[capricorn1975]

I used to take Melatonin for my trouble sleeping but it gave me horrible nightmares. Has anyone else had that happen?

[Skeezyks]

My pdoc suggested I try Melatonin. I did. I don't recall having any particularly bad dreams. What I found was that it didn't really help me sleep. If I was going to fall asleep, it would happen anyway. And if I wasn't, the Melatonin wouldn't make it happen. What it did do, though, was to make me feel groggy most the next day.

[10yrsgone]

I take one Melatonin from time to time just as a sleep aid, especially on nights when I have to wake up super early.

So far I have experienced no side effects apart from the horrible inconvenience of waking up tired with an early alarm.

I would assume certain prescriptions will conflict with Melatonin use. In that case, please speak to your doctor. The only medication I'm on is for blood pressure --- I just recently accepted I have to seek help and therefore have no psychological diagnosis just yet. So in my case, it doesn't give me any nightmares but I would guess it may present a conflict with certain meds.

[Introvrtd1]

Im just quit taking melatonin after a few nights on it at 5mg. It would help me sleep within 15 mins after taking it but I decided I may be having problems sleeping and weird dreams without it. Could be something else but not sure if my insomnia is due to melatonin withdrawals or what.....I may be wrong....

All I know now is.....I cant sleep. Im anxious and my heart starts racing when I lie down for bed and try to sleep. Its 2am and Im up for now sipping chamomile tea to calm down.....

[88Butterfly88]

I tried it but it made my OCD worse.

[Koko2]

I've taken melatonin and the liquid form works best for me.

[Artchic528]

I take melatonin when I am having a particularly hard time sleeping. I don't notice any correlation between it and nightmares though. I am taking a small dose though.

Heard from few people thatmelatonin gives them vivid nightmares. If taken in high doeses, it can even disrupt circadian rhythms. What can affect those nightmares is the time you take it (do you take it at the same time every day?) and the dose, as well as possible interactions with other medication. Your GP might be able to help figure out the best approches.

[avlady]

i take clonazapine for anxiety and resperidal both at night and am usually able to fall asleep within an hour or so after taking it.

[harmlessgirl]

I used to take Melatonin but I found it really didn't make a difference. I take Benadryl at night now, both for my allergies and as a sleep aid. It depends on when I remember to take it - if I remember around 9, usually I'll get tired within an hour. If I take it right before I get in bed, that hour seems like it draaaags on, hehe. I know that it can sometimes have the opposite effect on people though.

[guilloche]

I have taken it, occasionally, for sleep problems - but don't take it regularly. My understanding is that it acts almost like a hormone, so taking it long-term can cause problems for your body (possibly reducing your body's ability to create it, I think?)

But, I've always had a lot of trouble falling asleep. I just don't feel tired at night. And then, I'm *exhausted* in the morning.

Here's what helped. I bet that if you tried this for one week... it would be long enough to either see results, or determine that it won't be useful for you. But, you've got to do all of it - some of it's not effective alone.

And, yes, I realize it sounds nuts . But, it really does make an enormous difference for me, when I can stick with it.

1. Avoid foods that disrupt sleep. This means alcohol, chocolate, and anything with caffeine. I don't normally drink coffee or alcohol, but the chocolate is a doozy for me. The theobromine seems to effect me over a good, long period... and really noticeably affects my sleep, even if I eat the chocolate early in the day. Too close to bed time, and I'm wired. But earlier in the day, I just feel restless and don't seem to get into "deep, restful sleep". Sad, but true for me!

2. When you sleep, make your room as dark as possible. Seriously, do everything you can to eliminate any stray photons. I cover my alarm clock (so no light comes off of it), taped over any little lights on electronic devices (i.e. my cable box has an "always on" light - I put electric tape over that), etc. And, get good blackout curtains, or do what you need to to ensure there's no light coming from the window. Light signals your brain to be awake, so get rid of it all.

3. No blue light for ~2 hours before bed (give or take). White light has blue light as a component. Studies have shown that light in the blue wavelength (i.e. sunlight!) suppresses our bodies from making melatonin. That means no regular "white" electric lights, and no *screens* - no TV, no cell phone, no tablets, etc.

What I do... you'll obviously want to be able to see and function before bed. You need light bulbs that are on the opposite end of the spectrum from blue... so that means red, yellow, or orange. I use orange - I found one at my local hardware store for ~$5. Set up your bedroom with your orange (or red/yellow) lamp) - then ~2 hours before bed, go into your room, turn on your orange/red/yellow lamp, and turn off all normal lights.

You can stretch, exercise, read books, listen to music, etc. Just avoid blue lights/screens!

* Note: I don't know if you really need the full 2 hours. I'd recommend starting with that, so that you're sure you've given yourself enough time to see if it works. If it works, and once you're well rested, you can play around with the time and see if less works.

** Also note: You can buy plastic safety goggles on Amazon that are orange, and that specifically (OSHA certified!) block blue light. They're cheap too, like $8 or so. I use these if I *must* watch TV or do something online (or for traveling). They work well, but again, I'd hold off on using them until you see if this all works for you. You should do things at 100% first to make sure it works, then play around with where you can compromise and still get good results!

Also, I love my orange light. I believe that the few hours in orange light (and avoiding screens/blue light!) is when you're actually making melatonin. BUT - it absolutely does not work at all for me if I eat chocolate! The chocolate is strong enough to overpower the lovely sleep-inducing powers of non-blue light. Just a warning

- Lastly, obviously, make sure you're comfortable and have a good bed that properly supports you, while giving you enough softness to sink in where you need it. I keep my room really cool when I sleep, I think that helps. I've read of people (i.e. Tim Ferriss) also having good luck with cooling down a few hours before bed using cold baths... but I do fine without those!

When I do these things... mostly avoid chocolate and avoid blue light a few hours before bed, my sleep is *magical*. I get tired in the evening like a normal person, I fall asleep quickly, I go into a deep, restful sleep, I don't toss and turn all night, and I wake up actually feeling rested (a first for me!).

Unfortunately, the "avoiding chocolate" part is really hard for me... but you should definitely give it a try for a week, and see if it doesn't work well for you too.

Good luck, and I really do hope this helps!

[TakingMyMeds]

Melatonin gave me terrible nightmares too. I take ZzzQuil when I have trouble sleeping. It's the same as benadryl and my psychiatrist prescribed benadryl to me when I was on a high dose of meds so it's not harmful.

[Slowbrains]

What dose do you people have? I was prescribed to have 10 mg - nothing happened. I tried 15 and 20 by my own and still nothing. Am i immune or is this dose still ridiculously low???

How much melatonin are you taking?
Usually anything over 3mg is considered too much and can result in really scary dreams! I e had that myself when I was taking 6mg of melatonin,
Now I just take 3mg and it's been really helpful

[Lazarus16]

I used to take a supplement called ''Iron Dream'' from the Arnold Schwarzenegger supplement serie and it worked great! I'd fall asleep and have those wonderful vivid dreams where I'd explore uncharted worlds and pilot space ships. I'd wake up in the best shape of my life and this product have very good reviews on Amazon, Bodybuilding.com so this would reassure me. Only known side effects is that it makes you dream A LOT and it's a little scary the first few times to discover new planets but I ran out of Iron Dream and when I went to buy more, they were sold-out so I had to buy an alternative. Optisom from ATP Lab and I stopped making awesome dreams. I did dream last night but it was not as wonderful as with Iron Dream. I feel less energized through the day too and I sleep so much longer, 9 hours.

I think I might go back on the Arnold Dream and re-join SG-1, I miss passing through the Stargate!! XDD

Melatonin doesn't work for a lot of people, myself included. It seems to work best (a) in low doses, and (b) in older people. Something to do with a natural reduction of some hormone as one gets older.

Sounds old fashioned but chamomile tea before bed can relax you and help with rest.

[rikakakaka]

I used to take melatonin regularly, but after I got a concussion I was informed (finally) that taking melatonin can inhibit your ability to sleep without it even more than that ability was already inhibited.

Which is probably worded badly but whatever. I only ever had nightmares when on Aleve, but I know I was taking too much of that because a few days later I got really sick from the Aleve. Nowadays I take GABA supplements, and Benadryl if I'm really worked up.

I take Melatonin + 200 mg L-theanine. I can vouch that I get nightmares at times. It helps me out a whole lot though.

[IceMachine]

I have terrible nightmares with melatonin. I have had to stop taking it and just find a way to sleep. My pdoc is hesitant about giving me sleep meds until I get in a more stable place.