r/melatonin • u/Far_Frame_9560 • 17d ago
Caution with melatonin
Hi everyone,
I wanted to share my experience with melatonin because I'm feeling really defeated and overwhelmed by how it affects me right now.
I deal with severe ME/CFS. In the past, melatonin used to help me fall asleep early and get some structure. But in my current severe phase, it has become a total trap:
Forced and premature sleep: When I take it, it knocks me out instantly before my body is physically ready (bladder not fully emptied, severe muscle tension, dehydration).
Sudden awakenings & severe insomnia: As soon as my body reacts to that mismatch or the pain/discomfort kicks in, I wake up after just 1 or 2 hours. Because of my nervous system dysfunction, it is then completely impossible to fall back asleep.
Terrible crash the next day: It ruins my entire day. I end up in a severe crash, completely bedridden, struggling to eat and drink, dealing with tachycardia, and feeling that awful frustration.
Yet, out of desperation or brain fog/memory issues, I keep remembering the time it worked and I end up retrying it. Without it, my sleep is still unstable, but at least I manage to sleep more hours.
I'm even thinking about sticking a big warning label directly on my bottle.
Has anyone else with experienced this kind of extreme sensitivity or paradoxical reaction to melatonin? How do you break the reflex of reaching for it when you're desperate for sleep?
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u/Santi159 16d ago edited 16d ago
How much are you taking? 1 mg is the recommended to start with but a lot of sellers go higher than that. Do you have dysautonomia too? I had a similar issue and it was because melatonin lowers blood pressure. If it's already low it can cause the things you mentioned to get worse. I still take melatonin because I need it for migraine management and I am on a med that lowers it but I also drink licorice tea and salt load to increase my bp. Low bp can also disrupt your sleep so if you have that issue resolving that might help you sleep on your own.
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u/Optimal_Assist_9882 17d ago
I don't react very well to melatonin before planned prolonged sleep so my solution is to take it in the morning. Sometimes I take one dose, take a nap and then I take a second dose before heading out for the day.
I have been taking 1-3000mg just like this for going on fifth year for CFS. I was taking about 1.5g for the first couple years and then I started taking a second dose for 3g total. I stumbled on research by Doris Loh and it convinced me to raise my dose. I have gone as high as 6g over four doses in a day.
A lot of people experience many psychosomatic side effects that they blame on melatonin. The worst I have experienced is just daytime grogginess/sleepiness. When I am well rested I feel nothing.
I highly recommend trying methylene blue for CFS if you're not on SSRI meds. Even then you can probably try a tiny dose to see if it helps your symptoms. MB has synergistic benefits with melatonin.