For years I was unable to fall asleep at night. My mind constantly races. Think think think think think.

Everyone has Melatonin in their bodies. As we get older, the amounts of Melatonin start to deplete.

Melatonin is recommended for jet lag to get your body back on track for sleeping during the right hours after you went through different time zones. Also, if you work the night shift and get off at 8am when its daylight. Your body may think its time to party when really its time to go to sleep.

I have been taking it since before my daughter was born and she is 15. I personally take the NATROL brand Melatonin 3 mg. There are different strengths you can buy. There's 1 mg and 3 mg. There's also 3mg extra strength. One time I bought the wrong strength and it did absolutely nothing for me. I think it was 3 mmg. (whatever is alot let them mg)

Here's what the actual bottle says: "Sleep aid." "Helps establish normal sleep patterns." "With Vitamin B6." "100% Vegetarian."
"Supports healthy sleep patterns. The body naturally releases melatonin in response to changes in light, with melatonin levels rising at night. Vitamin B6 is essential for melatonin production. It is in this way that melatonin helps promote sleep."

The directions say the serving size is 1 tablet. I personally take 2 each night. It DEFINITELY does not knock me out by any means. (My son takes Clonidine every night to help him sleep and for behavior issues and it DEFINITELY knocks him out.) It's feels just like it says. It's a natual sleep aid.

Type "Melatonin" into a search engine and you will find tons of info.

Last night, with the full moon, I was up until 12 midnight after taking 2 Melatonin PLUS a generic prozac. I just couldnt sleep. But usually it does the trick.

Also, do not drink caffine at night or eat chocolate pudding (even if its fat free) or chocolate icecream (even if its Atkins) or be on the computer at night. NONE OF THESE THINGS HELP ME GET TIRED. TRUST ME.

Try to do something boring....like do the bills or balance your checkbook. That will put me right to sleep.

I believe it's n-acetyl 5-methoxytryptamine, but don't quote me on that. It's a derivative of serotonin. It is thought by some neurologists that melatonin plays a role in triggering the sleep cycle and maintaining your circadian rythm. This is why it is used for jet lag, to reset your body's clock to the local time.

One thing that ought to be considered, though, is that due to its similarity to serotonin, taking an SSRI like Prozac could affect the melatonin, and it might be advisale to take a lower dose of melatonin in that situation.

I agree with Hyperion.
[ You know it only occured to me yesterday that Hyperion was Hyper-Ion and not Hy-perion...?]

I used to take melatonin for jet lag - especially after flying from the midwest to europe. Didn't seem to work as well after travelling in the other direction. I also found that if you don't need sleep, it can keep you from sleeping.
Natrol is the brand, 3mg but never with any of the meds I take now.

I meant to look up the actions of SAM-e because of the point Hyperion made in another thread about mixing 5-HTP and other precursors with prescribed meds and how it all relates to seratonin and dopamine. Release and uptake, inhibition of the various carriers, et al. It could be dangerous, from organ damage to losing touch with reality.

If it's a deriviative of serotonin, can taking it impact the serotonin levels? Cause my in-laws has me try it once for insomnia and I was an absolute wreck the next day, despite the sleep. After that I decided to stick to the old Lithuatian dr. recommended treatment of boiled milk.

I don't think that it would impact serotonin levels. From what I understand, serotonin is converted into melatonin, not the other way around. However, it is very possible that an imbalance in the melatonin system will impact the serotonin system, and the two are very closely related, sort of like (but not the same as) how dopamine and norepinephrine are related.

In fact, the relationship between serotonin and melatonin may help explain why people with depression often experience sleep issues (or possibly why sleep disturbances could lead to depressive symptoms).

As far as sleep aids go, melatonin has the advantage of being an endogenous part of your neurochemistry (in English: it's already there in your brain). This means that at least we know that your body can metabolize it safely and you're unlikely to overdose on it. However, I would still be very careful about taking it with an SSRI, or taking it if you know that you have a pre-existing serotonin imbalance.

Also, while there is no scientific evidence to show why warm milk with sugar in it should help put you to sleep, it does seem to work. Might be placebo, might be a blood-sugar thing, might just be that it reminds me of growing up, who knows. At least it's safe and you'll get your calcium and vitamin D.

Me, I've found Adderall to be the best sleep aid out there, works better than Ambien. Then again, it comes with a warning specifically not to do this, so I wouldn't recommend it.

I'm sorry if I'm slightly incoherent, I just got my @$$ kicked by a bunch of guys from the Korean National Taekwondo team tonight, and I'm in a lot of pain.

Not warm milk, BOILED milk. I got the answer from a biochemist. In boiling you break down one of the proteins into its component amino acids, one of the biggies being tryptophan. The same thing in turkey that is responsible for the way so many spend Thanksgiving evening. He said that without it getting hot enough to boil the proteins just pop back into normal and it doesn't do anything. Whatever, it really does work, although I skip the sugar.

Thanks

I got told meletonin gave my son epilepsy.

I took him off it straight away when there was warnings all over the news!

Taking melatonin is not known to cause epilepsy.

It is a SHORTAGE of melatonin in the brain which is linked to some forms of epilepsy.

Taking melatonin REDUCES the chances of seizure for some people.

You might want to talk to your doctor about it. ALL of the available research that I have read suggest that melatonin is safe for high risk epilepsy patients. In fact, melatonin is being studied as a possible treatment for epilepsy.

http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/melinchilwsl.html

http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/55/11/1746

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10085471&dopt=Abstract

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/medicine_cabinet/melatonin_sleep_problems.html


ME :D



I got told meletonin gave my son epilepsy.

I took him off it straight away when there was warnings all over the news!

In all fairness, Melatonin apparently caused an increase in siezure activity in 3 patients during testing, according to one research article.

http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/melinchilwsl.html



Taking melatonin is not known to cause epilepsy.

It is a SHORTAGE of melatonin in the brain which is linked to some forms of epilepsy.

Taking melatonin REDUCES the chances of seizure for some people.

You might want to talk to your doctor about it. ALL of the available research that I have read suggest that melatonin is safe for high risk epilepsy patients. In fact, melatonin is being studied as a possible treatment for epilepsy.

http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/melinchilwsl.html

http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/55/11/1746

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10085471&dopt=Abstract

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/medicine_cabinet/melatonin_sleep_problems.html


ME :D

Boiled milk and honey. Not sure why honey...but that's what a lot of them old Lithuanian's suggest...
My mom is a biochemist, and kinda old, but not a doctor - and yes Lithuanian. me too. pedigreed.

Yup, hot milk and honey...that's what Duda drinks. I don't like honey myself but sometimes hot chocolate mix and boiled milk....perfect for those times when you get PMS with your insomnia.

I'm also taking melatonin but my physician told me not to take it on a regular basis because it might cause (brain) tumor.

I also read a couple studies that said melatonin supplements might! cause tumor.
But unfortunately remember where I read this study but I think it was a PubMed study or from some similar source.

Have you heard anything about the correlation between Melatonin and tumor?


Thanks for any info.

When you guys talk about boiled milk, are you talking about boiling pasteurized milk to brake the proteins?

Perhaps this remedy was invented when people had access to fresh milk...