experiences with melatonin for sleep?

I've never had trouble falling asleep but as I aged I would wake up after only 5 or 6 hours and not be able to go back to sleep....I rarely got 8 hours in a row.

I've tried melatonin in the past with no success so just adjusted and lived with some sleep deprivation and took naps when I could.

My GP suggested melatonin again and this time I got a bottle of chewables that were supposed to be fast acting.  I started by taking one (3mg) tablet when I woke in the night and then switched to taking it at the time I quit reading...aiming for a 8pm-4am sleep cycle.

It's working🙃
I'm still waking up more than I like but falling back asleep quickly and sleeping in till 4:30 or 5:00am!

Now, though, I wonder about long term effects...will I build up a tolerance?

I take been taking a nightly dose of melatonin for over fifteen years. I take 3mg at night an hour before I want to fall asleep. It gets my drowsy enough so that I can slip into sleep. It has worked for me and stays working for me.

Something that I would like to share is that a 3mg dose is not true from brand to brand. If one does not work for you, I encourage you to try another brand and see if it does. I take the non-rapid release tablets as they tend to work the best.

I have not experienced any tolerance buildup.

I have started trying to move away from pills to a less processed source of melatonin and have found tart cherry juice to work wonders. The issue I have with tart cherry juice is the quality seems to be all over the place. I'm still figuring out my way with the juice.

thanks Timothy!

That's just the sort of thing I was wanting to hear.

Mine is NOW brand.. middle of the road quality probably
and quite affordable for me at this dose.

I'm not sure the fast release is necessary like I thought but the bottle has 120 doses so I'll keep on with that for now.

Dear hubby and I both take melantonin.  We started at 3mg though now it is 10mg fast acting. He says it helps him go to sleep.  For me, maybe it helps me stay asleep depending on other things.

I found them on eBay in 3mg. chewables so I bought them to try.

The regular melatonin tablets has a gag factor for me which may be related to other prescriptions forced on me that made me throw up.

I use melatonin only on occasion. Dependency with it is an issue that can inhibit your pineal gland from continuing to produce and regulate it normally. I'm a former acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine practitioner, so this advice is coming through that lens. In Chinese Medicine there is actually a differentiation between insomnia where you have a hard time falling to sleep, and insomnia where you wake up in the middle of the night. I have had the later quite a bit and have developed some tools alongside and before insomnia to deal with it.

First when I'm going through a bout of that kind of insomnia I'll take a Gaia Herbs formula called Sleepthru. It really helped me regulate my sleep cycle when I was in grad school. Stress is a big factor in any kind of insomnia, and in Chinese medicine the waking up in the middle of the night is considered a Yin deficiency insomnia- your Yin is responsible for keeping you asleep at night and if its weak or insufficient its easy to reawaken at night. Sleepthru has ashwagandha in it as the primary herb, along with some other that help nourish the Yin.

Sleep hygiene is important to. Are you scrolling through your phone at night before you go to bed? Eating late? Have a disruptive element in or near your environment that causes you to wake? These can all contribute to insomnia. Also consider removing sources of light that could be causing you to wake, either from the window or clocks and electronic gadgets that make light. Some of the best sleep I've ever had was in a room completely pitch black. Our eyeballs can still register a small amount of light through our eyelids and it can activate the wake up mode.

Acupuncture on a weekly basis for insomnia if it's really persistent can be helpful.

And lastly the thing that I often turn to in the middle of the night if I'm not physically too tired to get up is meditation. For a while I would actually meditate before bed, but found that rhythm not very easy to stick to when I just want to crawl in the covers. But if I find myself wide awake at 2 am or whenever, I will get out of bed and go sit in my mediation spot. It works wonders. Not only is the meditation compensating for the sleep time I'm losing because mediation puts our brain into a similar state, but when I'm done I fall back asleep easily the vast majority of the time. This does require having a bit of experience with a mediation practice, I can see it might be difficult to establish this if you don't already mediate, but I can't say enough about how it helps calm down the brain weasels when they get going late at night.
Hope that helps with some alternative suggestions.
~P

Thank you Patrick!
as far as evening care I do all the things.
Since I practice intermittent fasting I'm done eating at 2pm.
I do not use the cell phone near bedtime but I do read from a kindle in the evening.
We have dark curtains in the bedroom that shut out the street lights  so the room is dark.
and it is a quiet neighborhood...no traffic and rarely a night time dog barking.
... I don't drink or smoke at all.
and I don't have anything caffeinated after 12 noon

My dependable sleep cycle used to be 8pm-4 or 5am.
I'm definitely in the wake up after a few hours group now and for several years.

Meditation is a something I've never been able to do easily.

I wonder since low melatonin can be age related (I'm 75) and my body is already making less, if it really matters that I take it long term...although I'm planning on another 20 years or so

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience.

I'll check into the herb supplement you mention.

I love the term 'brain weasels'!!!

Judith Browning wrote:Meditation is a something I've never been able to do easily.

I find trying to learn about meditation is something that might be misunderstood.

For about ten years I have used a phrase to help me go to sleep.  It was a phrase picked by a past Chamber of Commerce member and placed on a billboard.

Until recently, I didn't understand meditation though I now believe that is what I have been doing for about ten years.  Maybe I am wrong ...

Regarding melatonin, when I lived in the city I would take it to help me fall asleep at night. In the hours before bed I'd also set my environment to be conducive to sleep, though it sounds like you have this sorted out already, Judith. I also agree that a tolerance can build up over time if it becomes a habitual practice while not building other sleep-positive habits.

Anne Miller wrote:For about ten years I have used a phrase to help me go to sleep.  It was a phrase picked by a past Chamber of Commerce member and placed on a billboard. [...] Until recently, I didn't understand meditation though I now believe that is what I have been doing for about ten years.  Maybe I am wrong ...

I use what I call "words of affirmation" when I lay down to sleep at night, which is a collection of statements and a kind of "sleepytime mantra" I made for myself. I find that I can fall asleep quite quickly - and sleep like a rock - if I say these to myself when I lay down and am settled. I'd recommend this kind of practice for anyone to try. To be clear: it's not "prayer," per se. But I'd possibly consider it as a personal spiritual practice, and religion is not required.

 youtube channel Dr Eric Berg has plenty on natural sleeping aids
- D3+K2 (10000 IU daily)
- Magnesium Glycinate
- Ashwaganda root
to name a few


ehem.... some "green plant" works too of the indica type🤷‍♀️

Stephen B. Thomas wrote:"We carry a new world here, in our hearts..." --Buenaventura Durruti

<fist bump> dope tag line/quote source bro. @

Judith Browning wrote:

I'll check into the herb supplement you mention.

I love the term 'brain weasels'!!!

No problem. There are of course many other suitable sleep formulas, some that you could probably put together yourself if you're inclined that way. I always recommend talking to a qualified herbalist or acupuncturist (that does herbs) about the right formula. Some people experience an energizing effect from ashwaganda which is counter to what you want it for in a sleep formula. Chinese medicine has some really great sleep formulas as well. I've just found sleepthru to be really effective.