Good or bad opinions of melatonin?

Question

I've been on prescription sleep aids (Ambien and Lunesta) for too long and interested in trying melatonin. Experiences/opinions welcome :)

Answer 1

As is typical in medicine, the small early studies were promising, and larger, later studies less so.

Answer 2

Ambien and Lunesta will actually put you to sleep, but I would not want to use them long-term, either.

Melatonin from a health food store is essentially useless.  There are no studies showing any value in treating insomnia, and herbal drugs are not regulated by the FDA, so you don't know about effectiveness or even what the actual dose is.

Rozerem, a drug that acts on melatonin receptors, is useful in a small subset of insomniacs.  I am not one of them; it did nothing at all for me, whereas Ambien or Lunesta will knock me out.

I think exercise more than a few hours before bed, relaxation techniques, having a cool comfortable quiet place to sleep, staying on a routine, not napping - and other natural things to enhance sleep - would be more effective than melatonin, but that none of them will touch severe insomnia.

Answer 3

I'm on ambien, I would try it but I'm not sure if it would interfere with my other meds.  My sister started taking it a while back and apparently its really helped with her insomina.

Answer 4

I have heard that if someone is prone to migraines, melatonin may aggravate them.  If you are not a migraine sufferer, than it might be an option to try it.

You will probably have to do a slow taper of your prescription sleep aids as you introduce the melatonin.  Most people require a long time to slowly decrease their prescription sleep aids before their body gets used to being without it.  Check with your MD to get a tapering schedule, and ask about incorporating melatonin into the schedule.

Answer 5

I have use melatonin for awhile and it does the job the only downer i could say is that it gives me really weird dreams. It is all natural so that is a plus.