Melatonex??

[5pintshefound]

just curious if anyone has used this stuff?? it was the only option for a sleep aid @ the store tonight.. and i seriously need to sleep


~5PHF

 

[SubNebGuy]

Sounds like a fancy name for basic melatonin. its the chemical your body releases to trigger sleep.

I take it sometimes. Not habit forming.

I just take one 3mg tablet of melatonin. I get 60tabs for like $9 at any healthfood store here.

 

[5pintshefound]

yeh, that what it said, that it is melatonin and b6

mainly i just wanted to see if anyone else had taken it, and their experiance .. thanks!

heres hoping it works
i havent gotten more than 4 housr sleep in a couple weeks


~5PHF

 

[TBKahuna123]

I fight insomnia from time to time and use Ambien occasionally. I've been talking to my doctor about it and he recommended taking a Melatonin supplement. If you have minor trouble with quality of sleep this should help. Apparently part of the problem with sleep has been tied to low Melatonin due to lack of sunlight, which is why they see more insomnia problems int he winter months.

Now, he did tell me that this whole thing is a lot of speculation, and he's not sure if it helps or not. He did say though that he's tried it and it seems to help a bit, though that could be just psychological. Still its not like there are any drawbacks or ill effects from taking it, so it's worth a shot.

I've kind of got through that insomnia cycle, so I haven't tried it yet. I'd be interested to hear how it works for you.

 

[naughtygirl69s]

I take both melatonin and ambien, they work well together

 

[5pintshefound]

ok, so i got the kids to bed, and i took some melatonex.. and was asleep before 9 {first time in litterally monthes thats happened} but. i woke up @ midnight, and its 113a and im still awake {altho, i do feel more tired than i was @ this time yesterday} so, is it owrking? i dunno. my so, started on nights about a month ago{yes thats when my insomnia started} and i think that its just because its to quiet here.. we've been here for 6 mos, but! L5P snores.. lol, a lot.. so, now its so utterly quiet, that my ears ring... ive tried the TV and the radio, but i start hearing conversatiosn etc, and well, then im awake... the radio? i start singing along with the songs in my head.. so THAT doesnt help either. when we lived in the states, i lived right up above a pretty busy train track{set of 4, whre they switched loads etc} so i was always hearing trains @ night...here, thers nothing. except cieling fans , which make this annoying whir, that keeps me up... im thinking maybe i should get l5p to get me a relaxation cd while hes in the states... maybe that would help.. hell, im pulling at any kinda straw @ this point...

~5phf

 

[TBKahuna123]

5phf it sure sounds to me like you are in the same boat I was a few months ago. High stress combined with a normal state of minor insomnia kicked in to the point where I would wake up every hour. I could usually fall asleep, but I couldn't stay asleep. That's when I started taking ambien.

Now I hated the idea but my doctor was pretty sure that my body would regulate back into a normal sleep rhythm. I took ambien every night for about 3 weeks, then started taking it every couple days. After 4 months now, I rarely take it. I think I've taken it maybe twice inthe last 3 weeks. I wouldn't call my sleep schedule normal, but I'm not waking up every hour and I can sleep through the night, even if it does take me a while ot fall asleep.

Melatonin isn't really like a sleeping pill, it's a supplement that will help regualte your sleep cycle. It's gonna take a while to help though, it's not a short term solution, it's a long term one.

It might be worth a trip to the doctor. As opposed as I was to taking sleeping pills, the fact is that this program worked for me and now I'm sleeping normally without relying on the drugs. It doesn't have to be a long term relliance on the drugs, just kind fo rebooting the body.

 

[naughtygirl69s]

ok, so i got the kids to bed, and i took some melatonex.. and was asleep before 9 {first time in litterally monthes thats happened} but. i woke up @ midnight, and its 113a and im still awake {altho, i do feel more tired than i was @ this time yesterday} so, is it owrking? i dunno. my so, started on nights about a month ago{yes thats when my insomnia started} and i think that its just because its to quiet here.. we've been here for 6 mos, but! L5P snores.. lol, a lot.. so, now its so utterly quiet, that my ears ring... ive tried the TV and the radio, but i start hearing conversatiosn etc, and well, then im awake... the radio? i start singing along with the songs in my head.. so THAT doesnt help either. when we lived in the states, i lived right up above a pretty busy train track{set of 4, whre they switched loads etc} so i was always hearing trains @ night...here, thers nothing. except cieling fans , which make this annoying whir, that keeps me up... im thinking maybe i should get l5p to get me a relaxation cd while hes in the states... maybe that would help.. hell, im pulling at any kinda straw @ this point...

~5phf

I have the same problem, I can't sleep if it's toooo quiet, it's like I can hear my pulse in my ears. I have a clock radio that plays relaxation sounds, LOVE it....Rain and Ocean are my favorite, but it has several otehrs....that reALLY helps....I also use the radio occasionally, the key is to keeping it on soft low music, not too loud.....

and melatonin works better if you take it several nights in a row.

You might also try benedryl(diphenhyramine), or the active ingredient in unisom(I think) you can buy the generic, (doxycycline succinate) both work as a temporary sleep-aid, I would keep using the melatonin and try some distracting sounds....

 

[5pintshefound]

tried benedryl already... usually, if i take even one of those, it knocks me out for like 12 hours {in general, i have pretty drastic reactions to it} but it didnt do ANYTHING. but, even tho, i was up during the night, had troble getting back to sleep, and then, woke up @ arond 5 from a nasty thunderstorm, i feel more rested than i did yesterday @ this time. wehn i went into the mini mart yest. to get the sleep aid, they had this, and some knock off brand of some kind i had never heard of.. probably sounds stupid, but i went for the one with th ebetter looking packaging. im leary of using generic brands of meds i dont know... plus, it had all these chemicals, which i couldnt pronounce... il iked that at least i had a decent idea of what the stuff in the melatonex was... will i take a nap today? yeh probably lol.. do i feel better tho.. definately. so its all good.. hopefully by the time L5P gets back from the states, ill be into a good sleep pattern... ! lol

~5PHF

 

[TBKahuna123]

It sounds like you ahve the same issues I did. Given the description of the stresses of your life, I'd say that's the root cause. The insomnia where you can't stay asleep is because your mind won't quiet down enough to rest. This is what I experience at times and is directly stress induced. This is where Ambien, and I think Lunesta that they advertise, come into play. Basically it shuts down your higher brain functions so that you can rest with a quiet mind. Unisom, Tylenol 3, etc. all work differently, more like a sedative which just makes you groggy an knocks you out. When I took those over the counter things I was worthless the next day because I was so groggy.

If your sleep problems are stress inducing a restless mind, things like Unisom just aren't going to fix the problem, they'll just mask it. I don't want to sound like I'm pushing Ambien on you or anything, I'm just seeing a lot of parallels to what I went through this winter. Lord knows Ambien has it's own slew of drawbacks. For example, don't try to take it early so you are tired in an hour. Don't have a conversation after taking it. And above all else, don't try to have sex on Ambien! Bad, bad news.

Above all else I'll would tell you to see a doctor about it. I used to think it was no big deal, but it got to the point where it was wracking my health. Once I actually got with a doctor and got things reversed I felt like I'd never had a good night sleep in my life. Heck, maybe I hadn't.

 

[5pintshefound]

got a question for you about ambien... did it make you sleep to the piont that you couldtn wake up? my main reason is, rihgt now im the only adult in the house --L5P is in the states till the 17th. considering ive got 2 kids {ages 2 & 6} i dont want to take something thats going to make me comatose.. this is gonna sound stupid, but i dont particularly want to go to the doc with this, because im worried theyre going to say 'you need to go onto anti anxiety meds or depression meds." which would just suck.. but... the lack of sleep.. i really cant handle this... grr.. anyway.. off for now..

~5PHF

 

[Private_Label]

got a question for you about ambien... did it make you sleep to the piont that you couldtn wake up? my main reason is, rihgt now im the only adult in the house --L5P is in the states till the 17th. considering ive got 2 kids {ages 2 & 6} i dont want to take something thats going to make me comatose.. this is gonna sound stupid, but i dont particularly want to go to the doc with this, because im worried theyre going to say 'you need to go onto anti anxiety meds or depression meds." which would just suck.. but... the lack of sleep.. i really cant handle this... grr.. anyway.. off for now..

~5PHF

What is wrong with taking anti depressants? If the stress is causing depression then you should get the help you need. If you want to try another set of herbal remedies, St. John's Wort and Valerian are good. I've just both from time to time, but can't anymore due to the information about how they interact with other medications - they can weaken or strengthen the effects of other medications, if I recall correctly, such as Hormone related meds (birth control pills - weakens the effect), increases the amount of choloesterol lowering drug (sometimes dangerously), and affects other medications as well. But if you are not taking other prescriptions they may work for you. Just a note: it may take a couple of weeks for the full effect to kick in, so keep talking them even if you don't see a lot of improvement the first few nights.

 

[5pintshefound]

What is wrong with taking anti depressants? If the stress is causing depression then you should get the help you need. If you want to try another set of herbal remedies, St. John's Wort and Valerian are good. I've just both from time to time, but can't anymore due to the information about how they interact with other medications - they can weaken or strengthen the effects of other medications, if I recall correctly, such as Hormone related meds (birth control pills - weakens the effect), increases the amount of choloesterol lowering drug (sometimes dangerously), and affects other medications as well. But if you are not taking other prescriptions they may work for you. Just a note: it may take a couple of weeks for the full effect to kick in, so keep talking them even if you don't see a lot of improvement the first few nights.

nothing wrong with them, but they arent for me. im a military dependent, and we're serving overseas right now. Becasue the base has limited medical staffing, depending on diagnosis, we could medically get sent home. Weve been fighting to stay, even tho one of our children is having some trouble. we dont want to go to the states right now... if we go to the states, my husband will get sent overseas. probably to someplace not so fun like iraq or afghanistan. i just got my husband back from a 13 mo tour to the middle east. i dnot want to lose him again.

also, the last timei was on anti deps, i turned into a zombie. i didnt care. about anything. even with med adjustments, i didnt give a rats ass about anything. i didnt take care of my son, {only had the 1 at that poitn} i didnt cook, didnt clean, didnt even read books or sleep {seriously we had big issues... read L5P's earlier posts...}right now, im controlling everything pretty good.. istill have deperessed days, i have days that i worry a lot.. but! i can handle it without drugs. the only thing that i really have trouble with, is the lack of sleep.. {also, the lack of sleep increases the depression & anxiety}

part of my sleep, im sure, is the quiet. i miss the trains, and cars etc etc... veryweird... i miss my hubby snoring in myear...{altho, whne hes that close he has a problem with groping hands }

im hoping to get into see the doc soon, but who kknows.. scheduling can be a pain...

~5PHF

 

[Guest]

 

[Private_Label]

nothing wrong with them, but they arent for me. im a military dependent, and we're serving overseas right now.

Ah. OK. That makes sense.

the last timei was on anti deps, i turned into a zombie. i didnt care.

I can sympathize with that, Prozac did that to me. I hated it. I'm on Zoloft and Trazadone. Zoloft alone cleared the depression but left me feeling very on edge and tense. When the Trazadone was added, in a couple of days I started to feel a lot closer to normal. It took about two or three weeks for me to actually feel normal and feel other emotions (happy, etc) in proportion to what they should be.

{also, the lack of sleep increases the depression & anxiety}

Yep. It's also a side effect of other illnesses such as Sleep Apnea which might also be causing your sleeplessness. I don't know if where your family is stationed can test you for it there, but if you want additional info in the illness PM me, I have it.

part of my sleep, im sure, is the quiet. i miss the trains, and cars etc etc... veryweird... i miss my hubby snoring in myear...

I was the same way about studying for school as I grew up with a brother who was a couple years behind me who insisted on watching cartoons as loud as he could after school.

im hoping to get into see the doc soon, but who kknows.. scheduling can be a pain...

~5PHF

I'll keep you in my thoughts for a solution that keeps you where you want to be.

 

[5pintshefound]

Ah. OK. That makes sense.



I can sympathize with that, Prozac did that to me. I hated it. I'm on Zoloft and Trazadone. Zoloft alone cleared the depression but left me feeling very on edge and tense. When the Trazadone was added, in a couple of days I started to feel a lot closer to normal. It took about two or three weeks for me to actually feel normal and feel other emotions (happy, etc) in proportion to what they should be.




Yep. It's also a side effect of other illnesses such as Sleep Apnea which might also be causing your sleeplessness. I don't know if where your family is stationed can test you for it there, but if you want additional info in the illness PM me, I have it.



I was the same way about studying for school as I grew up with a brother who was a couple years behind me who insisted on watching cartoons as loud as he could after school.



I'll keep you in my thoughts for a solution that keeps you where you want to be.

ive done prozac, effexor, and possibly something else {i cant remember}... the prozac -i did good emotionally, but i litterally had NO sex drive. we're talking, hubbyt wanted to cuddle, and i was like GET THE &$*# OFF ME.. {and im usually a cuddler} the effexor? zombie. complete zombie.. AND i gained almost 30#...and im a big girl.. adding 30# to a depressed big girl??? VERY VERY BAD...

i seriously doubt its sleep apnea... my grandfather suffers from it.. dont think it fits that tho.. its seriously a brain thing....

hmm studying lol, i was the same way... usually for me it was the radio tho... or the radio AND the tv... really freaked my mom out when she came in
and i was able to tell her, what song was playing, what the synopsis of whatever was on tv, AND the stuff i was studying lol

so, i feel like a bit of a guinea pig... but tonight is night #2 with the melatonex... so, we shall see what happens... earlier today, i felt pretty darn good. about 130 i hit a "i SO want to go to sleep" pd... but i didnt.. now, the kids are home, and i would really like to lay down on the couch, but thats a bad idea... so im going to try to stay up till 8 {only 3 housr} and then go to bed.. thats MY goal...

lol thank you all for your help!
~5PHF

 

[TBKahuna123]

Well I totally understand your misgivings about going to the doc. I know my doctor just treated it for what it was, trouble sleeping, because that's how the stress was affecting me. Now, I'm not sure if a military physician would look at it differently or not, I just don't have any experience with that.

As for the not waking up, I was meaning to as about that in the last post and forgot. In a situation where you are the only adult, probably not the best answer. When I take it I can wake up if I had to, but it takes a lot and I'm not really coherent until I get a shot of caffeine in me. With two small kids this probably isn't the best solution for you at all.

Scally hit it dead on, you have to build a rhythm. I just got back off vacation two time zones back and now my schedule is all hosed up. It does make a difference. I'm also like you, I have to have some white noise in the backgrounf. I usually have a fan or vaporizer running. I also have a horrible time sleeping without my wife. It's just not the same when you roll over and someone isn't there that you are used to. especially if they were gone a long time and just got home.

Give the Melatonex some time to kick in, throw a little low noise in the background and find a way to relax right before going to bed. That might very well help you get your rhythm back, but be patient because it will take a bit of time. IF that doesn't help you'll probably want to see a doctor before it starts to affect other aspects of your heath.

Good luck and don't stress out too much about it, that will just make it worse. Just take lots of deep breaths and keep your head up.

 

[5pintshefound]

Good luck and don't stress out too much about it, that will just make it worse. Just take lots of deep breaths and keep your head up.

Thanks....hopefully tomorrow ill have better news to report...


~5PHF

 

[5pintshefound]

woohooo!!!!!!!!!!!

i SLEPT! took melatonex, @ roghtly 11. was asleep by midnghit, and didnt wake up til around 620 {when my 6 year old decided to get out of bed, and came over and woke me up} but thats ok..! cause i slept!

still feel tired.. not sure if ill take anap today or not... i might.. but, i think this is a REALLLY great step in the right direction!

yay!

~5PHF

 

[lovingdreamer]

whenever I try melatonin I am awake and get the gitters, my body does not like it for sleep for some reason! I use Calms Forte (you can get it at walmart in the herb and vit section) that seems to help me shut the mind down a bit so I can sleep. My husband on the other hand can use melatonin and sleep really well all night long and wake up ok in the am.

yeh, that what it said, that it is melatonin and b6

mainly i just wanted to see if anyone else had taken it, and their experiance .. thanks!

heres hoping it works
i havent gotten more than 4 housr sleep in a couple weeks


~5PHF

 

[5pintshefound]

whenever I try melatonin I am awake and get the gitters, my body does not like it for sleep for some reason! I use Calms Forte (you can get it at walmart in the herb and vit section) that seems to help me shut the mind down a bit so I can sleep. My husband on the other hand can use melatonin and sleep really well all night long and wake up ok in the am.

thanks for the info.. we dont have a walmart..so, im limited as to whats available... ie melatonex.. thank god,its workin!

 

[TBKahuna123]

thanks for the info.. we dont have a walmart..so, im limited as to whats available... ie melatonex.. thank god,its workin!

Just keep at it. It will take a few nights like that for your body to catch up, so don't worry if you are still a bit tired today. Also don't stress if you ahve another night where you can't fall asleep. This may be a process with a few bumps along the way.

It's great to hear you slept. People who've never had insomnia just don't realize how big a deal that can be!

 

[5pintshefound]

haha!!! i slept again!!! out before 11pm, up @ 620-ish, when my 6 yo came in to wake me up

lol, now i have to figureo ut a way to keep him in bed longer and i am home free



ok, whoeer said that that it might just have a placebo effect... if thats the case?? SSHHH!!! its WORKING!!!
yay!