RunningAHEAD - Topic: Melatonin?

Ennay

A Saucy Wench

posted: 3/10/2008 at 3:55 AM

As I sit at my computer at 1 am (even old time midnight is late for this gal) I once again am searching for some insomnia help. No - it is not insomnia induced by overtraining....I've been suffering for nearly 20 years with insomnia. It rules my life. how I sleep, where I sleep, what I eat, drink, and when...it gets old. I hate to travel because sleeping in a hotel is a nightmare usually only solved with ambien. Anyway, just wondering if anyone has tried melatonin and if it has any affect on your running. And before i am inundated with helpful advice...really, 20 years. I have eliminated caffeine, sugar, tried white noise, cold rooms, meditation, yoga, prayer, and ALL of the other techniques that come up in the first assault on insomnia, and sleep training, sleep hygiene and the more advanced assaults. I just wanna know about melatonin Smile

I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

zoom-zoom

rectumdamnnearkilledem

posted: 3/10/2008 at 7:36 AM

Melatonin never helped me. Ambien is the best thing I have found. Though Unisom (an antihistamine...not diphenhydramine like Benadryl or most other OTC sleep aids, something else) works VERY well most of the time, too (and I wake with clearer sinuses, which is a nice side-effect. Smile

I hear you on strange beds. That's the one thing I'm not looking forward to with doing my first marathon in another state.

Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

~ Sarah Kay

antihero

posted: 3/10/2008 at 8:22 AM

I take melatonin very occasionally, and I haven't noticed any effect on my running. It could be doing something, though, and I'm just not taking it often enough to notice anything. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

sean

Tchuck

SMART Approach

posted: 3/10/2008 at 9:41 AM

If you try Melatonin (which does help) start with a 1/2 mg or 1 mg. Many will find help with this small amount. Increase if necessary. No reason to start with 5 or 10 mg if 1 or 2 mg does the trick. Also, valerian is a nice sleep aid.

Run Coach. Recovery Coach. Founder of SMART Approach Training, Coaching & Recovery

Structured Marathon Adaptive Recovery Training

Safe Muscle Activation Recovery Technique

www.smartapproachtraining.com

Ennay

A Saucy Wench

posted: 3/10/2008 at 10:14 AM

Is melatonin something people take as a regular basis aka sleep therapy supplement?...take it daily...fix your levels... or is it something that can be taken "as needed"? I've tried everything else...ambien is the only thing that I can take, but I refuse to become dependant so I have strict rules about how often I can take it and how much.

I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

zoom-zoom

rectumdamnnearkilledem

posted: 3/10/2008 at 10:19 AM

Quote from Ennay on 3/10/2008 at 10:14 AM:

I've tried everything else...ambien is the only thing that I can take, but I refuse to become dependant so I have strict rules about how often I can take it and how much.

This is what I do, as well.

Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

~ Sarah Kay

Tchuck

SMART Approach

posted: 3/10/2008 at 10:29 AM

Works right away. The below should answer all your questions. http://www.melatonin.com/

Run Coach. Recovery Coach. Founder of SMART Approach Training, Coaching & Recovery

Structured Marathon Adaptive Recovery Training

Safe Muscle Activation Recovery Technique

www.smartapproachtraining.com

Marcus L S

The Greatest of All Time

posted: 3/10/2008 at 10:44 AM

I think Melatonin only works if your natural levels are low (don't quote me on this). For prescription sleep aids, I have used Ambien CR and Lunesta but preferred Lunesta. There is an over the counter remedy that most don't know about but works quite well for me. It's called ZMA. It's really only Zinc, Magnesium, and B6 but taken about 30 minutes before bedtime, it knocks me out. http://www.nowfoods.com/index.php?action=itemdetail&item_id=9043

all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be

Obesity is a disease. Yes, a disease where nothing tastes bad...except salads.

greenrunning

posted: 3/10/2008 at 2:01 PM

Melatonin makes me have really crazy dreams and leaves me feeling a little groggier the next day, but it does help me get to sleep. I used to buy the 1 mg pills, but it's hard to find less than 3 these days. I just break those in half, and that's plenty for me.

antihero

posted: 3/10/2008 at 8:43 PM

Quote from Tchuck on 3/10/2008 at 10:29 AM:

Works right away. The below should answer all your questions. http://www.melatonin.com/

Great site, thanks for posting it.

sean

AKFlyer

posted: 3/12/2008 at 3:00 PM

I travel overseas quite a bit and have tried melatonin for a few weeks at a time. I found it helps me the first couple of nights, but after that it gives me some very disturbing and vivid dreams. I also seem to develop some tolerance as it loses its effectiveness after a few nights. I just can't handle the dreams. I do know people who take it regularly and don't have any problems. I can't hurt to try.

jEfFgObLuE

I've got a fever...

posted: 3/12/2008 at 3:13 PM

Quote from AKFlyer on 3/12/2008 at 3:00 PM:

I found it helps me the first couple of nights, but after that it gives me some very disturbing and vivid dreams.

Quote from greenrunning on 3/10/2008 at 2:01 PM:

Melatonin makes me have really crazy dreams and leaves me feeling a little groggier the next day, but it does help me get to sleep.

This was my experience as well in my very limited experience taking melatonin. My dreams are usually bizarre enough that the last thing I need is for them to be more vivid. However, I did find it effective for falling asleep.

On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

mebeingme

posted: 3/13/2008 at 6:14 PM
modified: 3/13/2008 at 6:16 PM

Funny you should ask. I started trying melatonin a week ago and it helped me feel drowsy, but didn't really stop my brain from cranking. I slept deep but still woke up during the night. About 4 days into it I got a nasty case of vertigo in the night and felt like I'd just walked off a cruise ship the next morning. Last night, an even worse veritgo episode and my head still feels like crap now (6 in the evening). No more melatonin for this girl.( I tend to be sensitive to meds, but all the articles I read said that it were no side effects) Oh yeah, I only took 300mcg, which is way less than the usually recommended amount.

Melatonin? (Read 710 times)