Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone secreted naturally by the pineal gland or melatonin gland found at the base of a person’s brain. It is very important in helping the body regulate sleep. The less sunlight the eye takes in, the more melatonin the pineal gland releases into the body, which helps regulate and enhance sleep. There are melatonin sleep aid, products and supplements available for people experiencing sleeping difficulties. Melatonin works best for occasional or mild insomnia. As for melatonin use in medicine, along with being a sleep aid, melatonin helps reduce jet lag. Medical experts caution people about melatonin safety and the chance of melatonin side effects in some individuals, so discuss melatonin use with your doctor first.

Over the counter melatonin, supplements are available in many drug stores and come in various doses per tablet. For occasional insomnia or sleep difficulties, a person normally requires a melatonin dosage of 0.3 mg or less. Side effects of taking melatonin at the wrong time or too much can mix up your biological sleep pattern. If you suspect a melatonin overdose, seek medical attention. Natural bovine and animal melatonin supplements use actual pineal gland extracts. For vegetarians there is synthetic melatonin, which they make from non-animal ingredients as is very similar to melatonin that the body produces.

They often use melatonin for children with sleep disturbances, especially children with epilepsy, visual impairment, autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, learning difficulties and neurological problems. Although they believe melatonin use for children to be safe and useful, there are very few studies published on this, so it is best to talk to your family physician first. Of the studies done, they found that children taking melatonin showed improved and increased length of hours sleeping and less sleep interruptions. They found no major side effects of melatonin use in these children.

They banned melatonin, derived from cow pineal glands, in Canada, Great Britain, and other European countries because of concerns about animal products transmitting viruses, so the are no longer available over-the-counter. In the United States, most melatonin sold is synthetic. Melatonin Natrol helps maintain the body’s natural melatonin rhythm, which respond to light changes, so it raises the melatonin level at night and less during the day.

There are possible interactions with melatonin. There are known interactions to norvasc, lipitor, and melatonin side effects and interactions to antidepressant, antipsychotic, blood pressure, benzodiazepines, steroids, immunosuppressant, chemotherapy and other drugs. Always talk to your doctor before taking melatonin.