Melatonin Dependency

[td1111]

Any subjective experiences with becoming dependent on the sleep-aid melatonin? I've been taking 3mg per night for a few months, and upped it to 6mg for a week or two when I had trouble sleeping. Normally I don't have trouble sleeping, and decided to go off it for a while to see if I could still sleep normally. On a coulpe of occasions I could not fall asleep for 3 hours or so. I've decided to stay off it for longer, just in case this is a dependency forming, and I have started using Benadryl now that I need something to sleep. Anyone notice similar results?

 

[daveyboy2345]

i buy the 2 OTC sleep aids, doxylamine succinate and diphenhydramine(generic Benadryl) I take 12.5 mgs of doxy and it works well, for a powerful 10-12 hours of sleep I will sometimes take 25 mgs of diphen and 12.5 mgs of doxy and i'm out.

Both are just OTC allergy meds(anti-histamine)

 

[SLAYER69!]

I find diphenhydramine to be far more addictive and to have sides. I was popping more and more unisons, Tylenol PM's, ect to get to sleep. I'd fall asleep quick but then wake up halfway through the night jumping out of my skin. I've been using melatonin for the last couple of years and have not had to increase the dose.

 

[triceptor]

I have used melatonin on-and-off for about 7 years. I go for periods where I take it for months and then lay off for as much time. I have not noticed any dependancy. I get to sleep without it. During my endocrine crash in 2005 - 2006 I HAD to use it to get to sleep. For about 2 months I took 6mgs a night. I also was doing periodic saliva tests during that period to follow my progress back to normalcy.

IMHO melatonin is a better choice than benadryl, benzos or hypnotics as it doesn't alter normal sleep cycle rhythms. Antihistamines are notorious for causing non-recuperative sleep and benzos and hypnotics shorten or completely bypass REM stage sleep.

What I have found is using the smallest effective dose of melatonin allows you to sleep without it whenever you choose to. I'll take it for a couple nights where I feel very wound up and am concerned that I won't be able to get to sleep and may not use it again for weeks. I also notice that by using it periodically the following nights that I don't use it I feel like I get deeper sleep.

Dr. Russell Reiter who has studied the pineal gland and melatonin for 35 years and authored over 700 peer-reviewed studies indicated that as we age its the downregulation of melatonin receptors that effects sleep. After I interviewed him for Super Human Radio I decided to experiment with the higher doses because I saw my own sleep patterns changing. I was not able to sleep as long as I had when I was younger. I took 12mgs a night for 3 weeks and 9mgs a night for the following 2 weeks and then laid off completely. I was able to fall asleep the first night without it and slept for 11 hours straight. I slept perfectly without it and noticed a marked improvement in the quality of my sleep over the next several months.

I began to think about how supraphysiologic levels of anabolic AAS upregulate the AR. I have no evidence of this but it may be that periodic use of melatonin may aid in the melatonin receptor status and proliferation. JMHO