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Melatonin

This article will explain in clear details – what melatonin is, uses of melatonin, side effects/risks, and dosage.

melatonin sleep aid

WHAT’S MELATONIN?

Naturally, melatonin is present in the body serving the purpose of regulating night and day cycles or rather sleep-wake cycles. Light and darkness both determine the level of melatonin production in the body. Darkness stimulates the production of more melatonin in the body; this gets the body ready for sleep. Light, on the other hand, causes a decrease in melatonin production; this inversely triggers the body to wake up. Melatonin is also synthesized in the laboratory and comes in pill form and other forms that can be placed in the cheek or under the tongue.

It’s a fact based on research finding that some people who suffer insomnia (inability to sleep) run low on melatonin. In a bid to counter these sleeping disorder physicians recommend the addition of melatonin from supplements to insomnia patients. Melatonin is also useful in helping blind people keep track of a day and night cycle, used for jet lag, and the adjustment of the body’s internal clock. In a synthetic form melatonin can be administered orally, thus, is directly absorbed into the body this way. Melatonin is also referred to as 5-Methoxy-N-Acetyltryptamine, MEL, Melatonin, Mélatonine, MLT, N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine, N-Acétyl-5-Méthoxytryptamine, Pineal Hormone. Naturally, melatonin is very vital in the body as it is in medicine when applied in the various synthetic forms it exists, in the treatment of quite a number of health-related conditions among others.

USES OF MELATONIN

According to WebMD Melatonin can be administered orally in its synthetic form to treat or control some health-related conditions such as:

  • “Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS)
  • Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD)I
  • Insomnia associated with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder(ADHD)
  • Insomnia associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI)
  • Sleep problem in children with developmental disorders including autism, cerebral palsy, and intellectual disabilities.
  • It is also taken by mouth as a sleep aid after discontinuing the use of benzodiazepine drugs and to reduce the side effects of stopping smoking.
  • It’s used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease or memory loss (dementia)
  • Treatment of the bipolar disorder
  • Lung disease is known as a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Insomnia caused by beta-blocker drugs, high blood pressure, hyper-pigmentation (darkened skin)
  • Endometriosis
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Depression or seasoned affective disorder (SAD)
  • Mild mental impairment
  • Nonalcoholic liver disease
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
  • Fibromyalgia- this is a disorder that causes a strong urge to move one’s legs. It’s also called restless legs syndrome.
  • Inflammatory disease called sarcoidosis
  • Schizophrenia
  • Migraine and other headaches
  • Age-related vision loss
  • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
  • Bone loss (osteoporosis)
  • Movement disorder
  • Acid reflux disease
  • Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)
  • Exercise performance
  • Infertility
  • Epilepsy
  • Aging
  • Menopause
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
  • Metabolic syndrome
  • Anxiety before and after surgery
  • Recovery after surgery
  • Agitation caused by anesthesia drugs
  • Stress
  • Involuntary movement disorder (tardive dyskinesia)
  • Changes in heart rate when you move from laying down to sitting up (postural tachycardia syndrome)
  • Delirium
  • Inability to control urination
  • Inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis)
  • Used in birth control
  • Breast cancer
  • Brain cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Head cancer
  • Neck cancer
  • Gastrointestinal cancer
  • Melatonin is also taken by mouth to prevent some of the side effects of radiation and/or cancer treatment (chemotherapy)
  • Mouth ulcers
  • Dry mouth
  • Weight loss
  • Nerve pain
  • Weakness
  • Lowered number of clot-forming cells (thrombocytopenia).” 

SIDE EFFECTS AND RISKS OF MELATONIN

Melatonin is a commercial success due to its vast applications in health-related conditions. The various uses of melatonin reflect its merits or pros but on the flip side also, melatonin poses some side effects or cons. Melatonin is considered safe for most adults when administered via mouth or injection or even applied to the skin.

Melatonin application on a long term basis is also safe; some people have been reported to use melatonin for up to 2 years. However, some side effects may occur such as headache, bouts of depression, daytime sleepiness, dizziness, stomach cramps, and irritability. Advisably it isn’t ideal to operate any type of mechanical equipment for over four hours after taking melatonin dosage. It is strongly advised that melatonin is administered under the supervision of a health care professional.

A quick delve into some of the side effects and some possible risks associated with the use of melatonin:

  • Pregnant women and lactating nursing mothers could be at risk by injecting or orally administering melatonin into the body because it could interfere with ovulation, thus, making conception difficult. Therefore it is advised that women in these categories do not take melatonin. Risks associated with the use of melatonin in lactating nursing mothers remain somewhat sketchy.
  • In growing children, melatonin might interfere with development during adolescence because it poses negative effects on hormones. Though melatonin may be taken as a single dose it would also post a risk to children when taken in multiple doses on a short-term basis.
  • Melatonin is not good for patients battling bleeding disorders. Melatonin could actually worsen bleeding in such patients.
  • Tackling depression and taking doses of melatonin will not help matters. Melatonin actually makes the symptoms of depression worse. People battling depression should avoid taking melatonin.
  • Individuals battling diabetes mellitus should steer clear of melatonin. This is because it could raise blood sugar. However, it’s ideal that people who are diabetic should closely monitor their blood sugar if they also take melatonin.
  • Those who are managing the condition of high blood pressure are also strongly advised to steer clear of melatonin as it can raise blood pressure.
  • Melatonin is believed to increase the risk of having seizures. Individuals battling seizure disorders should avoid melatonin.
  • Melatonin could counter the efficacy of immunosuppressive therapy which is used by people receiving transplants. Melatonin increases immune function which explains why it isn’t good for transplant recipients.

MELATONIN DOSAGE

The use of melatonin is not restricted to a certain age bracket(s) given that adults and children alike do use melatonin in therapeutic treatments of various health conditions. However, taking the right dosage according to a physician’s description and under the supervision of a health care professional is strongly advised to be on the safe side. Below is a breakdown.

ADULTS (oral dosage)

Melatonin can be administered orally to manage sleep disorders in blind people. The right dosage is from 0.5mg to 5mg daily before bedtime. Melatonin can be used in this case over a 5 year period. More so taking a high dose of melatonin of 10mg an hour before bedtime for over 8 weeks can be applied to manage this condition.

3 to 5mg of melatonin can be taken for up to 9 months in managing insomnia.

People who have sleep-wake cycle disturbances can use melatonin at bedtime for up to 4 weeks. Dosage is 2-12mg.

10mg of melatonin can be taken daily for 8 weeks when treating endometriosis.

2-3mg of controlled-release of melatonin can be taken for 4 weeks when managing high blood pressure.

For jet lag, 0.5-8 mg of melatonin at bedtime is commonly taken on the day of arrival at the destination, continuing for 2 to 5 days. Low doses of 0.5-3 mg are often used to avoid the side effects of the higher doses.

3-10 mg of melatonin taken 60-90 minutes before surgery is used to reduce anxiety before surgery.

Melatonin is used for the treatment of solid tumor as a complementary therapy to conventional therapy. 10-40mg of melatonin can be taken daily for a two month period.

Jaw pain can be treated using melatonin in the right dosage of 5mg at bedtime for 4 weeks.

Thrombocytopenia (lowered clot-forming cells) is treated using melatonin daily for up to 7 days before starting and throughout chemotherapy cycles. 20-40mg of melatonin should be administered. 

ADULTS (intravenous dosage)

When treating solid tumors, melatonin is administered together with conventional therapy. 20mg of melatonin should be intravenously taking for 2 months and thereafter should be taken orally of 10mg dosage.  

ADULTS (skin application and under the tongue) 

A gel containing 0.05% to 2.5% of melatonin should be applied 15 minutes before exposure to the sun (prevent sunburn). However, in the case of treating actual sunburn, the same dosage should be applied for up to 4 hours after sunburn.

Melatonin is used to reduce anxiety before surgery.5mg or 0.05-0.2mg/kg of body weight is taken 90-100 minutes before anesthesia.  

CHILDREN (oral dosage)

1-6mg of melatonin should be taken before bedtime for up to one month.

Children and adolescents within the age bracket of (3 months to 18 years) who have sleeping problems like sleep-wake cycle disturbances can take melatonin daily for up to 12 weeks. The right dosage is 0.5-12mg.

In children, melatonin is used to treat primary. 5 mg or 0.05-0.15 mg/kg of body weight taken at bedtime for 4 weeks has been used in children 6-12 years-old with primary insomnia.

For secondary insomnia: 6-9 mg of melatonin taken before bedtime for 4 weeks, has been used in children with seizures 3-12 years-old. 

Melatonin is administered orally in children to reduce anxiety before surgery.05-0.5 mg/kg of body weight has been taken before anesthesia in children 1-8 years-old.

WRAP UP

Melatonin naturally exists in the body and its primary purpose is to regulate the sleep-wake cycles during the day and night respectively. Melatonin is also synthesized in the laboratory and comes commonly in forms that can be administered orally, and intravenously. Melatonin is more or less a control substance and comes in handy in the field of medicine for managing and treating health-related conditions.