Learn me Melatonin

I work rotating 12 hr shifts, and never had ay problem sleeping on night shift, but now I'm starting to. I think it's probably age related, but regardless, I need to sleep. I've used regular sleeping pills in the past, and they work great, but they make me stupid, and I've read that long term use is not good.

So after reading about Melatonin on here, I bought some. There were two types, 1.5 mg and 5 mg. Of course I went for the 5. It made me fall asleep right away, and put me into a really deep sleep for about 2-3 hours. After that, I tossed and turned, and slept on and off the rest of the day. Not good. I tried cutting the pills in half and it reduced the deep sleep part, and increased the time asleep, but still wasn't ideal. I may try cutting them in thirds, just to see.

Anybody else have the same experience, or try it and find it didn't work that well?

5mg is just about perfect for me. I can sleep the whole night absolutely no problems. Some people metabolize it faster then expected and only get a few hours of sleep others like me can crash out for 10 hours on it.

What it is really useful for is resetting your internal clock. I can fly 3-5 timezones away and be on local time in one night with in.

I tried it, and it didn't work for squat. I've moved onto other things.

Works great for me, I stick to the lower dose, because in general if less medicine will get the job done, that's what you should take.

Back in college when my sleep schedule was bonkered because of rotating class schedules (8AM MWF and Noon TTH for first class) combined with partying and reffing hockey on the weekends which meant that I could be out at the rink from 5PM to midnight on Sunday night, I figured out a few things that "worked".

First of all, cut the caffeine after noon, unless you need to pull an all-nighter. I guess for you, this would mean cut the caffeiene after... 10PM?

Now, onto the melatonin: I had similar results to yours. To remedy this, I would have half of one at bedtime with about a gallon of water. This had 2 effects: one, a lot of fatigue is caused by dehydration, so it stopped any chance of that, and two, it caused me to wake up in the middle of the night to pee. When I peed, I would take the rest of the melatonin. Worked for me, might for you, I dunno.

Now, more stuff that you didn't ask for: Sometimes when the melatonin wasn't going to cut it, I took nyquil. Knocks you out. They now sell Zquill, which is the same thing, but just with the sleepyness stuff. No idea on long term effects, probably not good. I used it sparringly (but I used the medicated version because Zquill wasn't invented yet).

I am not a doctor and do not endorse any of these. YMMV. Use at your own risk. The following I do endorse though:

No "artificial" light before bed. 30 minutes at least. That means no cell phone, no computer, no tv, no tablet. Turn it off or put it away. They engrain patterns in your eyes and brain and it takes longer to reach deep sleep because of it. Look up the sleep study's, I am not making this up. Read a book or a magazine right before you hit the sack and you'll fall asleep faster.

Lastly, I read or heard somewhere that the hormones released after sex are more powerful than valium. So tell the wife that you need it or you'll lose your job. Even if that isn't true, who cares?

I usually prefer diphenhydramine (benadryl) for this sort of thing, at least 2 of them, sometimes 3. Sometimes with a melatonin thrown in. Working 3rd for two summers permascrewed my sleep cycle, if I'm not doing anything that wakes me up in the morning, I revert to getting up at noon immediately.

mndsm wrote: I tried it, and it didn't work for squat. I've moved onto other things.

Like?

Kenny_McCormic wrote: I usually prefer diphenhydramine (benadryl) for this sort of thing

That's the stuff that makes me stupid. If I take those a few times a week, I have a hard time remembering things, finishing sentences, remembering words, etc.

Zomby Woof wrote:

mndsm wrote: I tried it, and it didn't work for squat. I've moved onto other things.

Like?

Kenny_McCormic wrote: I usually prefer diphenhydramine (benadryl) for this sort of thing

That's the stuff that makes me stupid. If I take those a few times a week, I have a hard time remembering things, finishing sentences, remembering words, etc.

Benadryl sometimes works, I have found this other OTC Aternil? I forget exactly what it's called- but it works pretty well. The biggest thing for me is busting my ass on something. If I'm dragging ass when I walk in the door, I sleep a lot better. I have a huge problem with sleep as it is.

I worked nights and tried very hard to make it work, but no go.

Whiskey does the trick though.

I am a much happier man since discovering melatonin. I use the 1.5mg but sometimes take two.

For me, it works much different than any kind of sleeping pill or Benadryl, etc. It doesn't really make me sleepy, it just helps to turn my brain off and stop thinking about work, car projects and such which conspire to keep me awake.

No morning hangover feeling either.

I also have noticed an apparent cumulative effect, after a few days it works even better.

Melatonin never worked for me, but it does for my wife. Valerian root capsules work pretty well for me, but too many makes my muscles twitchy and it's hard to sleep. Dosage varies with brand but I usually take one a night. Low doses supposedly work as natural muscle relaxers and sleep inducers. I do know that steady low dosing at night seems to prevent hardcore muscle cramps while I'm on long (40+ mile) bike rides.

Did you notice that the Valerian root smells like stinky socks?

Benadryl is scary E36 M3 for me - I get dreadful weird dreams from it. Melatonin works, but only up to a point. If I'm overtired, or I've had too much caffeine, I don't get a nice stretch of uninterrupted sleep.

In reply to Lesley:

That is MUCH more charitable than the way I would describe it....

Walmart has 10 mg time release melatonin

Time release seems like what I need, but 10 mg is probably too much for me. The 5 mg stuff put me out so hard it wasn't funny. Normally when I wake up in the middle of the day or night, I can nail the time within a few minutes. When I took the Melatonin and woke up a few hours later, I looked at the clock and I was 4 hours off

I think the pills I have have that stuff in it too, and holy cow does it stink.

Lesley wrote: Melatonin works, but only up to a point. If I'm overtired, or I've had too much caffeine, I don't get a nice stretch of uninterrupted sleep.

That's my problem. Knocks me out big time, but I'm awake after a few hours and toss and turn the rest of the night.

I took 10 mg. time-released Melatonin for about 3 years and began waking up with the feeling that I needed to go back to sleep so badly but couldn't. The only way to get back to sleep was to get up and pace the floor until I felt exhausted, then I could go back to sleep. I quit taking all forms of sleeping pills and did quite well for awhile but now I'm back to waking up for long periods. Last night I woke just after 2:00 a.m. and still haven't been back to sleep.

mtn wrote: Now, onto the melatonin: I had similar results to yours. To remedy this, I would have half of one at bedtime with about a gallon of water. This had 2 effects: one, a lot of fatigue is caused by dehydration, so it stopped any chance of that, and two, it caused me to wake up in the middle of the night to pee. When I peed, I would take the rest of the melatonin. Worked for me, might for you, I dunno.

This might be the answer. I'm going into work in an hour. I'll try this tomorrow morning.

I'm bringing this one back with an update. I've been doing something for the last month that works so well, it made me realize that I'd forgotten how it feels to get a really good nights sleep. Not only was I having problems sleeping during the day, but when I transition from nights to days, the first few day shifts I feel like bag of E36 M3, and I still don't get a good nights sleep.

I found some 1 mg Melatonin, and that was working OK, but a month ago my wife and I were in health food store and she saw some tea called restful sleep. It was expensive, so I told her not to bother because she probably would never use it anyway. Like most things I tell her, she ignored it and bought it anyway. I figured since we had it (and I paid for it) I would give it a try. I take a 1 mg Melatonin, drink a cup of this tea, and not only do I get a full 7-8 hours sleep, but I wake up feeling like it was the best 7-8 hours sleep I've ever had. Completely rested, and ready to go. I no longer wish I could stay in bed another hour, and no longer have that shift change hangover.

It looks like they may have changed the name of it.

I never would have believed that anything could work this well, but it has been for a solid month now.

Ohhhh, I'm going to have to try that. I have been going to bed earlier and earlier but I never feel "rested" in the am. Thanks!

Tried melatonin and it didn't work worth a E36 M3. I sleep 8-10 hours on the weekend thanks to Keppra and Vimpat. If you develop epilepsy, that would be a viable route.

In reply to iadr:

This is the first I've ever heard that, and I tend to know my drugs thoroughly before I mess with them.

iadr wrote: How are you taking melatonin? The only way that works correctly is melt it under your tongue. I know we have smart people here, but if it says sublingual in little print on the bottle and you swallow them... I'd be disappointed in you.

I wouldn't want you to be disappointed. The Melatonin I have is sustained release, and I find 1 mg is perfect so far. Anything stronger was too much. it knocked me out, but also left me groggy, and hungover feeling. I will try .5 mg if I can find it. Came off a weekend of 12hr nights, and went in for day shift today. Got 6 1/2 hrs last night and felt great all day.

What is this difficulty sleeping you guys talk about?

Borderline narcoleptic here. I take pills to keep me awake.

I'm glad you found something that works. If you ever need something to keep you up, I'd highly recommend modaphinyl.

I've been working rotating shifts most of the last 20 years and while the 18 hr rotation in the navy now allows me to drop off on a moment's notice the trick I've found its to not go to bed too early. We work 6-6 in the dispatch center and if I want to sleep well I stay up to at least 9 and set the alarm for 4:30 or so.

In reply to oldopelguy:

I've also found that although I like to sleep 10 hours, I'm sharpest throughout the day on 7 or so.