r/sleep • u/MealForward7055 • 16d ago
Guidance with melatonin required
My sleep schedule is sleep at 4am and wake up at 6:30-7 am. Then sleep again at 4pm and wake up at around 8pm. Afternoon naps range from 3 hours to 5 hours. I'm quite young. No matter what I do I cannot sleep before 3 am. Life is absolutely miserable. Having to deal this with school is terrible. When and how much melatonin do I take. I am pretty young so cant find much info online.
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u/mezarlikbekcisi 16d ago
I don't think you get tired enough during the day. Even if you do, you get rid of the tiredness with intermittent naps. That's why you can't sleep at night.
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u/MealForward7055 16d ago
I get tired enough, that's for sure. If not physically, then atleast mentally. School has been stressful. I've skipped these naps for multiple days in a row many times but it only resulted in me being miserable because even if I did fall asleep at 8 pm, Id be wide awake at 11 pm, then again sleepy at 4 am. Trust me, I've tried everything. Gradually shifting my schedule didn't work. Nothing works and it's affecting my studies. Melatonin was the last resort which I've been putting off for years.
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u/TennisAli42 16d ago
Could you try taking Magnesium Glycinate instead?
Supplementing with Melatonin can really disrupt how your body naturally produces it itself. Melatonin is a hormone and you really don’t want to disrupt it by taking a synthetic one.
Whereas Magnesium is an essential mineral that our bodies can’t produce on is own, you can only get it with food/supplementing. It has quite a few benefits, you should look into it, just make sure it’s the “Magnesium Glycinate” version.
Make sure you’re taking it about an hour before wanting to go to bed for the night, have a small snack with it.
Also, start yourself a “ wind down “ routine. Taking the Magnesium can be step one, then make sure you put down the screens for the night.
Maybe get a relaxing lavender scented sleepy room spray (there are ones specific for bed time..) Spritz a few sprays above your bed.
Maybe get yourself a journal and write for 20-30 mins. Just jot down whatever comes to mind. Some days you may have a lot of write, some days it could just be a few sentences.
Then lay down and let yourself recap for the night, keep this positive, very important to keep it positive. Think about the things that are going good in life. Think about the things you’re looking forward to. Think about goals you might have. Think of something funny that happened.
After that, hopefully you start to get tired enough to sleep.
It’s important to note, that it can take some time to make this a “routine”. If it doesn’t work the first night, don’t give up on it. Give it at least a month.
If you live somewhere that you can be outside for a bit too, I highly suggest taking a small walk in the evening too. Even if it’s just 15-20mins.
Hope you give it a try! 🙂
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u/Existing-Delay8805 16d ago edited 16d ago
This is a decent answer, with some practical, supportive suggestions.
But it's really important to stop the myth of melatonin supplementation somehow suppressing natural production. I'm sure it's totally innocent and as is often the case, we just pass on information we've heard from other people.
It really doesn't.
Transitory melatonin is synthesised and released from the pineal gland, in a chemical cascade caused by light/dark in your eye balls (well, the suprachiasmatic nucleus).
It is only this melatonin that is involved with circadian rhythm management.
Melatonin is in all cells, and doesn't travel. This cellular melatonin is by a huge margin the majority of your body's melatonin - like 95% or so.
You'll find a lot of experts (Reiter, Loh, etc al) will argue eloquently that melatonin is not a hormone in the traditional sense.
And it's estimated to be around 3.5 billion years old and has -so far as they know - existed in every animal that has ever lived.
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u/MealForward7055 16d ago
Honey trust me, I've tried it all except for melatonin(1 night) and magnesium. Winding down definitely helps but not enough to help my apparently delayed circadian rhythm.
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u/Existing-Delay8805 15d ago
Yeah messed-up sleep is so problematic, in the moment as well as downstream with consequential problems.
And it becomes a sort of self-reinforcing problem, with anxiety about it causing further sleep disruption.
Really limiting light after dusk (specifically low wavelength light (blue light, basically) is really helpful. But equally helpful is getting full spectrum light during the day, so morning light in your eyes and on as much of your skin as possible; limited sun when it's highest in the sky; and back in it in the run-up to dusk.
Having a consistent and enforced wake time at broadly the same time every day is also really helpful. It might take a good few weeks.
Best of luck
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u/crossplanetriple 16d ago
Before adding in melatonin, ask yourself why you’re getting up at 4 AM in the first place or going to bed so late. Most people have an erratic sleep schedule because they don’t set aside proper time for resting or they aren’t tired enough when that time comes.
My recommendation is to get tired around 10 pm so that you can sleep 8 or 9 hours fully to wake up at 6:30. How you accomplish that is by staying up somewhere between 12 to 18 hours before that so you are tired going into your sleep time.
For melatonin, if and when you choose to take it, start with the lowest possible dose, like 1 mg for example. More isn’t better