Is it ok to take melatonin long term? ?

Question

I think I have chronic insomnia and I'm 14 and I've been taking melatonin for about 3 years straight. It's starting to not work and I'm scared I'm dependant on it.

Answer 1

Get a real medication...it'll work better.

Answer 2

I'm 14 and take Melatonin too. But only use it when you really can't sleep. Maybe since you've been taking it for 3 years straight, it's just become routine for you. Try to fall asleep without it. If you sleep fine, you're good. But if you feel like you'll die without taking a melatonin, then you might want to talk to your mom or doctor. If it's starting to not work, try something else. Sleepytime Tea (It really is called Sleepytime) works good for me. It's a tea that has natural ingredients to help soothe your system and help you fall asleep. Sleep tight!

Answer 3

I am not sure about the answer to that. But I can tell you that I had a bad experience with the medicine/ herbs. It made me angry and rageful for 3 days. I actually hit people at my work, and went into tears; then hit my brother the next day. Be very careful with this medicine. I think it worked as a depressant to me!

Answer 4

Actually, it's possible that you might not need it anymore (at least not as high of a dose).

Melatonin helps to support your Serotonin levels, which is the hormone that regulates both your sleeping and waking cycles. If you get too much Serotonin, you actually get the opposite effect (where it wakes you up), but that's more common for really high doses. It's possible that your level is just a bit high, so it's not working as well, or it could be that your body has adapted to the higher level. I would suggest asking a doctor to run some tests to find out if you need more or less (not just going by their word without running tests... nobody can guess if you are high or low on it).

However, "ok to take long term" is rather subjective. Because Melatonin helps to balance out your Serotonin, most people don't need to take it long term. However, there are two parts of what you said that worry me... first, that you've taken it for 3 years, and second that you're only 14. Melatonin typically has a warning not to be taken by anyone under 16 and you shouldn't need it for that long... UNLESS it's because of a medical condition (like your body doesn't produce enough Serotonin, then it's understandable). If you don't have a medical condition, I would suggest talking to your parents about your concerns (and bringing research about it would help a lot) and talk to a different doctor about if you should keep taking it for medical purposes or if you should try to fix the cause of the problem instead of addressing the symptom. Good luck!

Answer 5

it's safe. melatonin is all natural and not habit forming. most likely, because you've taken it so long you've become immune to it. i would consult a doctor because there may be alternatives to melatonin. or read the directions, you may be able to up your dose a bit.  

Answer 6

you're not dependent on it, thats impossible. you probably just have a tolerance level for it.

Answer 7

Anything can cause you to become in need of larger doses to get the achieved results. Start to ween yourself off the pills, then figure out why you aren't sleeping. Exercise and make yourself extra tired at night to go to bed easier.

Dependency on any substance is bad.