High Dose Melatonin Therapy

I experimented with taking 20 mg for about one week and a half, was feeling good, not groggy, had vivid dreams, though lately I've noticed that by taking so much it hadn't any effect on me anymore, so I lowered the dosage to 10 mg, feeling good and continue to have vivid dreams. Also another interesting thing I've noticed is that now I'm more stress resilient than before, unbelievable but it's true.
 
I've been taking 3.8 mg consistently and some days 5.6 mg. It's my third week and I noticed waking up feeling less groggy and overall more energetic in the early morning. I noticed, just as described in the research quoted above, that my PMS symptoms were reduced and overall there is less discomfort. The quality of the dreams are overall more protective and/or more graphic. I have to say that I'm very pleased with my melatonin experiment. I might reduce the dose to 1mg or 1.8mg, but for now, 3.8mg sounds about right for me.
 
I had started a few years ago with 3mg of melatonin, sometimes I woke up groggy depending on the time I went to bed. Once the boxes were finished, I went back down to 1.8mg with magnesium for 3 months but it wasn't enough. So I have been down for a week to 6mg with magnesium malate and I sleep better, I have a lot of graphic dreams, an increase of erotic dreams, I wake up in shape so for the moment it seems to fit me too !
 
Around a decade ago, I started taking 1mg of Melatonin with Magnesium Malate before bed and been taking that consistently for a long time until a few years ago, when I increased the dose up to 3mg and been on that pretty much every night, just to sleep better. What made me change that at that time, I'm not sure exactly. Either stress at work, being around WiFi or changes in my environment (EMF upgrades). All I knew that I wasn't getting much sleep and dreams were rare.

I started experimenting with 10mg three weeks ago, with first two weeks on alternating days (10mg every two days). I slept better. I woke up the next morning each time, feeling super alert after having experienced series of vivid dreams. It took me a while to get used to that. I didn't feel groggy during the day. This past week, I was on 10mg regularly and experienced no changes between regular and alternating days. I'll increase the dosage next week to see any differences. I currently live in high EMF/5G-active environment as well as being around experimental WiFi at work.
 
I slowly increased <1mg to 8 mg. For my surprise, it reduced lot of blockages in resisting the temptations ( of ruminating thoughts and dissatisfaction with the events), for which I had trouble for more than 6 months. It was not sleepy or groggy much even if i reduce my sleep to 7 hrs. As a whole it is a pleasant result. I only did 8 mg once, felt that not too much difference between 6mg and 8mg. I will continue to increase and see how it goes. Dreams are more vivid, if i want to remember. Though Melatonin alone may not be the cause of the change, as a whole, i feel more positive mood than before and sense of better control over thoughts than before.
 
I took 3mg (not a high dose, but enough to make a difference) melatonin yesterday and I did have better sleep, slept longer and had more dreams. But what was unexpected was how it made the morning cigarette smoother, which usually seems to be related to my antioxidant status, and it's flavor was changed as well. That may sound weird but in my experience the flavor of a cigarette is heavily tied to body status when environmental conditions are accounted for. The connections between melatonin and smoking are interesting, and the neuroprotective effects seem complementary to that of germanium sesquioxide. It seems melatonin and germanium could be a useful pairing for hypoxia and circulation related injuries.
 
I think the absence of pure melatonin might be due to the small dosage requirements. It is easier for manufacturers to dilute it with some filler to make the dose easier to measure, and reduce the possibility of accidental megadoses that happens when you have a machine trying to fill capsules far below their capacity limit. At 3mg you would hardly see any powder in the capsule, customers would think they are being scammed!

Also, I seem to be doing everything faster, like someone turned up the speed knob. I see a problem and I instantly know what to do, whereas before it was more of a struggle to get the gears turning in my head for any given event. I am also having more creative thoughts. Melatonin is said to be slightly mind-altering, similar to hallucinogenic drugs, so I suppose it isn't out of character. Much of this could just be attributed to better sleep, but I think the melatonin is playing a specific role rather than just passively improving sleep quantity.

What would be the ramifications for sleep apnea? The neuroprotective effects could be useful, but it is warned against as it could worsen ventilation. Do megadoses have the same effect as normal doses? I wonder about this since melatonin is said to lose it's effectiveness at doses over a few mg.
 
Gaby said:
I finished reading "Melatonin: Breakthrough Discoveries That Can Help You Combat Aging, Boost Your Immune System, Reduce Your Risk of Cancer and Heart Disease, Get a Better Night's Sleep" by Russel Reiter. The book was published in the 90s, but I was amazed of how passionate was the author about this topic and how he presents all the research. It really makes you appreciate melatonin!
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Thank you for this Gaby!

Those who are very sensitive, will have anxiety and nightmares from taking just even 1 or 2 mg, which is why some suggest to start with 0.5mg or less.
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I received Now Foods Melatonin at 3mg per capsule from iHerb about 5 days ago. Even at one capsule nightly, I noticed this increase in 'nightmares' and bizarre dreams. I wake up feeling more refreshed and alert for sure though; in this sense, it doesn't bother me. I don't think I need to lower the dosage, 3mg nightly seems okay so far. It is interesting that it's linked to melatonin sensitivity for sure.
 
I ordered Life Extension Melatonin 1 mg from iherb. I chose this one because I don't have any sleep issues, but I'd like to sleep a bit longer, also the other benefits of melatonin which are worth to try.

I have regular sleep patterns, going to bed about the same time (9:30/10:00 pm) and waking up about 4:00/4:30, so 6-6 1/2 hours of sleep, but I have some concerns over my healt in the long run because of the short time of sleep. I have to say , when I wake up I feel I have rested enough, and my mind is very clear. I was wondering whether this is because of the supplements I take daily or just because I just need lees sleep than average people.

So I'm trying Melatonin to clarify those doubts
 
Well a search of PubMed was interesting. Specifically this paper which was an analysis of many papers/studies of melatonin.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Melatonin is a hormone that regulates circadian rhythm, and its levels decline with age. As melatonin levels decrease, older adults are prone to develop disorders related to an altered circadian rhythm. The effective dose of melatonin supplementation in these disorders remains unclear.
OBJECTIVES:
Our objective was to define the optimal dosage of exogenous melatonin administration in disorders related to altered melatonin levels in older adults aged 55 years and above by determining the dose-response effect of exogenous administered melatonin on endogenous levels.
METHODS:
We conducted a systematic review through PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase, both from 1980 until November 2013. Included articles studied the effect of exogenous melatonin administration on endogenous melatonin levels in either serum, urine, or saliva in humans aged 55 years and above.
RESULTS:
We included 16 articles, nine of which were randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The mean age varied from 55.3 to 77.6 years. Melatonin dosage varied from 0.1 mg to 50 mg/kg and was administered orally in all studies. Pre- and post-intervention levels revealed a significant elevation of the post-intervention melatonin levels in a dose-dependent fashion. The maximum concentrations measured in serum and urine were all elevated compared with placebo, and a higher elevation in older adults than in younger adults was demonstrated. Even though there were no differences between times to reach maximum concentration in serum and urine, melatonin levels with higher doses were maintained longer above a certain threshold than were lower doses.
CONCLUSION:
In older adults, we advise the use of the lowest possible dose of immediate-release formulation melatonin to best mimic the normal physiological circadian rhythm of melatonin and to avoid prolonged, supra-physiological blood levels.
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So the idea, for older adults who are not producing as much melatonin, is to keep the doses fairly low. So at the lowest rate mentioned above, 0.1mg/kg, that would work out to approx 9mg of melatonin for me. I have been taking approx. 11-12 a night recently. What is interesting also is that it appears that melatonin supplementation was more effective in older adults, as their serum levels remained higher. Or another way of looking at it is that younger adults were not as affected by melatonin supplementation as oral doses did not result in elevated serum levels. This could mean that younger adults excreted the melatonin they did not need? or that they actually used the supplemented melatonin and so less was in the blood? I can't say I know enough about physiology to know which explanation, or other explanation, would be more correct.
 
anartist said:
Well a search of PubMed was interesting. Specifically this paper which was an analysis of many papers/studies of melatonin.

So the idea, for older adults who are not producing as much melatonin, is to keep the doses fairly low. So at the lowest rate mentioned above, 0.1mg/kg, that would work out to approx 9mg of melatonin for me. I have been taking approx. 11-12 a night recently. What is interesting also is that it appears that melatonin supplementation was more effective in older adults, as their serum levels remained higher. Or another way of looking at it is that younger adults were not as affected by melatonin supplementation as oral doses did not result in elevated serum levels. This could mean that younger adults excreted the melatonin they did not need? or that they actually used the supplemented melatonin and so less was in the blood? I can't say I know enough about physiology to know which explanation, or other explanation, would be more correct.
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Interesting.

I went down to 1.8 for a couple nights since 2.7 seemed to leave me a bit groggy the next day. But I think I need to go back up again. Going to try 2.5. Ark is holding steady at 5 and it works pretty well for him.
 
Laura said:
Interesting.

I went down to 1.8 for a couple nights since 2.7 seemed to leave me a bit groggy the next day. But I think I need to go back up again. Going to try 2.5. Ark is holding steady at 5 and it works pretty well for him.
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I do find it interesting that there is a difference between older and younger people. And I had another thought about the serum levels of melatonin in connection with something Gaby posted earlier. Since the younger supplementers of melatonin don't keep higher serum levels of melatonin, this would account for younger users waking up when their melatonin levels dropped, their bodies interpreting the decrease in melatonin as a signal to wake up. But it does not seem to result in a cortisol increase, if it did then it would be difficult to get back to sleep!?
Although some may have a hard time going back to sleep for that reason? hard to say, but JUST melatonin dropping does not seem to increase cortisol, so there are more signals/information that have to be available for the body to increase cortisol.

What seems to work for me is taking 6mg of melatonin orally a few hours before bed, then taking 5-6mg melatonin sublingually when I go to bed. When I first started taking melatonin at 3mg sublingual years ago, I did feel groggy at times the following morning, and I did have vivid dreams. Now I don't seem to have either reaction. I also take B12 sublingually at the same time, so this probably reduces the effectiveness of the melatonin, but how much? My B12 is high at around 989pmol/L, so I will stop taking it for a while, and keep the melatonin at the same level, and see if there is any change, particularily in drowsiness or dreams.
 
Hi all, I would like to ask you a small advice please, so lately I'm working during the night and I'm able to take melatonin only a couple of days a week when I'm not working. As far as I understood it is not advisable to take the melatonin in the morning though I was still wondering if in my case it will be wise to take it in the morning before going to sleep or better not to? Thank you kindly for your assistance.
 
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