Melatonin

wwk10

What can you tell me about it.
We are considering giving it to our 12 year old son.
He has trouble sleeping.

Jugie12

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

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

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

How old is your son? 10 pm sounds super late!

Sharonks

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

Thanks for the input

MeMyCatsandI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

melisha922

Melatonin is wonderful... but like everything, moderation is good. I've never had the nightmare symptom so I can't speak to that. However, I have also only used it to get my brain back to it's regularly scheduled maintenance of naturally produced Melatonin. My MIL (an RA) says that you can use it to "reset" your brain. Basically, by using it for a short time your body learns to naturally produce that much of the chemical- leading to better sleep habits. It won't, however, cure sleep issues non-related to Melatonin production. So you may need to take your son to the Doc if the supplement doesn't work after a short period of time.

Naytahlee

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.

From what I understand you're supposed to take as much as needed to see results. More is not better with Melatonin. Start with the 1-3 mg and see what happens. The 3mg works for me if I let it. I can also "power through" it and stay awake because its not at all like taking sleeping pills. When I take the pill I go lay down, it takes about 15-20 minutes to work. If you've really given it an honest shot and its not working then increase the dose.

Wonderwoman2677

I just heard about this a few months ago and started using it for my occasional insomnia. I also started giving it to my 13 yo. It helps us both with no side effects. We take 3mg.

MeMyCatsandI

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.

From what I understand you're supposed to take as much as needed to see results. More is not better with Melatonin. Start with the 1-3 mg and see what happens. The 3mg works for me if I let it. I can also "power through" it and stay awake because its not at all like taking sleeping pills. When I take the pill I go lay down, it takes about 15-20 minutes to work. If you've really given it an honest shot and its not working then increase the dose.

My problem isn't so much GETTING to sleep, it's STAYING asleep. I take it generally about 30 minutes before I go to bed. I fall asleep easily. Then a couple hours later I wake up and stare at the ceiling for a few hours. Then I fall asleep again just in time for the alarm to go off. It's frustrating. I've been taking 3mg for about a month now. I'll try doubling that for a little while and see if it helps. Thanks for your input.

JustJennie1

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.

While I agree that they should talk to their doctor melatonin is natural and it's produced in the brain. It is not addicting and no grogginess when you wake. I use it every night. Sometimes I take two capsules.

impyimpyaj

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.

While I agree that they should talk to their doctor melatonin is natural and it's produced in the brain. It is not addicting and no grogginess when you wake. I use it every night. Sometimes I take two capsules.

Yes, I know it's created in the brain. But taking a supplement is not the same as making it in your brain. The last time I researched it (about 3 months ago), it was being used in adolescents with ADHD, but not recommended for younger children or children without ADHD. And when used in children, the recommendation is to use it under a doctor's supervision.