Melatonin

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wwk10
wwk10 Posts: 244 Member
What can you tell me about it.
We are considering giving it to our 12 year old son.
He has trouble sleeping.
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Replies

  • Jugie12
    Jugie12 Posts: 282 Member
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    I took it in my early-mid teens because I also had trouble sleeping. It worked well for me -I'd fall asleep much faster and not be groggy in the morning. Non-habit forming. Helped me relax enough to get higher-quality z's. I'd give it a try and see how he feels.
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
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    my son has adhd and also has trouble sleeping because of it.

    i make sure he plays outside (swimming, bike riding, trampoline) for an hour (at least!) and hes tuckered out by 10 no problem.
  • mfoutch86
    mfoutch86 Posts: 87
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    Melatonin was life changing in our household. We have a 4 year old who started on melatonin when she was about 18 months old. After months of sleepless nights, we were at a breaking point. She could stay up to almost 3 or 4 am everyday, with no daytime naps. It was starting to effect her fathers ability to function at work, and I was scared to drive because I was so exhausted with her. We tried, and tried all the usual methods, to no avail. Granted, she is a special needs child, with severe reflux/gerd, so it might be different, but a friend who is a child psych. suggested it, and in 2 nights she was in bed fast asleep at 7! She takes two pills everynight, and it still works like a charm. We skipped giving it to her the other night, just to see what happens, and she couldn't fall asleep! I think perhaps with all her other special needs, her body just doesn't produce melatonin the way it should. We buy ours at Costco, in a red and white bottle, it was $6.59 ( got more today!) and is sooooo worth it. We have noticed 0 side effects!
  • mfoutch86
    mfoutch86 Posts: 87
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    How old is your son? 10 pm sounds super late!
  • Sharonks
    Sharonks Posts: 884 Member
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    I have taken it for a couple years. About 1/2 hr or so after I take it I get very drowsy but not drugged feeling, just sleepy. I wake up in the morning refreshed. My step son has some kind of sleep disorder (so does his dad). When he takes melatonin he sleeps much better. Hubs won't take it. He has an aversion to drugs and I can't convince him that this is a supplement not a drug.
  • wwk10
    wwk10 Posts: 244 Member
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    Thanks for the input
  • MeMyCatsandI
    MeMyCatsandI Posts: 704 Member
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    I started taking melatonin a month or so ago because of my insomnia. I haven't noticed much of a difference. In fact, this week was worse than most. I only take the 3mg tablets because I read something that warned against taking too much. For those of you who take this or give it to your children (basically those who know more about it than I do), what dose are you using? Maybe I need to up my dose?? My doctor gave me sleeping pills, but I don't like to take them because they make me dizzy.
  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
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    Tried it for a while. I ended up with very vivid nightmares involving my daughter (then about 1 year old) being very brutally murdered. I actually slept outside her bedroom door for a week after that. Never again will I take any more than my body makes.
  • chm2616
    chm2616 Posts: 434 Member
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    I used to take it years ago and it worked very well. No grogginess in the morning! Take it about 30-45 min before bed time though. My husband was stressed about 2 months ago and I he started taking it and it worked great for him. He stopped taking it a few weeks ago and is doing fine!
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
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    Talk to your doctor. Melatonin supplements haven't been studied a whole lot in children. I personally use a tablet by Hyland's called Insomnia. Such a creative name, I know. But it works, and it's safe for children and adults with no grogginess.
  • concavity
    concavity Posts: 143 Member
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    I took it during college, I found it habit forming since I soon couldn't sleep without it. No side effects sometimes the ocassional really weird dream though.
  • PlanetVelma
    PlanetVelma Posts: 1,231 Member
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    I take melatonin to help with my insomnia. My son is 17 and he's been having issues falling asleep. I checked with his doctor and his dr told me to try it out to see if it helped. I read an article that teens don't produce enough melatonin before I talked to his dr, btw.

    AnyWHO, he takes it 2-3 times a week and it really helps. I think he's just going through that phase where he's not producing enough melatonin because he's never had insomnia issues in the past.

    I do know folks that take it and they have very vivid dreams, I don't have that problem.

    For the record I take 5-10 mg - just depends on how "awake" I feel @ night. My son takes 3mg and falls asleep no problem. :)
  • tdm2592
    tdm2592 Posts: 30
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    I'll take it the night before when I know it will be a stressful day. It has worked wonders to calm my mind down and get me to sleep.
  • vfnmoody
    vfnmoody Posts: 271 Member
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    I use it to reset after a week of night shifts. Its good.
    Frend of ours son has come a long way since he started sleep ing through the night using it.
  • melonclarinet
    melonclarinet Posts: 163 Member
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    I take it more often than not. I have always had troubles sleeping and it does help me. I take 6-10 mg usually. I seem to have more vivid dreams, but they are not bad dreams; actually they're usually pretty funny. I have a few friends who have taken it and have had horrendous nightmares with it and stopped taking it because of them.
    I would be cautious giving it to a child and see if there's anything else you can do first; I'd also speak to a doctor about it just in case.
  • aproc
    aproc Posts: 1,033 Member
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    I take leukic post workout which has melatonin in it. Doesn't take long at all for me to fall asleep versus days I don't take it post-workout.
  • Rhiannon723
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    Tried it for a while. I ended up with very vivid nightmares involving my daughter (then about 1 year old) being very brutally murdered. I actually slept outside her bedroom door for a week after that. Never again will I take any more than my body makes.

    I also took it for insomnia, it worked for awhile, however after a few months I began having very vivid and disturbing dreams. I didn"t think too much of it until I had a friend move in with me and 3 nights in a row he woke up to blood curling screams coming from me and could not get me to wake up from them. I actually hit and scratched him trying to get away, I was having nightmares of being murdered and him trying to wake me made it worse. After that I never touched it again. I was taking it under a doctor's supervision and he said that overdoses of melatonin can cause extremely vivid dreams and nightmares. I was only taking 3mg a night.
  • bacitracin
    bacitracin Posts: 921 Member
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    I take the Trader Joe's 500 microgram (1/2 a milligram) chewable peppermint flavored tablets. It's about $4 for 100 of them, so they let me vary my sleep schedule whenever I need to. Some nights I need to be asleep by 6:30pm, some nights I need to go to sleep at midnight. I usually fall asleep within half an hour of taking them.

    I have ADHD and chronic depression. These help with the insomnia. I have never suffered any ill effects, or disturbing dreams.
  • Bethee101
    Bethee101 Posts: 99 Member
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    Love it!! We give it to our almost 9 year old daughter who had a lot of trouble sleeping because of waking and anxiety! Some nights if she forgets to take it we can tell because she can't fall asleep as well. Our medical dr was completely comfortable with her taking it ;) Good Luck!
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
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    I swear by the Sundown Naturals brand, Super Snooze Melatonin 3mg Formula , Actually I just got back home from picking up another bottle, I get the 90 count (which will last 3 months) and runs about $9. My doctor suggested I try a brand or two and see which one works best and stick with that one. Once I tried this one I never went back to the others. Beats Ambien any day and I definitely didn't want to stay on that, leaves me too drugged in the a.m. For myself this was a good choice and has made all the difference in the world in my sleep. I now sleep restfully, soundly and wake up very refreshed.

    I ran out and was off them for 4-5 days or so, WOW, very different sleep without them. I kept waking up, so looking to taking one tonight and getting my Melatonin level back where it belongs. :smile:

    Ingredients:
    Calcium
    Magnesium
    Valerian Root
    Hops
    Skullcap
    Chamomile
    Passion Flower
    Inositol
    L-Taurine
    Melatonin