Melatonin for Sleep 
It's Most Common Use

Using Melatonin for Sleep is the most common reason that melatonin is used. And rightly so since it is actually a hormone that our own body produces at night in order to help us get to sleep.

Melatonin for sleep is actually well-studied and has shown to be safe and effective for the vast majority of people for this purpose. Even Melatonin for Children, the VERY ill and the elderly seems to be an incredibly safe and effective sleep aid with few problems reported in over a decade of use.

The studies on melatonin sleep aids is quite comprehensive with really a massive amount of studies over the years. While the jury is still out on Melatonin Long Term Effects, the more studies that continue to be reported, the safer and safer melatonin seems.

As far as effectiveness, the use of melatonin for insomnia seems to make it a really excellent choice- especially since Melatonin Addiction is virtually unknown, unlike the downside of addiction like other types of pharmaceutical sleeping pills have. Since melatonin is produced at night and can make you sleepy, it's important that melatonin is taken at night, preferably about 1/2 hour before bedtime- although taking it as early as 6 pm has been reported to be a more effective strategy by some people.

Melatonin for Sleep

Again, be sure that you take your Melatonin Dosage at NIGHT!! This is important because some people report Side Effects of Melatonin to be sleepiness. This is NOT a side effect, it's what it is supposed to do!! Do not take melatonin during the day, it MUST be taken at night because it can make you sleepy. If it makes you sleepy or tired, please do not worry or be upset, it's supposed to do this. The one thing that melatonin can also do is to cause you to sleep more deeply or to be sleepy in the morning.

Morning Sleepiness

Morning sleepiness is probably one of the most reported Side Effects of Melatonin and can be worse at higher dosages. It is NOT a symptom of an overdose because it is EXTREMELY difficult to cause a Melatonin Overdose. In fact, those who have TRIED to overdose on melatonin have failed, and studies have given up to 6000 milligrams of melatonin every day for 30 days without overdose symptoms. That would be the amount present in about 20 full BOTTLES of the average Melatonin Supplement.

If you do happen to get excessive sleepiness the morning after taking Melatonin for Sleep, then the next time that you take it, you should make sure to do two things:

1) Make sure you get a full 8 hours sleep: The vast majority of people complaining of morning sleepiness are simply not getting 8 hours of sleep. Of COURSE you are going to be tired in the morning if you take Melatonin sleep aids and then don't allow yourself a full night's sleep.

2) Take less melatonin: Some studies actually showed that a smaller Melatonin Dosage might work better than larger doses. The average capsule contains between 1 to 3 milligrams, but as little as 1/10 of one milligram was effective to help people get to sleep. In some people the lower dosage was actually MORE helpful in having them sleep better and there was less morning sleepiness.

Melatonin for Sleep in Children

Melatonin sleep aids have been used safely and effectively for many years for children with sleeping disorders from many causes. For more detailed information about this topic, please go to the Melatonin for Children page.

Melatonin for Sleep in the Elderly

Melatonin sleep aids have also been well-studied in elderly populations. The elderly DO tend to benefit greatly from melatonin for insomnia since melatonin hormones gradually decrease in production as we get older. This fact has also caused melatonin to be studied as an anti-aging supplement as well.

While the jury is still out about melatonin as an anti-aging substance, if you take a look at the What is Melatonin page, you'll see that melatonin is also an antioxidant and so the 'anti aging' claim definitely has merit.

The elderly, while often benefiting from melatonin administration, also suffer more Side Effects of Melatonin such as morning sleepiness. Therefore, the lowest Melatonin Dosage possible, as little as 0.1 to 0.3 milligrams (that's 100 to 300 MICROGRAMS) for insomnia should initially be used instead of larger doses since these tiny doses are usually just as effective as larger doses and cause fewer problems.

Melatonin for Sleep is a well studied subject with a long history of safety. While the Melatonin Long Term Effects are not entirely known, melatonin has been used safely in large doses for up to 3 years with almost no problems. But melatonin for insomnia is not the ONLY use of this inexpensive supplement, keep reading to find out more about otherMelatonin Benefits that you are probably not aware of…

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Melatonin Benefits 

Melatonin for Sleep Resources

• Melatonin Supplements- Pharmaceutical grade melatonin supplements in a choice of either Sublingual tablets or time release capsules that will keep working all night.
• Melatonin in Health Promotion - Amazon book that examines virtually all aspects of the multifunctional hormone melatonin. Topics addressed include how melatonin is synthesized; possible harmful side effects; and the role this hormone plays in diseases such as epilepsy, Alzheimer's, and cancer.

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