Anyone take Melatonin regularly?

[Whacked]

1) 3 mg made me drowsy but that was it so I may try 6mg tonight. Anyone take high doses too? Any concerns?

2) IS there anything synergystic I can take with melatonin to make it "work better"?

I have a TON of sleep issues and I need all the help I can get. I am giving up all of these GH-PM-supps (Sapogenin/alkaloids/1C-Decarboxylase/Murcuna Puriens, L-Dopa, etc)

I have been on them for maybe 2 years and although they worked great initially, they petered out fast and NOW, I can't sleep at all with or without them.

 

[lpfleiderer]

i have taken as much as 20mg and it gave me some anxiety, although alot of other ppl i know have taken 20mg and it helps them sleep. i would recommend no more than 12 mg and try mixing it with some GABA or some Kava for a stronger effect

 

[swollen87]

1) 3 mg made me drowsy but that was it so I may try 6mg tonight. Anyone take high doses too? Any concerns?

2) IS there anything synergystic I can take with melatonin to make it "work better"?

I have a TON of sleep issues and I need all the help I can get. I am giving up all of these GH-PM-supps (Sapogenin/alkaloids/1C-Decarboxylase/Murcuna Puriens, L-Dopa, etc)

I have been on them for maybe 2 years and although they worked great initially, they petered out fast and NOW, I can't sleep at all with or without them.

i take 10 mg melatonin and 50 mg seroquel evry night, and ive noticed no ill effects.... my doctor is ok with it... and i read a study somewhere about how safe regular intake is and its ok to do... i think i even read somewhere that it supports healthy test levels....

 

[JoeHT]

I have a lot of sleep issues and I've been taking this stack daily for a couple of months now with very good results:

3 mg Melatonin
3 g GABA
ZMA

 

[Whacked]

Thank you peeps

 

[sapentia]

Wow, you guys take alot of melatonin. I take it 5 nights a week, but I only take 300 microgram that is slow release. It is worth noting melatonin has a very short half life; I think around 45 minutes. I take mine with magnesium taurate,taurine, and 5g of glycine. Most nights I sleep very well. Lately, though not as well, but I think that might be the X-Factor Advanced I just started taking.

 

[Whacked]

Who makes your slow released version?

 

[RexGrandis]

Does taking melatonin continously suppress your own natural production? If so, to what extent is recovery made?

 

[sapentia]

Who makes your slow released version?

I get mine from LEF (Life Extension Foundation). Lot's of other companies make a time release or slow release melatonin (Jarrow's, Natrol, etc...) The slow release is meant to help overcome the short half-life. Most people who take melatonin take 1 mg to 3 mg I think.

Does taking melatonin continously suppress your own natural production? If so, to what extent is recovery made?

At higher levels I think the body could definitely down regulate its own production of melatonin. This would partly depend upon how much melatonin your body is already producing though. Much like the concept of testosterone replacement therapy I suppose. As far as to what extent or how long before recovery is made I have no idea. And of course there is an age variable which would be hard to account for. What is true for a 25-30 year old may be very different for a 45-50 year old who produces less natural melatonin.

It is worth noting that melatonin has a host of benefits for the body that fall completely outside the area of sleep.

 

[Clickster]

Melatonin never did anything for me. GABA was effective for me though.

 

[Knowbull]

Too many sides to take it daily, unless using less than a mill.

 

[airram479]

Melatonin,5-htp,gaba. that is what i have been using. been using melatonin on and off for about 12 years. I would probably not need it if my stim intake wasn't so high.

 

[JN230]

Too many sides to take it daily, unless using less than a mill.

sides???? please detail

 

[Arc]

My sleep stack consists of:

Melatonin 3mcg extended release
Theanine 300mg
Taurine 2g
Glycine 3g
GABA 1g
ZMA 1.5g

Melatonin by itself just makes me drowsy.

My reasoning behind everything:

• Melatonin - makes you drowsy
• Theanine - potentiates GABA in the brain, anti-anxiety, relaxing
• Taurine - increases GABA activity in the brain, is an agonist at inhibitory Glycine receptors in the spinal cord
• Glycine - better agonist at glycine receptors
• GABA - inhibitory, agonist at GABA receptors throughout the body
• ZMA - zinc and magnesium are antagonist at NDMA receptors and are thus inhibitory. Magnesium is a muscle relaxant. Vitamin B6 is meant to be helpful for sleep.

This combo works better for me then say temazapam, which stops working after three days anyway.

 

[Whacked]

Nice post Arc!

Thanks!

PS: Where are you all getting gaba from and dont you have to cycle it?

 

[kjkriston]

2.5mgs melatonin, 300 mgs valerian...both cheap at walmart...works amazing. I used to be on scripts for insomnia. This stuff works for me.

 

[Whacked]

Thanks KJ, That gives me hope .... I got issues!

This stuff looks good: http://www.nutraplanet.com/product/scivation/knockout-90-sci-tabs.html

 

[kjkriston]

hmmm... let me know if u try it. The stuff I take is so cheap. Like 100 tabs of melatonin that I break in half...and 100 caps of valerian and I take 3 for like $10 total together

 

[Whacked]

CHEAP!!!!!!!! thanks

 

[Knowbull]

sides???? please detail

It can stimulate any autoimmune problems. Some people should not use it. Also can produce grogginess that lasts all day.If it gives you any sides lower the dose or simply dont take it. Some people are fine with it.

 

[XplodeWithMe]

Used to all the time, but think about it like this.... when you supplement certain things that your body already produces, you're gonna end up causing the body to produce less. Therefore you'll depend on it. So slowly ween yourself off and you'll be good to go just for sleep naturally.

 

[drinkyboy]

3.5g about an hour before bed and im out. GABA works well also. I only take those if i cant sleep though...not every night.

 

[adeadbodyman]

wow, i also have insominia. I sleep roughly 4 hours a night, some less. Even at that I am not really "sleeping". More like dozing off. I've been like this for years. Melatonin didn't do anything for me so I tried Ambien. It worked, but only for a couple days. Then it was like nothing. I just went back to not really sleeping. Maybe I'll try some of what you guys posted. It would be tits if I could get 8 hours of sleep.
We even bought a Tempurpedic mattress. Didn't help..

thanks for all the info,
mike

 

[Whacked]

Well, I dosed 6 mg last night (as 3 made me relaxed but did NOT put me to sleep so I doubled it)

I feel like total freaking CRAP today!!!!

BRUTAL headache, groggy, just plain crappy. I also woke up a few times and then fell back to sleep.

Dang it! I really wanted this stuff to work for me.

Also can produce grogginess that lasts all day.If it gives you any sides lower the dose or simply dont take it. Some people are fine with it.

 

[Flaw]

If your groggy the next morning you have taken too much. You need to lower your dose. With the proper dosage you should wake up refreshed. After puberty our natural producation of melatonin lowers and continuously drops as we get older. I gave melatonin a long break because it no longer worked but I never took more then 3mg. My unorthadox sleep dr. told me not alot of her colleagues agree but to take melatonin. It's one of the biggest anti-oxidants that has been found. As far as we know there's no toxic level either. There's been stuff going around that more then 3 is dangerous so I never went over that but my Dr. told me it's just not true. She takes 10mg and feels great every morning. Since I'm 228lbs I figure I was a lot lighter when I first tried melatonin 10 years ago. Also just the age difference has a lot to do with things. So how do you know how much to take? Well if you didn't sleep you took too little, If you woke up groggy you took too much. There's no set amount for anyone. I reccommend time release caps though. I'm up to 12mg and I actually have been sleeping better lately. The sweet spot seems to be a little more above 12mg for me. I'm still testing it.

 

[Whacked]

Ahhh that makes sense. Thank you Flaw

 

[Whacked]

Some good news fellas! Took 6 mg of Now Brand TIME RELEASED and it was a whole different ball game. Slept well. Much smoother product than regular Now Brand Melatonin.

One caveat. With the regular Melatonin I woke up with a mild headache that lasted a few hours (I never get headaches!) . Well, with the time relased version, I woke up with a psuedo-migraine!!! AWFUL.

Regardless, when you are desperate for sleep, I'll take the quasi-migraines!

 

[kingdong]

Im thinking of giving this stuff up in the winter. It's nice when you can look out the window in the morning and wake yourself up. However, I feel as though it may be contributing to my feeling like **** in the morning on dark days.

 

[criticalbench]

Melatonin + Valarian Root is what I use, works great although I don't take it every night.

Mike

 

[Whacked]

Finally got around to researching glycine for sleep. Tons of supportive info. Thanks again.

My sleep stack consists of:

Melatonin 3mcg extended release
Theanine 300mg
Taurine 2g
Glycine 3gGABA 1g
ZMA 1.5g

Melatonin by itself just makes me drowsy.

My reasoning behind everything:

• Melatonin - makes you drowsy
• Theanine - potentiates GABA in the brain, anti-anxiety, relaxing
• Taurine - increases GABA activity in the brain, is an agonist at inhibitory Glycine receptors in the spinal cord
• Glycine - better agonist at glycine receptors
• GABA - inhibitory, agonist at GABA receptors throughout the body
• ZMA - zinc and magnesium are antagonist at NDMA receptors and are thus inhibitory. Magnesium is a muscle relaxant. Vitamin B6 is meant to be helpful for sleep.

This combo works better for me then say temazapam, which stops working after three days anyway.