I remember reading somewhere that melatonin represses REM stages until later in the night. So does anyone know exactly how long in the night until you start having REM stages?
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I remember reading somewhere that melatonin represses REM stages until later in the night. So does anyone know exactly how long in the night until you start having REM stages?
Depends on amounts. Something like a melatonin pill will only suppress REM sleep for the first little bit of sleep, making your later REM cycles longer. However, enough can take 48 hours to return to normal.
Have a little patience.
Melatonin taken before bed actually will not repress anything. The only thing it will do is help you get to sleep faster/make you feel tired. If you take melatonin a few hours or more before going to sleep or during the day, then it can potentially have an effect on your REM cycles. Taken at a certain time it will actually advance the sleep cycle, not repress REM. But if you take it just before bed, you don't need to worry about this.
Quote:
Taken 30 to 90 minutes before bedtime, melatonin supplementation acts as a mild hypnotic. It causes melatonin levels in the blood to rise earlier than the brain's own production accomplishes. This usage is now commonly used in sleep and relaxation drinks, such as Dream Water[51].
A very small dose taken several hours before bedtime in accordance with the phase response curve for melatonin in humans (PRC) doesn't cause sleepiness but, acting as a chronobiotic (affecting aspects of biological time structure),[52] advances the phase slightly and is additive to the effect of using light therapy upon awakening. Light therapy may advance the phase about one to two-and-a-half hours and a small oral dose melatonin, timed correctly some hours before bedtime, can add about 30 minutes to the advance achieved with light therapy.
Play nice children.
No problem. ;)
IMAGINE THE HORROR.
anyway, since you where not able to find a med site on your own, I found one for you. Medical Information & Answers to Medical Questions - MedHelp