Melatonin - Sailor is a rat

On the advice of some people in the US, I bought some melatonin on my last trip and tried it on my flight home last night - sort of treating myself as a laboratory rat I guess. The idea is that you take it just before bed time in the place you are travelling to. It is claimed that this 'tricks' the body into thinking it is night time (as the body produces melatonin at night), and that this leads to a faster resetting of the body clock. You can combine it with any method of getting a good sleep on the plane - pills, drink, etc.

Well as I sit here at 2:45pm on Day 1, I have to say I feel fine. However it is early days, so I will let you know how I get on.

Anyone else tried melatonin? It is billed in the US as a miracle cure for jet lag, which would be nice were it to be true.

Someone gave me some when I flew back from JFK with MaxJet earlier this year. I had the best sleep I've managed on any east coast flight, ever, and had no jet lag.

It might have been the large gin and tonics rather than the Melatonin, but then I've tried the G&T approach many times before, and still suffered jet lag when going west to east.

For anyone who's interested, it's a natural product - details are here.

Best wishes

David

Originally posted by sailor99
On the advice of some people in the US, I bought some melatonin on my last trip and tried it on my flight home last night - sort of treating myself as a laboratory rat I guess. The idea is that you take it just before bed time in the place you are travelling to. It is claimed that this 'tricks' the body into thinking it is night time (as the body produces melatonin at night), and that this leads to a faster resetting of the body clock. You can combine it with any method of getting a good sleep on the plane - pills, drink, etc.

Well as I sit here at 2:45pm on Day 1, I have to say I feel fine. However it is early days, so I will let you know how I get on.

Anyone else tried melatonin? It is billed in the US as a miracle cure for jet lag, which would be nice were it to be true.

Yes, I tried it some years ago - I can't say it made any difference. Didn't sleep any better on the plane and was no less jet-lagged afterwards. Maybe I should try it again, maybe I didn't take enough (is the dosage on the bottle?) - or maybe I should have taken with more alcohol [}:)]

So - did you sleep on the flight back?

I understood it was not so much to help you sleep on the plane, but more to reset the body clock. This was the rational behind the advice I got to combine it with a sleeping aid, alcahol being the tastiest option! I did both on last nights flight, and slept for about 6 hours of the flight. I had to be woken before arrival to have breakfast, so would have slept more - Damn the pilot wanting to land the plane, did nobody tell him I was in the land of nod!

The dose I have is 5mg which seems to be at the upper end of dosages, but not quite enough to reset an elephant.

Keep a diary and let us know how groggy or otherwise you feel tomorrow...

Rat, huh? Visions here of a monkey, with it's brain all wired up and plugged into something....

Originally posted by catsilversword
Keep a diary and let us know how groggy or otherwise you feel tomorrow...

Wilco[y]

[Decker]

Sheesh 5mg? Been doing 3mg for yonks. I tend to use it whenever I want a good set of REM sleep. So if I know I don't have much time (going to bed late and getting up early) I'll take one. Chief side effect is you tend to dream in very vivid colours. Apart from that no negative effects over about 5 years. I took it for several months just "because" as well. Highly recommended.

This sounds good , it took me about a week to stop feeling jet lagged after going from lhr-lax which is pretty bad, so anything that could help me is worth a try

Originally posted by Decker
Sheesh 5mg? Been doing 3mg for yonks. I tend to use it whenever I want a good set of REM sleep. So if I know I don't have much time (going to bed late and getting up early) I'll take one. Chief side effect is you tend to dream in very vivid colours. Apart from that no negative effects over about 5 years. I took it for several months just "because" as well. Highly recommended.

I dream in very vivid technolcolour anyway!

Absolutley love Melatonin, it`s the best way of getting some sleep and to get over jet lag, even if you don`t sleep for a full night you always feel refreshed. No need to combine it with anything.

If i`ve had a large night out it always helps me drift off to sleep.

Shame you can`t buy it here in the UK.

Originally posted by original bob
....Shame you can`t buy it here in the UK.

As if by magic, click here. [y]

Best wishes

David

Makes me sleep walk not a great idea on a plane!

[Decker]

Originally posted by DavidM

Originally posted by original bob
....Shame you can`t buy it here in the UK.

As if by magic, click here. [y]

Best wishes

David

Ouch! $5 or so for that here in the US from GNC.

hurrah about flipping time (pricey though).

I thought selling it in the UK was illegal (not illegal to buy or own though). Of course I may be wrong, but careful all about the bona fide of any UK based/importing vendor! And as Decker said, it is sooo much cheaper to buy in the US - my 60x5mg pot of pills was $3.95 from the local super-pharmacy.

PS - you can get both vegi and non-vegi melatonin, so have a look on the pot. The little reading I have done seems to indicate that the time release version is not as good.

What is in Melatonin? I know its possible to get carried away about what does and does not constitute a drug of any kind - alcohol, caffeine, nicotine etc - but I would like to know a bit more about something before I take it? ( I was going to use another phrase there but thought better of it[}:)])

Are there any reports on Melatonin or its use that are worth looking at?

Otherwise - by all accounts on here save Monkey's - it sounds like something worth trying??

I thought melatonin was the skin pigment. Maybe it does plenty of other thing too. *sigh* Will have to try that. May stop the 4- days of jet lag I normally get[|)]

Andrew

[Decker]

That's melanin. Melatonin is the hormone your pineal gland puts out at night. The resultant higher levels of the hormone in blood inhibit the centers in the brain stem responsible for keeping us awake, thus inducing sleep. (To quote http://www.udaan.org/drugs/autrx2.html).

Originally posted by MarkJ
What is in Melatonin? I know its possible to get carried away about what does and does not constitute a drug of any kind - alcohol, caffeine, nicotine etc - but I would like to know a bit more about something before I take it? ( I was going to use another phrase there but thought better of it[}:)])

Are there any reports on Melatonin or its use that are worth looking at?

Otherwise - by all accounts on here save Monkey's - it sounds like something worth trying??

Mark in answer to your question it's a naturally occuring hormone secreted by the pineal gland.There are numerous contraindications to taking it reported(depending on which article you read)but mental health problems (particularly affective disorders),renal and hepatic disorders (kidney and liver) pregnancy (and breastfeeding),autoimmune deficency and history of hypertension (high blood pressure)/CVA (stroke) are cited but this list isn't exhaustive and there are more .
Julie

Can't say I've tried it but at A level psychology we had to study Jet Lag and the theory behind melatnonin so I understand it all

Well day 2, and so far am pretty impressed. Took my melatonin about 9:30pm and about 40 minutes later could not keep my eyes open, so went to bed[|)]. Had very vivid dreams, one in particular about staying in a golden hotel on tripod legs that walked around the dessert looking for the best views for its guests! It had a fantastic bar where they served fluorescent green and pink drinks [:P]. I woke up about 05:00am which is about 30-60 minutes late for me. Feel absolutely normal today, and so far not a sign of tiredness. I even had the energy to go and see to the horses before breakfast.

Interestingly it normally takes about 5 days before my body habits return to normal (if you get my drift). However, this morning I received the call of nature bang on the time I would normally. So that is looking very positive.

Just to be absolutely clear, my comments are being made with no medical knowledge apart from a little bit of internet research.[|:)]. This link may be useful for those wanting to read a little more.

I have used melatonin for years to control jet lag. However, I have never taken in on the flight (don't they recommend against this anyway, incase your super human strength is need in case of a 'problem'), but I take it for a week after returning to the UK from the US. Always works for me, but I know it doesn't work for all. I also remember this being discussed here before.

Paul

My Dad swears by it. Monkey thinks the sleep walking is to dowith the deep sleep you get from taking it. I too have had vivid dreams with it.

The golden desert hotel that moves for views sounds like a brilliant one. You wait in 10 years or so there will be one in Dubai!

P.S Anpother homeopathic remedy used by Anita Roddick (I think, she of the Body Shop) used to put brown paper bags on her feet. (Have tried it and it seems to work but you look a bit of a wally!)

Originally posted by Monkey
My Dad swears by it. Monkey thinks the sleep walking is to dowith the deep sleep you get from taking it. I too have had vivid dreams with it.

The golden desert hotel that moves for views sounds like a brilliant one. You wait in 10 years or so there will be one in Dubai!

P.S Anpother homeopathic remedy used by Anita Roddick (I think, she of the Body Shop) used to put brown paper bags on her feet. (Have tried it and it seems to work but you look a bit of a wally!)

Paper bags? That's anew one on me - have tried taking arnica though, a remedy recommended by my homoeopath. Had no effect at all, as far as I could tell....[?]

You guys all seem to have had pretty good experiences with this stuff... I shall have to give it a try! [8D]