what Melatonin horror stories???

[Guest guest]

Take your head out of Andy's textbook and look around at the real world:

nelsoneyes@... wrote: My bottle of Melatonin has a warning as well - " Do not

give to children under

18 yrs " . I do give my 6 yr old daughter about 1 mg at night, but keep in mind

that this is very powerful stuff. It knocks her out like a sleeping pill.

Kind of worrisome to me sometimes.

Shari <Curepdd@...> wrote: My son does seem to have night terrors more

often on Melatonin, and I have to say, I tried it once or twice and had VERY

bizarre nightmares...

Re: [ ] Re: Melatonin question

Date:Thu, 5 Jul 2001 09:49:47 -0700

(PDT)Reply-to: @...:[ ] Melatonin

question/Mike [input] [input] [input] [input] [input] [input]

[input]

liszegl@... wrote: i want to share my personal experience with 5-htp. i

tried it on my

son last year cos i was worried about prolonged use of melatonin

(which works for a week or so then stops working until my son is off

it for a few days). gave him 100mg of 5-htp at 8pm and he went to

sleep half an hour later. HOWEVER he woke up 2 hours later at 11pm

and couldn't go back to sleep for the NEXT 20 HOURS! he has sleep

problems but that has never happened before. he was really out-of-it

and disoriented and tired the whole time.

i still don't exactly know the reason why but read something that may

be close to the answer .... like how prozac works for some people and

have a disastrous effect on others... how not all of our kids have

low serotonin...some actually have normal or high serotonin, and when

somehting they take raises their serotonin levels further, s " shut-

down " effect occurs whereby the symptoms of low serotonin appear.

that may be a " low-tech " explanation, but what i really want to say

is: please please be careful with 5-htp.

lisze

Lisze:

Your son may have been given too high an amount for his weight and age. What you

describe sounds more like 'dopamine re-bound,' where an excess of an herb or

pharmaceutical shuts down the dopamine temporarily, only to have a surge of

dopamine within a short period of time.

Serotonin is a sedating neurotransmitter. SSRI's like Prozac are known to

depress libido and other functions. However, many individuals, like your son,

experience hyper mental activity from excessive serotonin.

Dopamine is an active neurotransmitter. Excessive serotonin severely reduces

dopamine production. As the serotonin-inducing agent wears off, the

'end-of-dose-dopamine re-bound,' whereby there is a surge in dopamine

production, may explain your son's inability to sleep, and the subsequent

behavioral disorders.

I have cautions for children using more than 500 mcg melatonin. Melatonin is

produced by the pineal gland. As far as I know, there are no long-term studies,

especially with children. Melatonin appears to be a very effective anti-cortisol

agent. Prolonged elevation of cortisol, the stress hormone, causes most

degenerative and cognitive disorders. I have seen breast cancer, senile

dementia, and asthma resolve in adults with the intake of 10 mg melatonin

nightly for 6 months.

I may err on the side of caution with the use of melatonin in children, since

their pineal gland is still developing. If anyone desires to still use melatonin

on their children may I suggest to use the lowest dose [500 mcg] and break it in

half. You can always increase the amount given at bedtime at the same time that

you may be avoiding major pediatric and developmental pathologies in the future.

There ARE NO LONG-TERM PEDIATRIC STUDIES ON MELATONIN. YOU ARE ENGAGING IN AN

EXPERIMENT WITH HORMONES AT A VERY EARLY AGE. A a primary health care

practitioner licensed for 17 years by my state's Department of Health, I am

putting myself on the record that I DO NOT RECOMMEND MELATONIN TO CHILDREN.

Mike Menkes, BA, LMT

weatherman6001@... wrote: Mike,

What melatonin horror stories??? I know of many parents who use melatonin

and have great results. My DAN! doctor is the one who suggested it's use. I

do not believe that it is addictive, you should slowly reduce it if you are

going to discontinue. If it makes a child have bad dreams or makes him

groggy this is hardly a horror story, so I was wondering what else you were

referring to. A horror story is the FDA allowing children to be pumped full

of thimerisol when they know it is a large enough amount to be harmful!

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