Should I Take Melatonin For My Insomnia?
The first thing we should be clear about is, what exactly is melatonin? Melatonin is a substance (a hormone) secreted by the pineal gland in the brain that has a rapid, mild sleepiness-inducing effect. For this reason, some people take melatonin for insomnia to help regulate their normal sleep cycle, although some concerns remain about its safety, especially for long-term use.
Circadian Rhythms
Your circadian rhythm can be defined as the normal daily cycles that your body goes through. During each 24-hour cycle, levels of hormones rise and fall depending on the moment of the day; your kidneys produce more urine during the day and less at night; and your body temperature is higher at some times of the day than others (it tends to fall just before we go to sleep, for example). These are normal, rhythmic changes that help us be alert and functioning when we need to be, and to rest and rejuvenate at other times.
Some people believe that taking melatonin for insomnia helps maintain your normal sleep cycle. This belief is based on the fact that melatonin levels increase as it gets dark and peak during the middle of the night, and so melatonin is seen as synchronizing your sleep to the night. In fact, research tends to show that melatonin does not control sleep as such, but most likely is only one of many factors that explain why sleep during the night seems deeper, more refreshing and more restful.
Melatonin For Insomnia Caused By Circadian Rhythm Disorders
There are certain times when your normal sleep cycle gets disrupted - you feel sleepy during the day and can’t sleep at night. One example of this is jet lag, when your body is on one time, and the location where you have just arrived is on another time. Your body continues to produce melatonin on its usual schedule. It may be breakfast time in London, but your body feels that it should be fast asleep and shouldn’t be woken for quite some time yet. In this particular situation, it can indeed be helpful to take melatonin, although it seems that it is much more effective for people traveling eastwards than those going westward.
Another group of people who may benefit from taking melatonin for insomnia is night workers. People who work during the night get their biological clocks really messed up for two reasons. First, they are awake during the dark hours and try to sleep during the light hours. But then, when they have one or more days off work, their natural instinct is to synchronize their timetables again with the family and friends around them and they try to resume a normal sleep schedule. Thus, they are constantly changing their hours of sleep. In these cases, since melatonin production is suppressed by light, it does indeed seem to be helpful to take melatonin for insomnia when you are trying to sleep during daylight hours.
Although much more research remains to be done, it seems clear that taking melatonin for insomnia can be helpful when the insomnia is due to changes in your normal sleep cycle. It can either supplement the melatonin your body produces naturally, so that you can sleep during the day, or it can help reset your biological clock so that you sleep better at night.
In all cases, however, it must be remembered that insomnia is a symptom of many different disorders, including neurological and other medical disorders and psychiatric problems, and as such requires evaluation by a physician. In certain cases, melatonin may not be an appropriate treatment and should never be used except under a physician’s supervision.
Terry Roberts
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/should-i-take-melatonin-for-my-insomnia-94985.html
6 months pregnant, can I take melatonin for my insomnia?
I was just curious if it's alright to take Melatonin for my insomnia (I have to wake up at 6am for work and I can't sleep at all!)
If I cannot take it, does anyone know of any natural remedies that I can try to get to sleep?
Thank you!
maybe tylenol PM? I've heard you can take tylenol while pregnant .. and I would think Melatonin would be ok, because it's natural .. but DONT quote me on that .. it's just an assumption. I have no background in medicine ..
you should probably wait until morning and call your doctor to be on the safe side!
good luck! God bless!
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You can take benadryl (not after 36 weeks)
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Don't' use Tylenol PM with out asking your doctor, Tylenol is safe, but for the PM part they add extra drugs that may not be safe. Yes I used melatonin during two of my pregnancies, I asked my doctor first of course and he said it was fine. After a while though it began not working and they prescribed me a sleep agent. I tried not to use it unless I had no other choice, as all medicine, no matter how small does go to your baby. I did drink Chamomile tea ( which my doc said was fine) and that did help relax me. Good luck, but always, no matter what it is, ask you doctor. You never know and better to be safe than sorry.
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mom of three, pregnant with twins
no ,do not take any thing medical ,home remadies work best milk is good warm,not in micro wave, read a book ,novel ,not mothers or us, have marital sex even ,keep it natural
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expert
No, you should not take melatonin if you are pregnant because it can increase the risk of developmental disorders in your baby. I don't know of any natural remedies that you can take but you can try doing some things to help you relax and get comfortable such as drinking a warm non-caffeinated beverage, taking a warm bath, performing relaxation techniques such as deep-breathing or guided imagery, using pillows to support your legs or back, adjusting the temperature in the room so it's comfortable, or have your partner give you a soothing massage.
If these don't work, Benedryl and Tylenol PM are safe, as others have already suggested.
Goodluck and hopefully you are asleep by the time I post this. Congrats on the pregnancy!
References :
It's a good idea to be looking for something natural for insomnia. Melatonin, being a substance produced naturally in your body, is a good place to start looking.
Melatonin is transferred to fetal blood from maternal blood rapidly so, basically, what melatonin you take, your baby also takes [Maternal-fetal transfer of melatonin in pregnant women near term, Journal of pineal research, 1998 Nov; 25(3):129-134].
Melatonin may reduce the risk of spontaneous abortion by inhibiting the synthesis of prostaglandins (labor inducers), increasing progesterone levels. In fact, natural melatonin blood levels double or triple in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy [The pineal gland and spontaneous abortions, International journal of neuroscience, 1992 Feb; 62(3-4):243-50]. To me, that would suggest that elevating melatonin levels is something that naturally happens after 6 months anyway.
However, I did find a study which showed delayed sexual development in the female offspring of rats taking melatonin at 250 mg per kg [Melatonin administration during pregnancy retards sexual maturation of female offspring in the rat, Journal of pineal research, 1991 Aug; 11(1):23-7]. However, a 130 lb woman would have to take 15,000 mg to be taking the equivalent amount per lb as the rats in this study. Another study showing sexual development effect had the human 130 lb woman dosage equivalent of 150 mg; again, relatively high [Effect of pinealectomy and melatonin treatment during pregnancy on the sexual development of the female and male rat offspring, European journal of endocrinology, 1995; 132(6):765-770]. Given that the daily dosage of sublingual melatonin usually ranges from 1 to 5 mg, the fetal development issue seems to me to be a moot point.
To put the melatonin study in perspective, look at one involving Benadryl, at 20 mg per kg [Prenatal exposure of rats to diphenhydramine, Neurotoxicology and teratology, 1997 Nov-Dec;19(6):511-6]. This study also showed delayed sexual development. A 130 lb woman would have to take 1200 mg to be taking the equivalent amount per lb as the rats in this study. The daily maximum dosage of Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is 200 mg. That's only 6 times the amount in the study. Seems to me like you'd be better off with the melatonin.
Also, Tylenol PM is just diphenhydramine added to acetaminophen so, if you're taking it for sleep inducing purposes and don't have any pain, you're taking one ingredient too many.
Summary:
* Melatonin is a potent substance and a search for keywords melatonin and pregnancy in Google Scholar will show you how much and how little is known about melatonin and the effect it has on many systems of the body. You could really go either way on how beneficial or harmful supplementation might be.
* The same could be said about any chemical intervention for insomnia. You're better off finding the root cause of the insomnia and dealing with that in a non-manufactured or artificially concentrated substance way.
Suggestions:
- Natural melatonin boost? Increased sunshine exposure, as little as 30 minutes in the sun. Are you getting 2 15 minute breaks at work each day? Use them to step outdoors and look at the horizon (not directly at the sun).
- Warm bath at night, then straight to bed.
- Don't eat within the few hours before bedtime. A working tummy makes rest more difficult.
- Warm milk; cliche, right?
- Inhale pure lavender essential oil, not synthetic fragrance (I recommend Young Living or Aura Cacia). A couple of drops in your palms, rubbed together, cupped over the nose and inhaled deeply before bed goes a long way. This is my favorite and most used remedy.
- Avoid stimulating things (e.g. mystery novels, crime shows, spousal arguments, first-person shooter games) right before bed.
- Chamomile tea is mild and generally safe (but effective) during pregnancy for relaxation. That is, unless you're allergic to ragweed; then it might actually be dangerous.
References :
http://scholar.google.com/
http://www.childbirth.org/articles/remedy.html