Melatonin

Slaine

Slaine

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My sleep has been really really bad for the last few weeks, so I've been taking melatonin. I also take magnesium bisglycinate, gaba and zinc. On the whole, they help me sleep a bit better/more, or at least I wake up with more energy.

But Huberman says it's better to be careful with melatonin:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/vLVGpzxWpfw?is=ZxmBeRuGngJw9Omm

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/mVA62ofQOR4?is=J9QOO9dJUiXfl67r

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/pyLULgL6YFI?is=yYoWjih_PnbzGH0_

Do you use melatonin? Any comments?
 
I did try it. After that, I added sermorelin and epithalon. These days those are the only ones I take. Sleep has been really good.
 
For 20 years I’ve used a high dose of melatonin, and none of the effects this guy talks about have ever happened to me. I want to know his source, since it comes across as fabricated.
 
My go-to source for decentralized information, Dr. Jack Kruse, has written a couple of deep dives on melatonin:



jackkruse.com

TIME #17: MELATONIN AND INSULIN ARE SOLAR METRONOMES

THE TAKE AWAY: Does insulin and melatonin work by taking its cues from solar spectrum? Yes, they do. If so, how is insulin’s action quantized? When energies of electrons are higher because of the action of the photons of the sun, that signal is transduced by the cytochromes in the electron...
jackkruse.com jackkruse.com



jackkruse.com

TIME #9: THE “DARK KNIGHT” OF REGENERATION?

BLOG TAKE AWAY: Every morning you need the sun to charge separate water in your body to create the battery that creates your life. That life is created by a cadre of photochemical that do things we all rely on. You need to expose all your surfaces to this signals to make sense of
jackkruse.com jackkruse.com

On a personal note, a friend of mine from high school took melatonin in heavy doses and not long afterward ran into problems with substance abuse and OD'd. I'm not claiming it caused anything, but I've always wondered whether the two were connected. I would never touch the stuff myself, and I've been telling everyone I know to avoid it since long before the mainstream media ever picked up the topic.
 
ladyj779 said:

I did try it. After that, I added sermorelin and epithalon. These days those are the only ones I take. Sleep has been really good.
Click to expand...
I've gone through what you wrote on the subject. Maybe I'll give these a try as well 😁. So is the benefit that you sleep better and more deeply, or does it also make it easier to fall asleep earlier?
 
From what I understand, the amount of melatonin most people take is well above what actually works best for sleep. Something in the range of 500mcg, meaning 0.5mg, is closer to ideal, and that is far below the typical capsule strength. You constantly see products dosed at 2-10mg, which is a much larger quantity than research indicates is most effective, and this frequently leads to poorer sleep along with next-day grogginess. When the dose is right, you are simply replicating the body's own output rather than overwhelming it and flipping the effect, and it takes a few days for the body to take back over (presuming whatever was blocking it has been dealt with by now).
 
frizzle-fry said:

For 20 years I’ve used a high dose of melatonin, and none of the effects this guy talks about have ever happened to me. I want to know his source, since it comes across as fabricated.
Click to expand...
I haven't watched those videos, but after taking melatonin on 2 occasions, I swear my dreams were the most insane, hallucinogenic kind. NEVER AGAIN *though to be fair, insomnia was the reason I took them, so maybe it happened because I was OVERTIRED going in.
 
bamagirl26 said:

I haven't watched those videos, but after taking melatonin on 2 occasions, I swear my dreams were the most insane, hallucinogenic kind. NEVER AGAIN *though to be fair, insomnia was the reason I took them, so maybe it happened because I was OVERTIRED going in.
Click to expand...
For me it's the reverse — melatonin keeps my nightmares away.
 
Slaine said:

My sleep has been really really bad for the last few weeks, so I've been taking melatonin. I also take magnesium bisglycinate, gaba and zinc. On the whole, they help me sleep a bit better/more, or at least I wake up with more energy.

But Huberman says it's better to be careful with melatonin:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/vLVGpzxWpfw?is=ZxmBeRuGngJw9Omm

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/mVA62ofQOR4?is=J9QOO9dJUiXfl67r

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/pyLULgL6YFI?is=yYoWjih_PnbzGH0_

Do you use melatonin? Any comments?
Click to expand...

When it comes to melatonin, the important thing is to choose the fast acting form and keep the dose low (I would go with 1mg). Since it works on circadian rhythm, timing matters, so take it roughly 30min before the moment you intend to fall asleep. Quite a few studies have found that it guards the brain through antioxidant action and lowers inflammation. Personally I skip it, not for health reasons, but because I'm on antidepressants and both substances act on serotonin, which I don't want to interfere with given my mood.

Something else worth mentioning: Gaba is usually not a smart choice, and even less so if it's used on a regular basis. Every study looking at any gaba agent (anxiolytics such as benzos, or hypnotics for example) shows that stimulating gaba raises dementia risk substantially. Beyond producing a relaxed state for sleep, gaba offers no positive health benefit. Occasional use to calm anxiety in specific situations (I used it myself because I'm claustrophobic and needed an MRI) is acceptable, but chronic stimulation simply doesn't look like a good idea for longterm brain health. The same goes for anticholinergics such as gravol, which people also happen to use for sleep.

Magnesium, of course, is a winner on every front. I've gone as high as 800mg with no adverse effects whatsoever. Every day I take around 200-400mg, and I've kept that up for years.
 
Slaine said:

I've gone through what you wrote on the subject. Maybe I'll give these a try as well 😁. So is the benefit that you sleep better and more deeply, or does it also make it easier to fall asleep earlier?
Click to expand...
Usually I head to bed on the early side regardless. The difference now is that falling asleep used to take me 15 or 20 minutes, and these days it's around 5. That's what my tracker shows, though it matches how it feels too 😂
 
ladyj779 said:

Usually I head to bed on the early side regardless. The difference now is that falling asleep used to take me 15 or 20 minutes, and these days it's around 5. That's what my tracker shows, though it matches how it feels too 😂
Click to expand...
Thanks 😊
 
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