BellaOnline Forums News and Politics Public Health Melatonin Poll

Vote in the poll, and if you wish, elaborate on your answers in a post!
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Do you now or have you ever used melatonin? multiple choice

Yes, for jet lag. (11%, 1 Votes)

Yes, for sleep. (67%, 6 Votes)

Yes, for other reasons. (11%, 1 Votes)

No, but I\'d like to try it. (0%, 0 Votes)

No, I\'m not interested. (11%, 1 Votes)

Total Votes: 9 Voting on this poll ends: 03/13/08 07:27 PM

I have used melatonin both for jet lag and as a sleeping pill. I had to stop though because there were interactions with some other medications I take. This is not uncommon, as I mention in the melatonin article.

I've never even heard of melatonin like this. I thought of it as the thing in your skin that makes you tan ...

Lisa,
You are thinking of melanin, which is the pigment of the skin and hair that is produced by cells called melanocytes. The words are very similar!

Melanin is responsible for tanning and for skin color in general. Melanoma is a type of skin cancer (same root word) that is related to the melanocytes.

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the brain which helps regulate sleep patterns.

Melatonin as actually been a big topic at our local autism spectrum support group.

So many of the medications the kids take that are on the spectrum have the bad side effect of keeping them awake at night - and then the doctors have to turn around and put them on another medication to help them sleep. So a lot of parents have been turning to melatonin.

The only problem that has been found is that the body seems to adjust to it if you take it over an extended period of time. So it either becomes less effective - or you have to up the amount.

As for me personally - I took it a long time ago, but I have chronic insomnia. It only worked for about a week. I now take a combination of ambien and seroquel. And I only take them when my husband is home, because they cause some crazy sleepwalking type stuff (well, the ambien does.)

OH LOL Yes I was confused

Melatonin, it comes back to me now. I must have been sleep deprived

I definitely have times that I can't fall asleep but luckily I just stay awake until I do fall asleep. Yesterday I didn't fall asleep until about 11am (after being up all night) and then slept through until 11pm. So I just sort of sleep when I get sleepy and then wake up when I wake up. It must be really rough for people who "have" to wake up at a certain time even if their body wants to be on a completely different schedule. Then you have to drug your body to convince it to do that ... what a pain!

That's true, Lisa. There is no single "healthy" sleep pattern; every person is different. It is generally society that requires standard times for sleeping and waking. However, sometimes having a different circadian rhythm, or one that changes, causes other physical issues, especially for those with certain chronic diseases. If my sleep is irregular I set myself up for medical problems; that's why I'm supposed to keep myself to a certain pattern -- though I don't always do it!

I've used melatonin to get to sleep occasionally - usually when I'm trying to get back into my regular sleeping pattern. However, when I was going through my divorce it simply wasn't strong enough, so I asked my doctor for something to help me sleep. She gave me trazadone which worked quite well. I currently don't take anything to help me sleep - that isn't a problem for me right now.

My almost 13 year old has been taking a chewable melatonin tablet from Trader Joes for years with no ill effects.

I take atarax or benadryl to knock me out for my scratching associated with eczema.