have you tried Melatonin as a sleep aid?

jezebeloria

iluvcats wrote:

hey that's great. I've suffered from insomnia for over 10 years but now I've had some difficult (family) adjustments and I'm getting older. I got into a pattern of waking up every 2 hours. I may have to make my hmo spend some money and test me for sleep apnea. I used to take Ambien like 5 years ago and was up like normal after taking 2 pills. Some over the counter things keep me awake b/c it makes my throat so dry (that crap is really Benedryl.)

Is sleep apnea possibly why I wake up every few hours? This has been happening for years. Only time I don't wake up is if I am very very tired or very very drunk.
I have been taking melatonin for quite a few years to fall asleep but it doesn't keep me asleep.
So you guys are saying all the bizarre dreams I have a somehow related to the melatonin?

MyHandsBound

you guys...I wanna try it....I'd like to go to bed earlier.....I turn my lights out at around midnight but I really want to fall asleep at 10 p.m. but I like to watch leno.... he comes on at 11:35 p.m. here....I just like the monologue and some of the skits......
I used to watch back to back reruns of malcome inthe middle which kept me up till 1 a.m..... but I gave that up....
I did have a heater going in my room at night (I like it really hot) I recently turned that off since the weather changed so now I am suseptible to all sorts of noise and I wake up a 5 a.m. and stay up for a few hours .... sometimes I'll get an extra hour of sleep before I have to get up for work...
but I'd like to sleep through the night...maybe when the weather gets really hot and I have my air conditioner on I'll sleep through the 5 a.m noise, but I still want to go to bed earlier would it help for that...I mean my body is not used to going to bed before midnight.....

in_hiding79

stylo17 wrote:

and not even Nyquil (liquid) works??

I threw it up once after I swallowed it, so I try to avoid Nyquil...it tasted so bad...I have a very sensitive gag reflex...

I was on Ambien for almost three months and during those three months I did some interesting things....I mean INTERESTING things...I would have some bizarre dreams too...I would see faces in the ceilings, I heard voices, I

would wake up in the middle of the night and turn up the volume on the TV really loud, I would cook food at all hours, I one time turned the dishwasher on and it was empty! It was wild times.....BTW, I didn't sleep much with it either...:eek:

brainofPJ

stylo17 wrote:

and not even Nyquil (liquid) works??

that stuff doesn't work for me...

makes me restless.

stylo17

brainofPJ wrote:

that stuff doesn't work for me...

makes me restless.

woah

that stuff knocks me out like there's no tomorrow

myhook

in_hiding79 wrote:

I have tried EVERYTHING to go to sleep and stay asleep for at least five hours....

I am the exact same way. I have so much trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. I have tried the Nyquil thing too and it puts me to sleep but doesn't keep me asleep.

I just tried Melatonin for the first time last night. I took one pill (I think 3 grams, does that sound about right) at about 10, laid in bed at around 10:15 and probably fell asleep 20 min later. But I still woke up 4 or 5 times during the night and didn't really get a "good" night sleep. And no signs of any funky dreams. HA

iluvcats

I did not take it last night, I felt it was too soon after taking Xanax. It was sunny out and I took a nice long walk to help boost my melatonin naturally. I still was wide awake twice.

For those of you not sleeping after Nyquil, it has alcohol in it. Alcohol is a stimulant. If you don't believe me, look it up. When I was in my twenties and would have a few 7 & 7's, I could sleep maybe 3 hours, that's it...I did not have insomnia back then, only if I drank alcohol. My husband is sleep deprived, there are not enough hours in the day for him and he stays up too late. He has no trouble sleeping (and snoring!) and can sleep just fine after Nyquil. I'm guessing b/c he's sleep deprived.

Tylenol PM is Benedryl mixed with tylenol. Large doses of tylenol will ruin your liver. My advice is to find another sleep aid minus the tylenol unless you hurt.

thanks for telling me about "scoring" or cutting pills in half. I may have heard that before. Look at this, it says you could be getting a really high dose!
http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/news/20040519/cutting-pills-in-half-could-pose-problems

iluvcats

and you all should check out

http://www.melatonin.com for proper dosages

it varies with different people with different health situations or illnesses

stylo17

Alcohol is NOT a stimulant. It's a DEPRESSANT , the OPPOSITE of a stimulant.

mca47

stylo17 wrote:

Alcohol is NOT a stimulant. It's a DEPRESSANT , the OPPOSITE of a stimulant.

It is a depressant but it also keeps you from entering REM sleep which is what is needed for you to feel rested and your body to be able to repair itself.

stylo17

mca47 wrote:

It is a depressant but it also keeps you from entering REM sleep which is what is needed for you to feel rested and your body to be able to repair itself.

true, it can prohibit you from entering your natural REM cycle. regardless, alcohol is definitely not a stimulant. if not, it'd be in energy drinks and parties would NEVER end

mca47

stylo17 wrote:

true, it can prohibit you from entering your natural REM cycle. regardless, alcohol is definitely not a stimulant. if not, it'd be in energy drinks and parties would NEVER end

Yeah, how cool would THAT be?!?!?!


Then again, I suppose you'd have a lot more alcohol-related deaths and alcohol poisonings.
I know many times in the past (mostly in college) where I'd pass out otherwise I'd just keep on drinking. Hehehe

stylo17

mca47 wrote:

Yeah, how cool would THAT be?!?!?!


Then again, I suppose you'd have a lot more alcohol-related deaths and alcohol poisonings.
I know many times in the past (mostly in college) where I'd pass out otherwise I'd just keep on drinking. Hehehe

yea that's true. so I guess in that sense it's good that it's a depressant. and I know EXACTLY what you mean. you wanna keep drinking and all you have to do is get up...... but the floor is just sooo comfortable once you're hammered.

iluvcats

you guys love to argue, don't you?
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-53953568.html
read what it does to your brain
http://www.ephidrina.org/alcohol/effects.html
it is both a depressant and a stimulant

well I can't explain it but sometimes when I used to drink (maybe only 3 drinks), I would shake, it was like liquor brought on anxiety. Maybe that's why I could not sleep.

can't remember where I read it but alcohol kills vitamin A in your body. your vision worses when you drink, so behave and stay sober

iluvcats

dear know it alls,

if alcohol is so depressing and soothing, then why do some people (that I've known) become violent and start fights?

mca47

iluvcats wrote:

you guys love to argue, don't you?
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-53953568.html
read what it does to your brain
http://www.ephidrina.org/alcohol/effects.html
it is both a depressant and a stimulant

well I can't explain it but sometimes when I used to drink (maybe only 3 drinks), I would shake, it was like liquor brought on anxiety. Maybe that's why I could not sleep.

can't remember where I read it but alcohol kills vitamin A in your body. your vision worses when you drink, so behave and stay sober

There are many drugs that actually stimulate certain receptors that cause certain reactions. Alcohol in it's biochemical definition is very much not specific to being called a "depressant" (the ol' inducer of an inhibitor example...for those who have studied biology in biochemistry). It's clinical definition is however.

mca47

iluvcats wrote:

dear know it alls,

if alcohol is so depressing and soothing, then why do some people (that I've known) become violent and start fights?

Drugs interact with some people completely different. If you look at brain imaging of people who are under the influence of certain drugs (including ethanol) certain areas become much more active than others (comparitively speaking). So behavioral patterns exhibited under the influence can be completely different.

PatrickBateman

decides2dream wrote:

yes, i have.
works pretty well too.
i think i used 3 mg as well, pretty common dosage avaialable at the pharmacy so i'd not worry and take the whole thing. i really need to get more. sleepless nights suck.


urban - i find almost ANY sleep aide = funky dreams.

before I used the melatonin I was taking Vivarin before work and an otc Sleepaid to get to sleep. I wasn't over doing it....just what the boxes said to take. After the 3rd day/night I woke up in a cold sweat after having a dream that the devil was chasing me down a long never ending street and I can feel everything inside of me trembling and shaking violently.... to the point where I was going to call 911
After about 5 minutes of this, it went away. I threw all the pills away

upina2001

anyone's kids have sleep issues? what can/do you use for a sleep-aid on a 5 year old? My daughter has so much energy at night, even after we try to wear her ass by playing outside/ball/dolls etc..., and she is up night after night past 9pm. We get home around 5:30 and by 9 she's not worn out?
Can/Should melatonin, in a lower dosage be used on a 5 year old?

iluvcats

upina2001 wrote:

anyone's kids have sleep issues? what can/do you use for a sleep-aid on a 5 year old? My daughter has so much energy at night, even after we try to wear her ass by playing outside/ball/dolls etc..., and she is up night after night past 9pm. We get home around 5:30 and by 9 she's not worn out?
Can/Should melatonin, in a lower dosage be used on a 5 year old?

I'm childless. See section on chart for kids under 18. The website also has sleep tips. What does her pediatrician say? I've heard that insomniacs should not have caffeine after 6 p.m. and the sleep tips says not within 1 hour of bed.
http://www.melatonin.com/melatonin-dosage.php
I once read about a boy who would not go to sleep. It was determined that the amount of caffeine in his yogurt = 4 cups of coffee and he ate it before bed! I'm not sure what it was, capucino yogurt (I'm gagging.)