[JustDontAsk]

I know I have posted about this twice already...So I'm really sorry for the repeat...But I am 100% clueless.

Alright, melatonin.

I have a million questions...Maybe like 5...But still...

How do I know what dose is enough? Like last night, I took 1mg again, but I was up at 3...Took another...Is it bad to do that??? So then I was up again at like 5:30...Then I just gave up and tried to sleep on my own...

Also, when do I take this stuff? I don't really have a 'sleep schedule' and I don't really know how I can make one being a full-time student...I am a three sport athlete, I am taking college classes, I have homework to do...The time I go to sleep/wake up might change day to day. I can control it on the weekends for the most part, and I can probably control when I get up, but I don't know about going to bed, that will be hard to control...I have some days where I don't have to be to school until ten, other days I have to be at the college and in class at 7:45...I don't know. Any suggestions about that?

I've taken this for 3 nights now, and it has helped me fall asleep...But I woke up last night, but not the two nights before that...Also, I've had some dreams now, I don't know if that is good or bad? One of them I have had for two nights in a row now, and it's pretty graphic and violent, not a fan of it...I still don't remember many dreams though.

Do naps mess with the melatonin? I don't really know, but I took a long nap in the car yesterday when we were travelling. Like I slept for 2 hours or more...

And I still panic. I don't get it. It's kind of pathetic...I always used to think for a LONG time before I would actually fall asleep. I just wouldn't be able to shut it off. So now when it shuts off, I kind of freak out. I don't know if it's because I'm not used to it or what...But I'm hoping I'll get used to that???

Last question I hope...I think staggering/skipping doses was said somewhere...Any recommendations on how to do that?

Just want to apologize for all the repeats...And for kind of being obsessed about this...I guess you could just say that I'm a clueless 17 year old.

Any help would be so greatly appreciated...

Hope everyone is doing well.

JDA

Hey JDA!!! I'll try to take a stab at this, because I've had/have some issues sleeping. Much better than before my ADD DX though. I believe the first thing to sort out (Weekends are perfect for this) Is to find the dose that gets you through a night without Really waking up. I used to take Lunesta, it really helped and had no groggy side effects for me. There may also be some Extended Release sleep aid for you. Tweaking the meds is a real pain in the assets

Once you find the amount to get you through the night, then take note of how long after taking the med you feel sleepy. So when school starts, you can plan on When to take it based on your day and next day. I know it is hard with todays crazy HS schedules (My DD#1 is a sophmore in all advanced classes, band and choir) and these split schedules take some planning.

Regarding naps... I would avoid them for now if you can, because they add a variable into your calculation of when you will get tired.

Varying/staggering/skipping doses depend on what you take. Some meds have to build up in your system, like anti-depressants and you should stay consistent on those meds. Others are quick acting, like Adderall and you can vary (to some degree) the daily amounts and dosage times. Ask the doc to be sure.

It sounds to me like you have the "Slide Show" I've refered to at bedtime (SUCKS), so your other post mentioned you felt like the med slowed the mind down. It should but it does feel weird when something is "Forcing" you to do something. It takes a little getting used to

You are Not pathetic or clueless JDA! You are doing something about things in your life. THIS is Good!!!!

[medkev13]

Wow, and this didn't get pm'ed to me??? ;P :: teasing :::

Okay, so the whole no-steady-sleep-schedule. I deal with that, too. It's a losing battle, don't bother trying to fight it until you actually -have- the privalege. Instead of trying to schedule your sleep, schedule your melatonin. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Do you typically go to bed the same length of time after finishing your day? (As in, you get home from school and athletics, spend roughly the same amount of time on homework (give or take say 45 min), and then wait a certain amount of time after homework is done to go to bed). If so, you can still train your body to read the ques form the different tasks. It might be as simple as "Okay, JDA's studying. Based off that the body knows there's approximately _____ minutes before sleep time." Add to this a sleep trigger and you're golden. Take a daily shower at night before bed. If you take a 15 minute shower 45 minutes before bed, then take your melatonin after you've bathed, your body will learn to translate showering to a spike in the melatonin...which will mean you'll be more prone to sleeping within an hour or so after your shower.

Regardless, take the melatonin 30 minutes before going to bed. If you wake up in the middle of the night it's fine to take more, especially if the dose is low. You're starting at 1mg (common starting dose). You can try taking 2 at bedtime to avoid waking up if you think you're getting resistant to it. It's common to wake up in the middle of sleep during the first month of taking it. Melatonin is a quick acting med moreso than a build-up med.

Melatonin won't typically cause you to oversleep, especially if you have an active morning routine with an alarm clock. What's important is the getting sleep throughout the night. If you don't want to up your dose, yu can also get the Extender Release version of melatonin. It's designed to slowly release half the pill over the night to keep you asleep. You will eventually have to up your dose, but take it day by day.

For staggering and skipping, once you have set up a routine for taking the med (like with the nightly shower thing), after say a month, you'll want to be aware of when it starts requiring more tonin on a regular basis to have the full effect. When that happens, continue the trigger schedule of showering 45 min before bed but change up when you take the meds and how much. Maybe alternate the weeks so that on odd days you take half of what you'd normally take, and even days are a full dose. Occasionally skipping doses (sporadically, as if you've forgotten them) will help keep your body from learning the rhythm. But you don't need

[JustDontAsk]

I thought about PMing it to you, but I figured I bother you enough...I'll have to try this, I got into a bad habit of staying up once I moved to the basement...Because now I do whatever I want.

Thanks so much for replying, I feel a lot less lost now.

JDA

[medkev13]

When it comes to sleep and dreams messaging me is NEVER "bugging me".

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[JustDontAsk]

Thanks. You're the best!

JDA