Trauma – PTSD

Question:

I came across some web sites on melatonin and one said it counteracted stress chemicals cortisol etc.  I just wondered if it could have a noticeable affect on stress.  I take it to sleep sometimes and it makes me feel less depressed. I am going to try a lower dose in the evening and then try and test what it does to my ability to read/concentrate.  Anything that lowers stress should help.  If you try it let me know. estelle

Response:

EddaB wrote: > I came across some web sites on melatonin and one said it counteracted stress > chemicals cortisol etc.  I just wondered if it could have a noticeable affect > on stress.  I take it to sleep sometimes and it makes me feel less depressed. > I am going to try a lower dose in the evening and then try and test what it > does to my ability to read/concentrate.  Anything that lowers stress should > help.  If you try it let me know. > estelle

Tryptophan has a similar effect, and is available as a supplement from health food stores. Turkey is loaded with the enzyme.

Response:

hi estelle, i have been taking melatonin for years at bedtime. it seems to normalize the architecture of my sleep patterns, so that i don’t fall directly into REM/dreaming sleep right away, which i understand is a symptom of depression. i have very good results with it used this way, but would be very interested in your experience using it to counteract stress and clear your head. let us know what you  find, okay? always interested in finding new uses for what works already, carole – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I came across some web sites on melatonin and one said it counteracted stress > chemicals cortisol etc.  I just wondered if it could have a noticeable affect > on stress.  I take it to sleep sometimes and it makes me feel less depressed. > I am going to try a lower dose in the evening and then try and test what it > does to my ability to read/concentrate.  Anything that lowers stress should > help.  If you try it let me know. > estelle

Response:

> been taking melatonin for years at bedtime.

What dosage have you settled on?  Does it help you stay asleep?( I keep waking at 4:00 a.m. an cannot get back to sleep) I wonder if there is any drug interaction problem with melatonin? thanks JohnC

Response:

> What dosage have you settled on?  Does it help you stay asleep?( I keep waking > at 4:00 a.m. an cannot get back to sleep) > I wonder if there is any drug interaction problem with melatonin?

hi johnc, the earliest dosage was 3 mg and that is what i am still taking, lo, these many years later. for a while they had a time release form, which is a ludicrous idea, since the whole thing is a mechanism based on the body’s response to darkness (a burst of melatonin, in a normal body.) lately i notice microgram dosages, haven’t tried them. i don’t know if it helps one stay asleep or not. for many years, melatonin or not, i, too, woke very early, usually with migraine and nightmares. finally gave up and just got up whenever i woke up. i figure no one died of early waking and i would sleep if i needed to. theoretically. the thing that has helped me sleep the most is finally resolving a lot of my ptsd issues so that the symptoms are manageable. it took years, i am sorry to report, and was excruciating. but quite worth it. i take a number of medications for various things, not all psych meds. don’t know the interactions of melatonin. i don’t think it is a cytochrome P450 liver site metabolizer, which is where so much interaction trouble arises, though, if this helps. one thing:  i do take a name brand of this. ever since the great tryptophan debacle several years ago, i have been quite cautious of any OTC ‘natural’ meds. i know of patients who still suffer from the longterm effects of that tryptophan contaminant, one reason it is no longer available in the states at all. i hope this helps somewhat, johnc. i shall be watching this thread with interest to see if i can learn some new things about this very valuable med (for me.) carole

Response:

>i hope this helps somewhat, johnc. i shall be watching this thread with >interest to see if i can learn some new things about this very valuabl

Thanks for the detailed reply. There is a recent interesting book by Wiley and Formby, Lights Out.  They suggest that "artificial light" is the source of many problems including lack of sleep, weight gain and some medical problems.  The idea is that our bodily rhythms are controlled in first instance by light and that the introduction of artificial light gets us out of whack.  So, I have tried to sleeping in absolute darkness, no light whatsoever.  And it does help.  The authors noted research that demonstrated that in absolute darkness the projection of a spot of light on the back of a sleeping patients leg caused certain brain chemicals to stop immediately, etc.  Regarding weight gain, they suggest that our natural tendency is to crave carbos. in the summer to prepare for the long winter when food will be less available. Artificial light "tricks" our  body into perpetual summer mode with resulting weight gain.   Interesting stuff.  But I still wake up early! JohnC

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