Long term Melatonin use

[Fedd]

Hey everyone So I have had "problems" going to sleep for a long time.. basicially I dont really get tired, and thus have no motivation on going to bed. Obviously for a regular life you need to adjust and sleep at night.. so I tried, and oftentimes just lay there for hours trying to fall asleep. Ever since I have discovered melatonin, this has greatly helped me to sleep.. basicially because (a) when taking it, i basicially make the decision to go to bed within 40-60 minutes from then, and i usually stick with that, so that solves my "motivation" problem and (b) i fall alseep quickly i guess i have self diagnosed myself as having some kind of cicardian rythm disorder or whatever.. So now i have been using melatonin for ~6 month, almost every night (exeptions mostly when i'm drunk) I have not taken any on purpose on some nights, to see the difference, and sure enough I would lie around again for 2 hours or so before falling asleep. I know there are no studies on long-term use, but still i'd like to know your opinions and experiences with this. Has anyone taken it for a long time and noticed anything worth poiting out? I havent noticed any side effects, cant even say that I developed a tolerance, as I switch between a 1mg melatonin + 500 mg tryptophan and a 3 mg melatonin product every now and then and both seem to work ok. Let me know what you think

[44CalibreSunlight]

you'll be fine, our brains are designed to take in lots of melatonin at night. hell I smoke weed, and that increases your brain melatonin levels by 4000% supposedly, any time of day too, so I'd say you're golden. although heavy use can make sleep difficult, under your circumstances with the variation of drugs you're using I'd consider it a smart decision

[Fedd]

thanks for the reply ive never heard of weed raising melatonin levels, now that you say it though.. weed can make you a bit tired so... anyway, if thats true then my brain sure as hell is used to a lot of melatonin anyhow, i dont really think that our brains should have much problems with melatonin; from what i have read most of it is filtered in one liver passage anyway.. i wouldnt recommend regular melatonin use to young people (esp. if in puberty) as it apparantly has an effect on the development of the reproductive organs but yeah.. i dont really think that a lot of harm can be done.. its just that its feeling weird to pretty much constantly interferring with my biochemistry.. i was just wondering what people thought about the topic

[Ev]

I've been taking 3mg melatonin pretty regularly since 2003. That's almost 8 years. When I first started taking it, I had real trouble falling asleep, where I would lay around for 4-5 hours. Now it is much better. Dont know of long term side effects...

[quiktaco]

I had taken it very regularly for quite a while. I'm just like you, where I'll lay in bed for hours on end, and just don't get tired. I think it had probably been about 5 years, that I was taking between 3-4 pills a night. Worked sometimes, didn't work others. I got a prescription for Ambien. Works amazing for getting to bed, but side affects are amnesia about 30 minutes after taking, near zero dream recall, not feeling refreshed in the morning. I'd say avoid it if you can, but if you HAVE to sleep for some reason, it works. As for melatonin, I felt dependent on it for quite a while. I would always try to stop using it. But couldn't. I've still got the same problems, and am trying to work things out. I'd really suggest to not use it every night, or you may become overly dependent, like I did. I've been trying binadryl, glutamine, working out, dim or no lights, fully hydrated. That combo has been helping a lot, but still will lay there for up to an hour. The combination of glutamine and working out will really help your body get restful sleep though. Glutamine helps repair the body by releasing human growth hormone, and that makes you tired so that you will recuperate through the night. Anyways, I never had any negative side effects from taking melatonin daily, other than sometimes feeling groggy. But it wasn't as bad as not sleeping much at all. So if you want to try it as an alternative, then I'm sure it's not going to be bad. Just personally, I've gone through so much of it over the years, I am really trying to find other alternatives.