Working night shift ~ melatonin to help me sleep

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I have seen melatonin mentioned as something to take for help when you have trouble sleeping. Can anyone share more about this with me. How much do you take and when. How long before it starts to help you?

Thank you for any information.

Gayle (7pm-7am)

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Sublingual works great! The dose that works depends on each person. You can get the sublingual Melatonin at GNC (cheap), and the results are immediate.Takes about an hour to kick in......

You can get a 'hangover' if you take too much, so wait until you have the next day off before taking for the first time. This way you can adjust your intake for best results.

You'll sleep like a baby.....

The other type of Melatonin you ingest doesn't seem to work for me.

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I take melatonin to get me through my nightshifts and my switch back to normal life.

I take 6mg (2 3mg tablets) a half hour before bedtime. My sleep is always natural-feeling and I wake up refreshed.

Benadryl/Tylenol PM makes me have weird dreams, makes me thirsty, and I wake up feeling groggy.

Jill (Pa)

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Originally posted by Jill - Pa

I take melatonin to get me through my nightshifts and my switch back to normal life.

I take 6mg (2 3mg tablets) a half hour before bedtime. My sleep is always natural-feeling and I wake up refreshed.

Benadryl/Tylenol PM makes me have weird dreams, makes me thirsty, and I wake up feeling groggy.

Jill (Pa)

Thanks for the tip...I have used Benedryl for yrs but notice it is having more of these effects on me too as I age...I will try the Melatonin. :cool:

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Specializes in tele, stepdown/PCU, med/surg.

Hey there,

Interestingly, melatonin was the first human hormone available OTC.

I love melatonin. It normally comes in 3 mg tablets. If I feel I just need a little something to get me to sleep, it's late, and I don't want to sleep in the next morning, I just take one half (1.5mg) and it works beautifully.

I myself am not a big fan of OTC supplements because of FDA not regulating them but melatonin seems great! Of course who knows what longitudinal studies on it will tell us in 20 years! :)

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Hello all,

Thank you for your responses and helpful information. Do you have to take the melatonin for a period of time before it starts to help, or does it help right away.

I took it last night ~ one 3mg tablet as per instructions on the bottle. I guess maybe I am not knowing what to expect. Should I be able to sleep straight through the night for several hours with out waking? I was kind of disappointed because I slept for a couple hours then woke up. I fell back to sleep for a couple more hours, then awake again, then another couple hours and awake again. Each time I wake, I am not just looking at the clock and drifting back off to sleep, I lay there for a while before being able to fall asleep. I guess I was expecting to fall asleep and not wake until morning.

Any words of wisdom???

Thanks ~ Gayle

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Specializes in Psych, Med/Surg, Home Health, Oncology.

Hi

I have been taking melatonin for a couple of years. Sometimes I sleep right through and other times I am up every couple of hours.

I guess it depends how tired I am.

It seems to have been quite helpful to me

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After several months of sleeping difficulties (sleeping at night on my nights off), I went to a sleep dr. She has me trying the melatonin again, and another med ~ I just wanted to share ~ thinking maybe it would help someone else struggling with sleep difficulties.

I had tried melatonin before, but it didn't seem to help. I took it as directed on the label. The dr told me to take it about 5 hours before bedtime. Then she told me to take Valerian Root about 1/2 hour before bedtime. So far, it seems to be helping. I don't sleep straight through the night, but sleep in longer amounts and wake up feeling good and like doing things. I am so excited to finally be sleeping better. Amazing what a little rest does to improve one's outlook on things.

Gayle

(7p-7a)

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Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

I went to a class when I was working hospital nocs, and it was all about the sleep times we have to face! It was a great class, was suprised my hospital made that available for us! LOL!

One of the things I thought was of particular interest was using sunglasses when you left the hospital! The light you see trigers awake stage on a homonal level like turning on a light switch...and is rather hard to turn it back off once on. So they suggested (if it was safe in regards to driving home) to wear sunglasses and have your family keep blinds and shades down for your arrival home. I tried it and it actually helped..but come the foggy season, LOL! Well no can do!

I just thought that was rather interesting ;)

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I notice, when i take melatonin, i sleep exactly 4.5 hours. I wake up rested, but i crash later.

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I wake up refreshed. I don't have that "hangover" feeling all day.

Good stuff IMHO.

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