Don’t you just love the photo above? I imagine this is what me, my husband, and my six year old look like each night. Well, except I would never, ever have white sheets on our bed, and the six year old is likely to be laying sideways kicking one of us in he face. It is nice to imagine we look that peaceful though. ;)
I have actually suffered from insomnia for a few years now and it has gotten better after I started exercising 4-5 days a week (about a year ago) and went paleo (about 4 months ago). I have even noticed a big difference just in the last 2 weeks as I started supplementing with magnesium but I would still like to sleep more. Last night I knew I would have to wake up at 6:00 am to make the early CrossFit class and when I passed by a bottle of Melatonin I decided to try it. It has been recommended as a natural sleep aid for years. So I took one pill about 20 minutes before bed and even went to bed early, missing the season finale of The Walking Dead. THAT is commitment to fitness yo!
I wish I could say I slept through the night in peaceful slumber but I did not. It was a HUGE mistake taking that pill and I am ready to chuck that entire bottle in the garbage. One side effect of Melatonin, as I understand it now anyway, is vivid dreams. I had vivid NIGHTMARES all night long. They were so vivid and terrible that they woke me up all night long, usually screaming. My poor husband was woke continuously as I thrashed around screaming “Help!”
Then when I woke up my ears were ringing and my head felt like it weighed 50 pounds. I won’t go into how I know this detail but it was eerily similar to what happens when you overdose on certain analgesics. I can’t believe I did but I still went to CrossFit. Then I came home and crashed. I slept for hours and then later had to keep taking cold showers because I felt like I was burning up. I still feel like I am operating at 110 degrees (hot flashes) and I am seriously going to hesitate next time I decide to take anything from a pill bottle, whether it is touted as natural or not.
Ironically I read a book last night about Curing Tooth Decay (awesome book BTW) and it discusses all the vitamins and minerals you need to remineralize your teeth and prevent them from decaying, ever. It specifically said that you must not take synthetic supplements. You must get them from food and it listed lots of sources for each. After reading the book and experiencing this I am really going to make a bigger effort to get my hands on specific foods that have the properties I am looking for and not be so quick to reach for a bottle. Or I will make sure that the ingredients in the bottle are from food and are not synthesized. I actually already know this and am not sure why I had this lapse. It is good to have these reminders that food should be our medicine.
I’ve had the same exact experience with melatonin! I actually am about to try my first supplement of magnesium tonight, and I’m really hoping it helps. So glad to hear it helps you!
Me too! I have issues sleeping at night and I used to take melatonin. Nothing too serious, no physical side effects… but I did have some disturbing vivid dreams. Is it not good for you? Everyone has different experiences and so I guess what I’m wondering is it safe to continue taking if we find it to be not that bad of a reaction?
Well, the pill I took was 3mg and I read just today that many doctors recommend you only take a portion of the pill and get 1mg instead of 3. After my experience though I will never touch the stuff again, LOL.
Me too! I have issues sleeping at night and I used to take melatonin. Nothing too serious, no physical side effects… but I did have some disturbing vivid dreams. Is it not good for you? Everyone has different experiences and so I guess what I’m wondering is it safe to continue taking if we find it to be not that bad of a reaction?
I give 1 mg. to my 7 year old (adopted) daughter. She has trouble falling to sleep at night, was diagnosed with PTSD and now ADHD. Her grades were not good, until I started this dosage. Now she is making A’s and B’s (up from C’s and D’s). She still has trouble staying as focused as she needs to be, but I’d prefer this over pharmaceutical drugs. She does seem to dream more, but they are not nightmares. I will keep my ears opened for the issues you posted. Thanks for the information.
My mother has had great success with sour cherry juice before bed. She swears by it now!
Thanks for sharing your experience! I have a nephew who tried melatonin and suffered terrible side effects from a “natural” supplement. Insomnia can be caused by so many things including hormonal imbalance, toxic liver and vitamin deficiencies. It can be confusing choosing natural supplements that we hope are gentler to our system, but as you experienced, many are as powerful as drugs, causing side effects. I think eating whole foods is more fun than popping pills!
Wow. I was debating having my daughter try the melatonin, but just your reaction is reason enough not to.