Those who use melatonin, question for you?

[ilovedogs]

My 12 year old ds has been having trouble with sleep. He takes well over an hour on a regular basis to sleep so I let him try melatonin back in December. He loves it and says he falls asleep in about 10 minutes after turning off his light. I brought this up to our naturopath and he had concerns. He says I shouldn't use it every day and that I should vary the dose and he was also concerned that supplementation with melatonin might suppress the body's own creation of the hormone. I noticed that many of you give melatonin for sleep issues and I was wondering what your doctors(GPs, DANs, neurologists, etc) have to say about the use of melatonin. Do they caution against it? Do they say you can use it for extended periods of time? Personally, I was really surprised that our naturopath wasn't keen on us using it so I figured I'd ask here and see what other's experiences have been. Thanks!

 

Bonnie

[Wilma Jenks]

Not sure what I would do without it. We were told 2 use it.

[nicklemama]

My DS, now age 7, has been taking 0.5mgs of melatonin since Oct 2009. Without it, he was taking up to 2hrs to fall asleep. Every doctor he has seen has approved its use and even said we could give him a lot more. We've gotten the ok from the pediatrician, two neurologists, child psychiatrist, neuropsychologist and Dr Trifiletti (also a neurologist).

[Malke]

We use melatonin along with magnesium -- both given just before bedtime. I've been doing nutritional healing/bio-med stuff for over a year and have never heard anything against melatonin on any of the forums I am part of.

 

hth,

Malke

[NancyD]

Have been using it for years and all our doctors support it.

[ilovedogs]

So glad that you all are getting positive feedback from doctors in different fields of practice. I know my son really relies on it these days and I know he likes to have it available to him. He takes around 400 mcg most nights. I just want to make sure I'm not doing any harm to his own production of melatonin.

[ilovedogs]

One more question? What is the dosage amounts you give your children? My ds is 12 and weighs just under 100 lbs. Thx

[nicklemama]

My son is 7, weighs 55lbs. He has been taking 500mcg (0.5mg) for 1.5 yrs. I was told he could take up to 6mg. That seems a lot. He doesn't need anywhere near that much and we won't up it until we see the need. I buy the 500mcg chewable tabs at Trader Joes. He likes the minty taste.

 

Cindy

[NancyD]

DD14 (130 lbs) gets 1.8 mg. I have given her as much as 3 mg.

 

One more question? What is the dosage amounts you give your children? My ds is 12 and weighs just under 100 lbs. Thx

[peglem]

My daughter weighs @ 115 now, but have used melatonin for quite awhile with her- since she was about only 40lbs. If I'm using the plain kind, I start with 1.5mg, and if she's not asleep in an hour, I follow with another 1.5. I've gone as high as 6mg, but find it doesn't work any better at higher doses. Pretty much, if 3mg doesn't do it, it ain't getting done! But I also use the timed release (when I'm not out of it) which basically has 1 tablet w/ 1.5mg immediate release and 1.5mg delayed release. It seems to be more effective for keeping her asleep longer, though I also dose with valerian root for that. With just melatonin, she often wakes up exactly 3 hours after dosing.

[dut]

Hi - we also find that more isn't better. I use .5mg for PANDAS ds3 and that will get him to sleep and keep asleep for 3 hours or so. He still wakes 6+ times a night after that regardless of how much he gets. We even tried a spray tiome release but it won't keep him alseep. PANDAS dd7 uses it to get to sleep fast, Again it doesn't stop her 1 wake a night (to get in bed with me and ds) and more makes her have very vivid and sometimes bad dreams, so is counterproductive.

 

The longterm side effects that I have read about and worried me was gynacomastia - the abnormal development of large mammary glands in males resulting in breast enlargement and also sperm amount and motility. Here's a study and a couple of generic site type thingies looking at side effects....

 

 

http://www.andrologyjournal.org/cgi/content/full/23/4/572

 

http://www.ehow.com/about_5116334_negative-effects-melatonin.html

 

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/melatonin-000315.htm

 

 

We still use melatonin but try to use the lowest dose we can get away with....

[pixiesmommy]

All of our drs ( 2 psychologists, 3 psychiatrists, family dr,3 neurologists, ped. sleep dr, Dr K, biofeedback tech, 3 biological dentists, homeopathic ped, 2 LLMDs, 4 chiropractors...) all have either recommended it or reassured me that it is safe once they hear we are using it.

 

My younger daughter started using it at 2 yrs old and was about 30 lbs. She has taken up to 1.25 mg at that weight. We also do chewables from drugstore.com (they have a mint and an orange flavor.)

Edited March 1, 2011 by pixiesmommy