Scary episode with melatonin

[lhamo]

Posting this partly as a warning to anyone who might be considering taking melatonin for sleeping issues, and partly as a query to see if anyone here has had a similar experience.

I have been sleeping badly for over two weeks due to severe jetlag -- a 10 day trip 12 time zones away where I had just gotten adjusted and then had to come back and deal with the jetlag the opposite direction. Very stressed during that period, too -- working 10-12 hour days, no time/energy to exercise, eating foods that I know mess with my physical and mental well-being, etc. Oh, and my job limbo just keeps dragging on and on, though at least now I know they aren't going to give me the "big job". Still stressed and annoyed that I don't really know what job they ARE going to give me, and what they are going to pay me for it, though. Anyhoo...

After 5 nights of only getting 2-3 hours of sleep, I was pretty much at my wits end and DH suggested I try taking melatonin. He has taken it in the past when he's had a bout of insomnia and it works well for him. So I took my first one Thursday night. It did seem to help me sleep better -- slept from about 10pm to 3 am. Had an insane day at work Friday and didn't manage to leave the office for home until about 8:30 (had arrived at 7:45 am). When I called DH on my way home, I suddenly felt like sobbing. I put it down to a long, tiring day. Took another melatonin before finally heading to bed around 12:00 am. Woke up at 3am feeling HORRIBLE both physically and emotionally. I've had major depressive episodes in the past and this feeling was comparable to the worst I've felt during those. Listless, no energy for anything but sitting on the couch, on the verge of bursting into tears all day. Just awful. Had important work stuff I should have been dealing with and just couldn't bring myself to do it. Every time I thought about it I wanted to lay down and cry. Managed to slog through the day, dozing off and on, and finally went to bed around 8pm. Took another melatonin, thinking it would help me sleep better again. Woke up at 1am. Feeling just as awful as the day before, if not worse.

Finally it occurred to me that this horrible feeling may have been triggered by the melatonin. Lightbulb moment. Quick web search verified that it can indeed exacerbate depression in some people. Spent all day yesterday feeling awful again, but at least hoping that maybe once it wore off I would be back to normal.

Last night no melatonin. Slept from 10-4. Woke up feeling like myself again -- yay! Went to the gym later to boost the endorphins and make sure I don't get back in that funk again.

I was really surprised that it affected me that way. I've been taking 5HTP since last fall, and it seems to help stabilize my moods without any negative side effects. This was SOOOO radically different. Brain chemistry is really subtle.

So, has anyone else had an episode like this or am I just a freak of nature? Curious....

[reader99]

I haven't had the experience, but I appreciate you telling about it. I go to a widows' support group, and sleeplessness is one of the problems we talk about. Melatonin is often recommmended, and while it worked for me I think they should all know of the possible negative reaction. I learned not to take the time release kind, it kept me dozing into the next day.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

I have taken Melatonin for years with not one negative episode. However, DH takes it too and will only take maybe 1/2 of a pill, and because he doesn't sleep well I am always encouraging him to take a whole one as I do. He won't do it, saying that he doesn't like the way it makes him feel. Everyone is different and apparently this is not for you.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Lhamo, thanks for posting this. One thing I am learning from the health issues I am dealing with is that health is not so easy as just popping a pill and magically your problems go away. I also believe everyone's body chemisty is a bit different and what works for some won't just blanket work for everyone. Good thing you had the AHA moment and stopped taking the melatonin and were able to get some sleep! I know how not getting sleep can really mess with the quality of life and overall perspective.

Interesting thing I have found out lately is that my depression and sluggishness overall exhaustion that I have been dealing with for the past ten years - and the fact that I was almost completely gray by the time I was 38 - all may be due to my recently diagnosed hypothyroidism and I've had these issues for years with no diagnosis until recently. Health seems to me to be complex overall and so inter-related - case in point, gout (which I deal with once in awhile) and hypothyroidism often like to appear together and there may be a biological reason for this. My point here - complexity and inter-relatedness. I'm just glad you are feeling better and getting some sleep. Rob

[CathyA]

It wouldn't surprise me if all your jet-lag and lack of sleep just came to a sudden head, and maybe it wasn't the melatonin at all? Do you think that's possible?
Did you have sleep problems before this last trip?

[Gardenarian]

I took melatonin once and it triggered a seizure (I have a seizure disorder.)
I have read that cherries (specifically dried cherries) contain melatonin and are good for jet lag, without the side effects the pills may have. I've never had a problem with cherries.
Some supplements are certainly very powerful.

[CathyA]

Wow Gardenarian.......that must have been scary!

[Kestrel]

I don't know if I have "insomnia" or not -- I don't have trouble sleeping, rather just going to sleep. I ponder and re-hash everything you could possibly think of, but I do eventually fall asleep, and once I'm asleep, I sleep just fine. Melatonin helps me fall asleep fairly quickly. Don't know about the other side-effects.

[Selah]

I've taken melatonin on and off for years. I usually have more vividly memorable dreams when I take melatonin than when I don't, and I do have to be careful not to take it when I don't need it...if I do, it makes me very groggy and a bit down. Now I just take it when I am either struggling with insomnia, or I know that I won't get enough sleep because of a late bedtime and an early morning. In other words, I've found that melatonin works best for me when I take it as a "help me fall asleep" pill, or a prophylactic against a known upcoming period of sleep deprivation.

[SiouzQ.]

I am a little bi-polar and melatonin doesn't work for me at all; it actually has the opposite effect and makes my thoughts race as I try to go to sleep and makes me more jazzed up! The only thing that sort of works is Extra-Sleepyime Tea right before I go to bed and about 25 mg. of Benadryl. But alas, even that is not working very well lately. My mind is all convoluted with trying to get ready for my road trip to New Mexico (leaving on Friday!), my growing jewelry business and CRAZINESS at WholeFoods. We have been very busy and very short-staffed for a long time. I can feel the burnout creeping upon me; so a 16 day road trip adventure is sorely needed by now!