Melatonin

November 19, 2007

I have used it with my children on occasion. My son is 9 and the same

weight. I use 1/2 -1 mg in juice. I would start off as low as you can and

work up. It takes about 30 minutes and they are gone. I have tried to

look up for side effects and I have not been able to find any, but I think I

did receive an e-mail once with possible side effects, but I can not

remember what it says. I have taken it. The one side effect that I

remember is crazy dreams like those in pregnancy. I still give it to my

children even after I read the side effect e-mail, so I am thinking that the

dream issue may have been the only thing.

Tama

mom of 4

November 19, 2007

First - your science lesson. Melatonin is produced in the pineal gland at the

base of the brain. It is produced in response to lowering light conditions like

the sun going down that signal the brain to begin to prepare for the rest cycle.

During the day, the sun produces blue wavelengths of light which inhibit the

production of melatonin. The feedback path is through what is called a light

cone in the retina of the eye. You may not know that many blind people have

disrupted sleep cycles if this cone receptor is not functioning.

When natural light fades, we compensate by turning on electric lights, which

fake the brain out into thinking that it is still daytime. So one way to start

to prepare him for his sleep cycle is to use amber colored glasses starting

about 2 hrs before bedtime, which cut out the blue wavelengths of light from

electric lightbulbs. This causes the beginning of production of melatonin,

which takes several hours to build a concentration in the bloodstream and

finally to cause you to drop off to sleep. We also use amber colored

nightlights because they don't bother the melatonin cycle. You may have

experienced that if you get up from sleeping and you look at a light, you wake

up and have a hard time going back to sleep. That's because in the presence of

the blue wavelengths of light, melatonin dissipates very, very rapidly from your

bloodstream - light is your body's natural signal to wake up.

It seems to me that more kids with neurological differences have a hard time

going to sleep - seems like many more parents report this altho I don't know if

I've ever read any scientific study on it. My daughter doesn't appear to

produce very much, or maybe no melatonin at all. Without the amber glasses or a

pill form of melatonin she lays awake for up to 5 hours tossing and turning. If

we use the amber glasses or a sublingual melatonin - 25-50 mg works for her

under her tongue - then she drops off in about 20 minutes and sleeps soundly

without waking up. I started her out on 1 mg sublingual just because thats how

it was sold and she was so exhausted and sleep deprived maybe she needed it to

calm down. Subsequently I've found that I dropped the dose to 50 mg, and now

many nights just 25 mg will help her go to sleep. I think there were habits

formed there also of playing around in bed that had to be broken. I am not

sure, but she might wet the bed more often on 1 mg

dose also because she is really out if she takes that dose now.

My son and I are a different matter - we both get very strange nightmarish

dreams from a 1 mg dose of sublingual melatonin. They aren't so much nightmares

as just weird.

I have given him just a chip off a tablet and that is enough to help him drop

off but at 50 mg he can wake up with the strange dreams. I think this is

because he and I make a normal level of melatonin and melatonin production is

not our problem with not being able to sleep.

You can find the amber glasses and nightlights at

https://www.lowbluelights.com/sleep.asp

The man that developed them was the lead researcher at GE Lighting for 40

years. He developed the halogen lights for automobiles and for airports and

runways. He also has developed many of the different kinds of lights for

residential use over the last decades.

My pediatrician said there was no known bad side effect from using 3 mg or

less of melatonin so he gave us the go ahead. I have another friend who has to

give her son 150 mg, so apparently it does take some trial and error with the

doses.

November 19, 2007

Our experience with melatonin has been very good. My daughter has taken it since

she was about 6 and she is now 16. Without it she really doesn't have a good

sleep cycle and she is much better when her sleep is more consistent.

Like your son, she has trouble settling down to sleep and then seems to not need

as much sleep as most folks. I am trying to remember how much she took when she

was younger. Now she takes 3mg about 30 minutes before bedtime. I have recently

started using a time released brand that I buy from Swanson Vitamins. I like the

melatonin I get from there because there are not a bunch of additives and the

price is good.

One of the brands I tried had dextrose as a filler and that was not a good match

for my daughter. I try to use a brand that is just melatonin without other stuff

like the B vitamins. That just seems to work better for us. Of course every

child is different.

A lot of parents use melatonin for their children with autism who have sleep

issues. Our doctors have never had a problem with us using it, even with the

Zoloft my daughter takes for her anxiety/OCD. One of our doctors, who followed a

lot of the DAN protocol, was a big fan of melatonin because he said it has some

antioxidant properties.

I think it wouldn't hurt to try it with your child. I am so grateful I decided

to try it, and I just did it on my own. It was one of those things I was kind of

" led " to and I followed my instinct because at that time there was not much

information about it being used for kids with autism.

Hope this helps.

B.

November 20, 2007

I am also giving my 3 1/2 year old dd melatonin. She has autism and has

a hard time settling down for sleep. I started at 1/2 and am now up to

2mg. I'm wondering if she needs more though. I've only done the 2 mg

for a couple of nights. One night she slept all night until about 6am.

But today she fell right to sleep at about 8:30 then was up at 3am. It

is now 5:30 and I think she is up for good. (Until we drive to school

and she'll fall asleep in the car . Any suggestions for a tired mom?

Thanks.

November 20, 2007

You might want to consider giving 5-htp as well as melatonin at

bedtime. Melatonin helps her fall asleep, but 5-htp can help reduce

mid-night waking.

HIH,

>

> I am also giving my 3 1/2 year old dd melatonin. She has autism and has

> a hard time settling down for sleep. I started at 1/2 and am now up to

> 2mg. I'm wondering if she needs more though. I've only done the 2 mg

> for a couple of nights. One night she slept all night until about 6am.

> But today she fell right to sleep at about 8:30 then was up at 3am. It

> is now 5:30 and I think she is up for good. (Until we drive to school

> and she'll fall asleep in the car . Any suggestions for a tired mom?

> Thanks.

>

November 21, 2007

we give our son a small dose (.75-1.5 mgs) and if he wakes up in the middle of

the night we

give him another small dose. i understand there is also time-release melatonin

but we

haven't looked into it. maggie

>

> I am also giving my 3 1/2 year old dd melatonin. She has autism and has

> a hard time settling down for sleep. I started at 1/2 and am now up to

> 2mg. I'm wondering if she needs more though. I've only done the 2 mg

> for a couple of nights. One night she slept all night until about 6am.

> But today she fell right to sleep at about 8:30 then was up at 3am. It

> is now 5:30 and I think she is up for good. (Until we drive to school

> and she'll fall asleep in the car . Any suggestions for a tired mom?

> Thanks.

>

November 21, 2007

I also use valerian root to help my daughter stay asleep when she hits a patch

of waking up at night even with melatonin. I have also switched to a time

released melatonin and that seems to be better.

B.

November 21, 2007

Do you use the valerian root with the melatonin and how much do you use? My son

is about 35 lbs. and is waking up every night. We use melatonin and 5HTP. Thanks

Re:melatonin

I also use valerian root to help my daughter stay asleep when she hits a patch

of waking up at night even with melatonin. I have also switched to a time

released melatonin and that seems to be better.

B.

November 22, 2007

> I am also giving my 3 1/2 year old dd melatonin. She has autism and has

> a hard time settling down for sleep. I started at 1/2 and am now up to

> 2mg. I'm wondering if she needs more though. I've only done the 2 mg

> for a couple of nights. One night she slept all night until about 6am.

> But today she fell right to sleep at about 8:30 then was up at 3am. It

> is now 5:30 and I think she is up for good. (Until we drive to school

> and she'll fall asleep in the car . Any suggestions for a tired mom?

Mil, corn, phenols, and yeast overgrowth are common causes of sleep issues

http://www.danasview.net/phenol.htm

http://www.danasview.net/yeast.htm

Dana

August 26, 2009

I am curious if other parents use Melatonin to get their child to sleep. My Dr.

just said OK to use it. 0.3 mg for my 3.5 YO. This stuff works amazing. It use

to take us 1.5-2 hours to get her to sleep b/c she just could NOT calm down. Now

it only takes 20 minutes.(we just started using it last Friday)

It is a mixed blessing, I guess. I feel guilty giving it to her though and my

husband is very upset about this. He feels like she will be addicted to it when

she gets older. Will she become dependent on this? I have read various reports

that her body will quit making it. Dr. feels like she is not making enough.

I do feel good that she is getting the rest that she needs. She has not slept

good since she was a newborn baby.

Any thoughts, comments, advice? Would appreciate it greatly. Do I give this

every day? Or skip days?

Thanks so much

Tara

August 26, 2009

it works great...I have been using on my son for 6 mos. He wakes up right on

time no groginess.

________________________________

From: trys7392 <trys7392@...>

Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 6:03:11 PM

Subject: Melatonin