Does melatonin work right away

Answer 1

• I have tried every over-the-counter sleep aid available. I really do not like medication and prefer to take as little as possible. Therefore, before trying a prescription sleep aid, my doctor suggested trying Melatonin -- 3 mg before bedtime. Since I have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, I take it approximately one hour prior to bedtime. For me it's great: For the first time in 20 years, I sleep all night long. I'm going to reduce the dosage to 1.5 mg, as some mornings I wake up a little groggy. I have been researching Melatonin and it looks like it may be a supplement with lots of potential in the future. It is not FDA-approved and it looks as though it is not right for everyone, so if it's not prescribed by a doctor you may want to research before taking it.

• I have had chronic insomnia since I was a child. It isn't uncommon for me to go for 2-3 days with about an hour of sleep a night. Ambien and Lunesta didn't help at all. A couple of friends told me to try Melatonin and it actually helps. It takes about an hour to kick in, but I sleep through the night. I don't feel sluggish in the morning like I did with the prescription medications either.

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Your eyes are a direct connection to your brain, and in fact, when you look at someone's eyes you are looking 'at' their brain. The pineal gland deep in the brain produces C13H16N2O2, which is melatonin, and relaxes the body to help it fall asleep once the eyes sense darkness and send that signal to the pineal gland. Once this signal is received it produces melatonin and all cells in the body receive a hormonal signal to repair themselves. Low levels of melatonin produce irritability and thus suicidal tendencies occur. Take melatonin if you feel depressed or suicidal, end of problem (unless someone else is causing the stress).

With age, the pineal gland calcifies and less melatonin is produced, thus you sleep less (this is why grandma is up at the crack of dawn). Taking a supplement of melatonin closes down the aging clock because increased levels of it tell the body to repair itself as when it was younger - take melatonin! To see a copy of my medical school report on melatonin see the related links. It will answer many questions of my taking it for 5 years, now up to 20mg's per day and doing great! I'm 55 as of this writing and most people guess my age at 46 or 48.

Answer 2

In animals, circulating levels of melatonin vary in a daily cycle, thereby regulating the circadian rhythms of several biological functions. Many biological effects of melatonin are produced through activation of melatonin receptors, while others are due to its role as a pervasive and powerful antioxidant, with a particular role in the protection of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA.

In humans, melatonin is produced by the pineal gland, which is about the size of a pea and located in the center of the brain, just outside the blood-brain barrier. The melatonin signal forms part of the system that regulates the sleep-wake cycle by chemically causing drowsiness and lowering the body temperature, but it is the central nervous system (more specifically, the suprachiasmatic nuclei, SCN) that controls the daily cycle in most components of the paracrine and endocrine systems rather than the melatonin signal (as was once believed).

Infants' melatonin levels become regular in about the third month after birth, with the highest levels measured between midnight and 8am.

Answer 3

Quite well, but it also depends on the person.