Melatonin and auto-immunity?

[Wegetarian]

I used to take melatonin pills (2mg) when I felt I needed something to help me sleep. They won't always help, but I do feel they have some effect. My experiences with other sleeping pills have been pretty bad and I'd rather not experiment with them. I left out the pills when I felt I didn't need them, they were originally prescribed from the hospital where I was treated and as such I don't think my current doctor might even be aware of them.

At the moment I'm not sure if I should use them in case they have any effects on auto-immunity as I was told by another patient that melatonin should be avoided - and by googling for melatonin and auto-immunity you can find a lot of info on how the hormone production is connected. Dunno, maybe they are correct. I'd rather not take any chances. I'll ask my doc but I don't have an appointment until late next week.

However I also found this article which says melatonin could be helpful:
Melatonin may be Helpful in Treating Autoimmune Diseases - Aria Integrative Medicine (http://www.ariaintegrative.com/melatonin-may-be-helpful-in-treating-autoimmune-diseases/)

Does anyone of you use melatonin for sleep and have your doctors told you anything about it?

[Debbie C]

Wege., you always seem to find interesting articles. I'm going to ask the dr. about this one. It only makes since that it would work. It would relax you which would cause less stress which would cause less inflamation. Have you noticed a difference taking it and how long have you been doing it ? By reading the article at the end it doesn't seem like has been used much on humans though.

[NikkiNicole]

I have chewable melatonin at home. However, I've been using Zzzquil to toss me lightly into dreamland because the melatonin didn't seem to shut off my brain. I've been exhausted and desperately needing sleep but my brain won't shut up!!!
When I'm off work, I get up early and crawl in bed around 10PM hoping to fall asleep but then I find myself laying there for hours. Then, normally, I'm off work at 1am, and I lay there til well past 2am sometimes. Ugh.

[Wegetarian]

Debra, I think I bought some from the pharmacy ages ago during a time I had some sleeping issues and didn't notice much difference. However when I was in surgery I asked for something to help me sleep and I got that melatonin - I was also getting cortison injections during the time which made me feel kind of hyper and had a tough time getting my mind to rest at night. Its not like a great help, but I think when I use them according to the instructions (eating them with a light snack an hour or two before bedtime) I usually get this natural tired feeling. Whether or not I actually end up falling a sleep is a bit of a gamble though. Tough to say if they help all that much, I guess the ones I used before only had 1mg so these are stronger and might hence be a bit more effectife. The thing is that I haven't noticed any side effects. The other perscription pills I've taken have been mostly useless but they leave me very drowsy or with a horrible metallic taste in my mouth in the morning not to mention I worry about getting addicted to them if they'd actually work. I haven't used too many of the pills though, I think I used one pack of about 30 pills. Once the cortison wore off from surgery I stopped using them and soon after I didn't need to take an evening dose of cortison for Weg I again stopped using the pills.

But yeah, I really wouldn't mind taking them on such evenings when I know I'm tired but feel like I might not be able to get to sleep early. If it does help me sleep then great, if not then I wouldn't have gotten to sleep anyway.. I think the placebo effect helps me as much as the medicine to be honest. At least that's how it felt with other sleeping pills when I was really stressed at work - as long as I thought they worked they got me fast asleep but once I took one and still had a sleepless night they would loose most of their effect and I wouldn't get easily asleep in the future.

Still, I was warned by another patient to not use them without consulting my doc so I think I'll pause using them for now. I mean I'm on sick leave so even though I can't sleep long in the weekday mornings I'll still be able to rest during the day. When I'm back at work its going to be real difficult if I can't find a way to get a good nights sleep, but hopefully then I won't be taking 60mg cortison..

Strange though, lately I've been waking up like clockwork in the middle of the night for the last few nights. Went to bed at my usual time of 11pm and woke up at a bit after 1am and now its soon 4am so gotta try to get some sleep even though I don't really feel tired. I also think my sleep is much lighter than usual, I wake up so easy if one of our children makes any sounds.

[annekat]

I do use melatonin to help me sleep. I buy 3mg. tablets and split them into fourths, so I only take .75 mg., and it usually helps me drop off to sleep, but as you say, it is not entirely reliable, especially if I have something really bothering me and on my mind, or if I'm too anxious about falling asleep. I could take more, and have, but it makes me feel groggier than I'd like when I wake up. With the .75mg, I will usually wake up a few hours after falling asleep, anyway. But that is normal for me and it usually isn't hard to get back to sleep. I guess I like it at the dosage I take because it is not a heavy druggy feeling and I know I'm taking something that my body makes anyway.

As for the positive or negative effects on autoimmunity, that is interesting. I'm going to keep taking it and not worry about it, but if I hear more one way or the other and am convinced, then that could affect my usage, I guess. I just wouldn't want to take a lot because of the grogginess, but I imagine that could be gotten used to and diminish with time just like with the side effects of all of our drugs.

[Wegetarian]

Thanks for your comment. I guess it won't kill me then if I decided to use some melatonin then. I mean I think some extra sleep wouldn't really harm me. I don't think 4 hours is enough at all. Now to go make some breakfast for the kids :)

[Debbie C]

I have anxiety as it is so before a go to sleep a take 1mg. of klonopin. I also have a cup of tea before bed. There is some called sleepytime and extra sleepytime that is made by Celestrial Tea it works pretty good too.
I like the idea that melatonin might help with wg but I hate to take any more extra pills if I don't need to.My kidney doc is very up on wg and I see him this Fri. so I'll see what he says .

[annekat]

Sleepytime tea by Celestial Seasonings is good for relaxing and sleep because it has chamomile in it. You can also buy plain chamomile from them and from other tea makers, or buy it in bulk to use in a tea strainer, probably at any store that has a bulk bin section.

[Wegetarian]

Chamomile grows in our kids playing ground. Maybe I could just pick it up and cook it for tea... Guess I need to google.

[annekat]

Chamomile grows in our kids playing ground. Maybe I could just pick it up and cook it for tea... Guess I need to google. There's some variety of chamomile that grows as a weed around here, low to the ground, but I don't think it's the same as what is sold commercially. As kids, we called it the pineapple plant because of how it smelled, and it has little yellow cone shaped buds or pollen masses in the center. I've never tried it. Maybe you have the real deal where you are! But it is not very expensive to buy. Yes, googling would be in order, for me, too.

[annekat]

There's some variety of chamomile that grows as a weed around here, low to the ground, but I don't think it's the same as what is sold commercially. As kids, we called it the pineapple plant because of how it smelled, and it has little yellow cone shaped buds or pollen masses in the center. I've never tried it. Maybe you have the real deal where you are! But it is not very expensive to buy. Yes, googling would be in order, for me, too. Well, this is interesting to me! There's plenty of results for the regular chamomile that people use for tea, which can be German or Roman and looks like small daisies. But THIS link is for the weed that grows close to the ground.... yes, the picture is what I've grown up with... which is called wild chamomile or pineapple weed and DOES have some medicinal uses, apparently, although helping you sleep may not be one of them...
Matricaria discoidea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matricaria_discoidea)

[Wegetarian]

Just wanted to update that I was again recommended by a rheumy to use melatonin to help me sleep. He didn't want to prescribe any stronger sleeping pills. Suggested I could use them for periods, like a few weeks at the time. Guess they would help me get into a good sleep schedule if mine gets messed up. So guess they will be fine for me :)

Havent used any sleeping aids since my cortison was lovered. I mean if I don't sleep all that great while I'm on sick leave I can still take a nap. Luckily I've mostly slept well.

[pberggren1]

I'm giving serious thought to using the Melatonin as well.

[annekat]

I'm giving serious thought to using the Melatonin as well. It's a pretty easy thing to try, because it is cheap and available off the shelf. I use .75mg., so have to split a 3mg. pill into fourths, but you might end up using more. I'm kind of a lightweight, I guess. Actually, I haven't used it for the past few nights because I've been tired enough to sleep without it. So it is like that, you can use it as needed, doesn't have to be a regular thing.