melatonin brands question. (not designed to put anyone off)

capri

New Member
First let me say that i am not against Melatonin, I do include some quit serious allogations in this post, but they ARE NOT my veiws. Fran if this is not a suitable post, please delete it for me, i do not want to discourage anyone from somthing that is helpfull to themselves or their difficult children.

Does anybody have Melatonin prescribed directly by their doctor and if so which brand is it.
The reason i ask is because i have brought up the possibility of using Melatonin for difficult child boy several times with his psychiatric. She is very against its use for several reasons, i do however think it is worth a try.

PYCHS REASONS AGAINST MELATONIN
First being that it is not fully tested and not covered by the usual strict quality controls of regestered medications. She cited several random surveys that have tested a variety of brands and found some of the tablets to contain either considerably more or less, Melatonin, than stated on the packet.

Second being that there have been some questions as to the long term effects of its use on fertility? not somthing i was able to find anything about on the net.

Third being that it comes in two forms. First the synthetic kind. Second the animal based kind. She stated there have been several problems recorded in transmition of deseases of animal based hormones. Also syntheticly produced hormones have been found to be unsafe in the past as well.

Fourth. She doesnt want to give my difficult child more than one medication at a time, of any sort. (geuss she would hate paracetamol and nurafen combos, for fever)

I ran several searches on the net and found a good deal of info on the drug. I noticed also that sites that used to recomend it for nightly use are now suggesting it only be used occasionally and at lower doses. Including Dr weils site, he now suggests it only be used occasionally for help with sleep.


I am aware of several cases where comon vitamin supliments have been tested and found to be either too high or low in content. This being the case i am not prepaired to just try the cheepest and hope, hence asking which brand doctors seem to prefer.

I really do not mean to put anyone off and am not convinced of all the points my doctor made either. She is a very cautious psychiatric, possibly over cautious in my veiw.
 
It is very important to have professional advice, even when taking OTC supplements such as melatonin. It is also important to buy brands that are reputable. This is not just with melatonin. People mistakenly think that if it is on the shelf, it is safe. This is not true.
 

capri

New Member
Transformtruimph,

Hence my question about Dr recomended brands and not a blind trust in the one with the most logical sounding claims.
How do you decern a reputable brand?
Can anyone recomend any particular brand.
 
I went to get some for me the other day and was told by the employee that people under 15 should not take it because it is a hormone and under 15 is still developing hormones. She must have been a terrible judge of age because she asked me how old I was to make sure. Made my night though. Anyway, I didn't get it. She gave me some night time calcium supplements that happen to contain manganese. I didn't realize it was basicly just a bone supplement at the time. Just discovered that reading it a moment ago.
Anyone ever heard of not giving it to kids? I have read a little about it on the net, a post Transform probably gave a link to. I did not see anything about a specific age requirement.
KBM
 

RB

New Member
My little guy has trouble getting to sleep and sometimes clonidine just doesnt help. psychiatrist suggested melatonin in a small dosage (we give 1mg) He said just pick it up in any drug store or nat. food market.
RB
 
How do you discern a good brand? I have a pharmacist I totally trust, as well as my homeopathic physician. I would not trust an employee of a store, that I did not know.
There is quite a debate about melatonin for children. It is not known if long-term use is safe for anyone, especially children. This is also true of many drugs and supplements that are being given to children. Parents have to educate themselves and do what they feel is best.
 

Nancy

Well-Known Member
I can only tell you my experience. My easy child's neurologist at the leading teaching hospital in our area told me to give it to her to help her sleep. He said to buy it over the counter and gave no specific brand. He said it was not habit forming and a natural substance. My difficult child's psychiatrist advised us to give difficult child melatonin also to help her fall asleep and said we could buy it in any GNC type store or drug store. I have had very good success with it and no side effects.

Melatonin in a natural hormone we all have in our bodies. As we age this hormone decreases and that is why many elderly people say they need less sleep. It's not that they need less sleep, it's that they can't fall asleep and stay asleep because the level of melatonin in their bodies is too low. My poor mother in law goes to bed every night at 10 and wakes up at 4 a.m. Sometimes earlier.

Nancy
 

capri

New Member
Thankyou, i am begining to feal that maybe the "over cautious brit" syndrome has kicked in for my psychiatrist.
She was scathing about the drug.
I think i will try it regardless, then the weight of responibility is on me.
There was a big "Hoo Hah" a few months ago about some "Slimfast" drinks having about 20 more calories in, than they should have. The advice was not to use them as they are not "Exact" in their labels.
I thought Slimfast was bad because any "crash diet" was not going to work, apparently i am wrong.

Parenting itself is trial and error and nobody tells you how to deal with your child each day. There is no definative Manual for the job, so we as parents make our choices and takes our chances.

I know a lady in a herbalist shop near me, she thinks i am a crackpot (i buy arrowroot for diahreah in young gerbils, from her)but she is a nice lady who has never led me wrong before, so i will talk to her.

Thanks again, somtimes we need to ask the obvious question to lead us through the maze of our second geussing and doubts.
 

Kyle's Mom

New Member
I would start out with a very low dosage, and only give what is needed for a good night's sleep. I have seen where parents give their kids a whole 3 mg tablet each night. This is WAY more than the body produces, and in my opinion too much. When Kyle is overly hyper and I think he needs help going to sleep, I give him 1/4 of a 3 mg tablet - and use it only when needed.

My husband and I cannot take it. It makes us both sleep less and makes us feel slighly agitated. I have no idea why.
 

can'tstandit

New Member
My difficult children psychiatrist told me I could give him up to 5mg every night! :eek: Well, it didn't work for him, even at that dosage, so we discontinued it. The psychiatrist thought that the melatonin was safer than the clonidine.

Good luck!
ibis
 

Lizanne

Member
I have begun using Melatonin with difficult child and am a bit worried about any short or long term side effects.

He gets 1 or 1.5 mg occassionally. It seems to help. The psychiatric is not a 'fan' but is willing to try rather than remove him from concerta.

This is not a brand endorsement but GNC has 1 mg pills that I could not find any other place!

ANy one else with any thoughts?
 

capri

New Member
Well i got some Melatonin and tried it myself.
1mg sent me to sleep for a straight 9 hours. Tried it for difficult child girl once or twice as well, when she has been struggling to get to sleep, and 1mg works for her too.

Yes i do breed Gerbils for a local pet store. I have had gerbils since i was 10yrs and always bred them. I went through a stage of having Mice breeding, for the snakes, but they stink. So now i breed the gerbils and use the proceeds to buy frozen mice for the snakes.
 

Kat

Member
Melatonin was recommended to us by difficult child's pulmonologist following the results of his sleep study. He found the clonidine (prescribed by psychiatrist) was interfering with- the natural sleep cycles (difficult child had 148 periods of "awake" during the 8 hour test) and also said it can interfere with- bodies oxygenation levels. We did another test 3 months after discontinuing the clonidine & beginning the melatonin - HUGE difference.
I have a pharmacist I trust totally and buy the melatonin otc by her recommendation.
Anything whether it be prescription, otc, herbal, homeopathic, whatever... needs to be done with- the guidance of someone who knows what they are talking about...

Kat
 

esmi711

New Member
a few more words about melatonin...it isnt so much a sleep aid, but a mechanism to regulate your sleeo cycle. and- we all produce melatonin naturally. if there is a deficit, thats when the sleep cycle goes off track. ive taken melatonin- was extremely helpful, and helped my start have a normal night's sleep. however- because we do produce melatonin naturally, taking a supplement can be risky. the dose should be low, and never increase. if you start taking more melatonin, your body reads that as a sign that it can take a break and not produce as much (so that when you stop taking it, the sleep problems would be even worse). all in all, i think melatonin supplements are good for regulating sleep- you just need to be alert and cautious with it
 
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