Melatonin

[oscilor]

I have been prescribed melatonin for my "free-running" sleep condition. I take 1mg capsules at 10pm and have taken it for 9 nights. So far, I have stopped going round the clock and managed to fall asleep between 11pm and midnight. But on 6 of these nights I have woken about 3am and been unable to get back to sleep for about 3 hours.Today i did not get back to sleep at all.

I had this problem of fragmented sleep when i took melatonin before at a dose of 3mg, and this has happened to other people on the circadian rhythm list, though not to everyone.

However, it is confounded because
1) I was stressed about Christmas and that could have disturbed my sleep
2) My aunt was staying with me for 3 nights and on at least one occasion she accidentally woke me when she got up in the night
3) I was taking diazepam to cope with the stress and that can affect sleep, plus, now that I have run out, i may get withdrawal effects, which could also affect sleep
4) I feel overloaded by the holidays and run up to that, and don't think I could handle another 2-3 weeks of possible bad sleep for the sake of a trial.

Conclusion: I have decided to abandon the trial for now and resume a normal routine, going around the clock. Then I will try again mid-February, when there are not these confounding factors.

[Aspen]

That sounds like a reasonable idea to me to postpone the trial until later when all this other stuff isn't going on.

[Mesonoxian]

I was on Melatonin for about four months last year and it really helped for that time. I would take 3mg at 9:30pm and would fall asleep around 11:00pm. It was some of the most recuperative sleep I have had in my life.

Unfortunately I seem to have developed a strange tolerance to it. Now whenever I take Melatonin, I fall asleep easily, but I will wake up almost precisely five hours later and cannot get back to sleep.

[Civet]

I've been on melatonin for years. Mesonoxian, it's generally said that you can develop a tolerance to melatonin and that it is a good idea to take a break for a week or so then go back on it. I haven't really done this myself though I probably should have . I have never been "put to sleep" by melatonin. I just find it increases the likelihood that I will be able to get back to sleep when I wake too early in the morning. It tends to keep my thoughts from being "awake" and "racing" when I wake up. Nights that I forget to take it for some reason or another I do notice a difference.

Lately I've been on a terrible sleep schedule, "napping" for several hours in the afternoon, then getting up in the evening for a couple of hours, then sleeping for another four or so. I really need to get out of it. I think I am extremely sensitive, sleep-wise, to the day-night cycles as I always want to fall asleep as soon as it starts getting dim out and have a terrible time sleeping once it's light. Winter is of course worse because it gets dark around 4pm!

[oscilor]

I was updating my records from 2009 and I do not get a rebound insomnia after taking diazepam for a couple of weeks, and after 2 quiet days of not seeing anyone, I feel recovered. So I have decided to resume the melatonin trial after all.

Unfortunately I seem to have developed a strange tolerance to it. Now whenever I take Melatonin, I fall asleep easily, but I will wake up almost precisely five hours later and cannot get back to sleep.

That is similar to what I experienced from the start, except i woke after only 3 hours and usually did get another sleep later, but it is very messy.

I think I am extremely sensitive, sleep-wise, to the day-night cycles as I always want to fall asleep as soon as it starts getting dim out and have a terrible time sleeping once it's light. Winter is of course worse because it gets dark around 4pm!

I wonder if you have advanced sleep phase syndrome. That is when, if left to your own devices, you would sleep and wake very early ie an extreme lark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_s ... e_syndrome

[Civet]

I wonder if you have advanced sleep phase syndrome. That is when, if left to your own devices, you would sleep and wake very early ie an extreme lark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_s ... e_syndrome

Yes I have heard of that before and I think it is possible though my sleep schedule isn't *quite* as "off" as is suggested in that article. I guess considering this is the schedule my body has wanted to be on since I was an infant (according to my parents) it may be what this is.

[oscilor]

I wonder if you have advanced sleep phase syndrome. That is when, if left to your own devices, you would sleep and wake very early ie an extreme lark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_s ... e_syndrome

Yes I have heard of that before and I think it is possible though my sleep schedule isn't *quite* as "off" as is suggested in that article. I guess considering this is the schedule my body has wanted to be on since I was an infant (according to my parents) it may be what this is.

I guess there is a spectrum that shades into normal. In any case, if you wanted to treat it, melatonin would be appropriate and you're already taking that. Otherwise, getting bright light in your evening might help, but that is less convenient.

[Civet]

I actually have a bright light for art, called an OTT-light. My mother has SAD and she told me that the OTT light is the same kind of thing they use for bright-light therapy lamps, as they are both made to simulate natural sun light. I have used it in the past (actually my sleep specialist recommended it when I saw one several years ago) and I found it actually made my sleep worse throughout the night on the evenings I used it. I do try to brighten my room or house up in the evenings as I start to get sleepy and that does help, though sometimes not enough.

[hibiscus]

I used to take Melatonin regularly to help me sleep. It worked really well until I got used to it. I guess I developed a tolerance for it and it stopped working for me. Now I try drinking a cup or two of chamomile tea before bed and that tends to calm me down and help me unwind. Sleeping problems are frustrating, aren't they? I don't like how they effect my health.

[Civet]

I've read that if you take breaks intermittently with melatonin that can help lower your tolerance so you don't have to continually up your dosage. I've been kind of bad about this myself, though lately I've tapered myself from 9mg to 6mg an evening because I'm also on another medication that has the fortunate side effect of helping me sleep. I'm hoping to get down to 3mg or get off the melatonin entirely at least as long as I'm on the other med.

[SomethingElse]

I actually have a bright light for art, called an OTT-light. My mother has SAD and she told me that the OTT light is the same kind of thing they use for bright-light therapy lamps, as they are both made to simulate natural sun light. I have used it in the past (actually my sleep specialist recommended it when I saw one several years ago) and I found it actually made my sleep worse throughout the night on the evenings I used it. I do try to brighten my room or house up in the evenings as I start to get sleepy and that does help, though sometimes not enough.

That might be because you're not supposed to use them in the evening? I don't know whether these lights are supposed to be used at a particular time of day, but it would make sense. I've read that even having regular lights on in the evening before going to bed can hinder sleep.

[Civet]

At that time I was told to use it in the evening because part of my problem is that I get tired too early (pretty much as soon as it gets dark). With better quality of sleep these days it is less of a problem though I still have times where I'm forced to take a nap.

[Sophist]

Since I've made a point of not leaving the tv on while I sleep and now that I'm on hormone supplements, my sleep is better and my symptoms of seizure-like activity have considerably reduced. It turned out they weren't seizures, since I had a 4-hour sleep deprived EEG and even still nothing abnormal and I was having lots of "episodes". Problem was the neurologist didn't know what they WERE, but hazarded a guess it was some kind of sleep disorder with poor thalamic inhibition. Next time I see him I'm going to ask if he's done any literature review to give me better information than just "Well, I guess this is what is sounds like..."

[JoseyK]

I have a 3-year-old daughter who has altered my sleep schedule. She usually wakes up in the middle of the night wanting something to drink or she comes and sleeps in my bed and kicks me the whole night. When she sleeps through the night or when I'm away, I can get to sleep but I still wake up several times throughout the night. I wish I could sleep and have a full-night's sleep but I fear that won't happen until my daughter is a little older. The problem I have with most sleeping medicines is they do what everyone describes, they help me get to sleep but not stay asleep. Will individual health insurance plans cover sleep tests?

[Aspen]

I have a 3-year-old daughter who has altered my sleep schedule. She usually wakes up in the middle of the night wanting something to drink or she comes and sleeps in my bed and kicks me the whole night. When she sleeps through the night or when I'm away, I can get to sleep but I still wake up several times throughout the night. I wish I could sleep and have a full-night's sleep but I fear that won't happen until my daughter is a little older. The problem I have with most sleeping medicines is they do what everyone describes, they help me get to sleep but not stay asleep.

Hi JoseyK and welcome to Gestalt. I wonder if part of the reason you wake up several times a night even when your daughter sleeps through the night is because it has become part of your sleep pattern set on the nights when she wakes you up several times a night? I remember the nights and days when my daughter was that age and I'm glad that she has mostly outgrown it.

I got myself into a pattern for a while of falling asleep on the couch in front of the TV and waking up at 3 AM and then staying awake for a couple of hours.