Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
I've used melatonin in the past and it worked really great but eventually would stop working unless I took more. I've recently, with the approval of my psychiatrist, gone off of my prescription medications and I am sleeping but not until around 5am when I fall asleep. I have been trying melatonin again. 3mg seems to be minimally helpful and 6mg is definitely too much. The nights I do take melatonin I fall asleep better but I wake up a lot sooner...like after 3-4 hours. I'm finding though that this time around even 3 mg seems to be having a very negative impact on my moods. It seems the day after I take melatonin my moods completely crash. I have never heard of melatonin having this effect and am wondering if it is just me. I have a call in with my psychiatrist but I am curious if others have had similar experiences or if I'm just weird.
I've been taking Melatonin for about 4 months now. I don't think it has impacted my mood. There are time-release and liquid formulas out there for Melatonin. I believe you could get closer to the correct dose for you. The time-release might help you sleep longer....not sure though. I've also read that tart cherry juice has been demonstrated to give us significant amount of Melatonin naturally - 8 ounces in morning and 8 ounces 1-2 hours before bed. I'm going to try this as I want to get off the Melatonin.
You might want to look into CBT-I for insomnia. There are some very helpful behavioral strategies for improving/strengthening your sleep system that are VERY effective. I'm going through this therapy right now and it is definitely helping.
Biggest thing is to maintain a consistent bed time and wake time (I know that's tough in the beginning as you are trying to just get some sleep!). Bright light therapy in the morning also helps to reset your circadian rhythm.
Hang in there!! You just stopped medications (that probably impacted sleep) and you might have to relearn how to sleep again on your own. I know that sounds crazy but it's true. Your sleep should improve with time and with using sound sleep behaviors.
Clinical research on melatonin shows mixed results. It is sometimes used to help blind people resynchronize their biological clock to a 24-hour day, because they cannot use light to do it. Your use I think would be something to discuss with your doc who of course is most familiar with your medical history.
But as with sleeping pills that unnaturally force sleep, melatonin is likely only treating the symptom, not the true root of the problem causing insomnia.
For many of us the root of the problem is some combination of bad sleep habits and excessive worry about the idea of sleep. These are generally nonmedical issues, so to treat them effectively requires going beyond drugs.
Treating the nonmedical sources of insomnia is where a CBT-based sleep training program excels. It has helped many people become normal sleepers again. Might be worth discussing with your doc.
I know that it's VERY hard to find pharmaceutical grade melatonin in the UK, (where I live). its just hard to buy melatonin for UK delivery. period.
You CAN buy melatonin for UK delivery (and European delivery) online from Vitasunn here: http://www.vitasunn.co.uk
I use a combo of liquid drops, equiv to 1mg of melatonin, and 10 mg timed release. It gets me to sleep, and keeps me sleeping.
Still an insomniac, just not as bad now:)
As for your moods; Do you feel tired or sort of hang over the next day?