Comments on: Melatonin Information

By: jaimie

jaimie — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:04:15 +0000

my mom gave me a bottle of melatonin tabs that she had bought to help with jet lagg but had never opened it. i have always struggled with going to bed at a decent hour so started taking half a tablet….i have never slept so well and i dont feel groggy in the mornings and function great in the day as i am sleeping very well. i also suffer from depression and take prosac 20mg. i didnt know that melatonin could be used to treat depression til i read this but it certainly hasnt had any negative effects. i highly reccommend this as a sleep aid

By: Kathy Beard

Kathy Beard — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:17:51 +0000

Abso-frikking-lutely!!! If you havent already, stepa way from the computer and do it NOW.

By: David

David — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:41:19 +0000

I have always had problems sleeping (as long as I can remember), but recently with my 2nd daughter born, I started taking Unisom sleep melt + Melatonin…
However I keep reading that I shouldn’t take it for more than 3 months. I have never slept that well and easily as on those 2.

But now I am trying to stop for a while to not go over 3 months and replacec it for Valerian root and I am back staying up in the morning hours ….
So my question how long do I have to be off of it to be able to get back on it without problems…

I have never been able to fall asleep that well, if I have to take those 2 forever, I will gladly ax long as it’s not too unhealthy.

By: L

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:01:03 +0000

I think so!

By: Anne

Anne — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 07:33:48 +0000

Uh… YES

By: rrich

rrich — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:20:15 +0000

I know someone that gives their infant child melitonin everynight to sleep through the night along with benidryll and tylenol. Do you think this is a worthy cause to call CPS?

By: Joyce Brandenburg

Joyce Brandenburg — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:17:45 +0000

A close friend of mine recently suddenly died. It has not yet been
determined what was the cause of death. She was 60 yrs. old.
She just went through a divorce and was understandably depressed.
I don’t know the dosage but I believe she started taking melatonin
to help her sleep. She was also drinking wine, heavily at certain
times. Could this have been a deadly concoction that caused her
untimely death?

By: Mental Wanderer

Mental Wanderer — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:41:30 +0000

If I were you, I would be very reluctant to add melatonin to your mix. You are already taking a tremendously powerful drug, and any self-medication added on to that — especially where depression and anxiety are involved — is Russian Roulette. Most supplements are little more than placebos for most people, but melatonin is a potent hormone that readily crosses the blood-brain barrier when taken as an oral supplement. It has an impact — for good or bad — on virtually everyone who takes it. The problem is that a wide variety of results are reported. Lots of people who already suffer from depression report that it makes their symptoms much worse. For people who do not suffer from depression but can’t regulate their sleep cycles, melatonin is like a miracle drug. It has many other beneficial side-effects that have been documented from many year’s worth of controlled studies. Melatonin is at the end of the Trypophan->Seritonin->Melatonin cycle, and, as such should not have an effect on depression. But, widely reported experience says otherwise. My personal reaction to it was that it has a “dulling” effect on my emotions — making me feel neither better nor much worse. I seemed to have less of every emotion; that is better than depression — but not much better. This is, strangely, the same reaction that many people have to SRIs like Prozac. In your case, already having trouble with depression and lethargy leads me to think that melatonin is probably the last thing you should be taking. I’d suggest you look into taking 5-HTP, which is the intermediate amino acid in the Tryptophan->Seritonin part of the equation. In theory, 5-HTP supplementation increases Seritonin production which, in turn, tends to ameliorate symptoms of depression. 5-HTP supplements are not proven to help with depression, but, at least, no one ever complains that it makes them feel worse.

By: SHL

SHL — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:04:41 +0000

No, it wont. You need to revsisit your psychiatrist. The 10mg of vailum is probably what is making you feel groggy and lethargic. I think if you adjust psych meds, that will help you overall.

By: Keith G

Keith G — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:03:01 +0000

For restlessness, use Melatonin. Start the first night with a dose between 2-5mg. Take it an hour and a half before attempting sleep and don’t eat 30 mins before that so that the melatonin can be utilized quickly. The next night if all goes well (you may have vivid dreams like I do, all great so far! Vivid nightmares can happen too, but that just adds to experience.), try out 2-3mg. The next night do 1-2, and every night after switch to 1. After a while, your body might pick up on the trend and not need as much or any.

Now, for depression/anxiety, try out 5HTP. 5HTP comes a bit in melatonin, but that’s because melatonin develops into seratonin. 5HTP does a better job at bring up your seratonin levels. Start with 20mg a day. If nothing works after a week, jump it to 50. Try that for a few days, and if you’re still not feeling it, 100mg is usually the max. (Although certain studies have attempted 300mg a day, but that isn’t recommended or safe.) reply here if you have any success or questions!