Sleeping well can never be taken for granted again when you are dealing with restless legs. I know from experience that, especially in times when things are going very bad, you want to try everything.
Someone I know recently recommended that I try melatonin. I had read about this before. What I had remembered, however, was that you shouldn’t just take it. On the other hand, I was also curious if it would do something for me.
I initially decided to take a tablet every evening for a week. This person had given me two boxes with tablets. That made it very easy to organize. After that week I did not take a week, and then tested again for another week.
In this blog I will tell you more about my experience and I will go into more detail about what melatonin is. I go into the following questions:
- What is melatonin?
- What effect does a supplement with melatonin have?
- What is my personal experience?
What is melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone and, like dopamine, belongs to the group of neurotransmitters. The hormone is produced in the pineal gland from serotonin. Serotonin is also a neurotransmitter. Melatonin and serotonin both influence the sleep-wake rhythm.
The production of melatonin is related to the exposure of the eyes to (blue) light. When that exposure is high, the production of melatonin decreases. When there is less exposure to light, production increases. The body then prepares for sleep. A relatively higher amount of melatonin in your system will make you feel sleepy and you will fall asleep faster. By morning, melatonin production slows down and you wake up.
Disruption in production can cause disruption in your biorhythm. This can lead to problems falling asleep and reduce sleep quality. Such disruptions occur with jet lag or when you systematically run night shifts.
Melatonin supplements
Melatonin is freely available in lower doses (<0.3mg) from pharmacies as a dietary supplement. You don’t need a prescription from the doctor. This invites to experiment yourself. The drug has been marketed as a supplement and not as a medicine. For that reason, melatonin supplements have never been extensively tested for side effects or longer-term effects.
The supplement has been developed to correct disturbances in the biorhythm. It is not intended to be taken chronically as a sleep aid. However, they are often used for this purpose. Doctors are concerned about this and recommend that you first do something about circumstances to sleep better. Trying to get the biological clock back in line in a natural way is preferable.
There are also risks to experimenting yourself. For example, you can choose too high a dosage. It also matters at what time you take the tablet. It differs per person what the “right” time is. Such an individual time can be determined by means of a saliva test.
If used incorrectly, the biorhythm gets further upset. You can also get sleeping problems or complaints such as headaches and daytime sleepiness. Clearly the supplement is counterproductive in that case. Therefore, consult a doctor before you start experimenting yourself.
Personal experience
My first experience with taking extra melatonin was quite positive. I had the impression that I fell back to sleep more easily if I had woken up at night from my restless legs. I kept in mind from the start of my experiment that my positive initial experience could be related to suggestion. I had also read about this in advance.
In a trial among a group of people, half of the test group had taken melatonin for a fixed period. The other half received a placebo. It was remarkable that a positive effect was also observed in the people who had received a placebo. The explanation given for this was that it was a result of suggestion. At the suggestion of a positive effect, your brain produces substances that in themselves provide a beneficial effect. According to this trial. I think that is a striking outcome. To be honest, I don’t mind if you sleep better because of this.
I think a possible disadvantage is that you can become addicted to taking extra melatonin. I think that addiction can be very physical. I know someone in my area who needed more and more melatonin before it even helped. I’m not a doctor, of course, but it looks like she was physically habituated. I think you can also become addicted mentally. In the short time that I tested melatonin, I already noticed that I found it difficult to quit. Would it be harder for me to fall asleep without a pill?
My preliminary conclusion is that you should not just start taking melatonin. It is tempting to do this, especially if you are dealing with a condition like restless legs. Chronically poor sleep is extremely annoying. Sometimes you want to do everything to maybe have a good night’s sleep again. However, it is unwise to just resort to resources that may even be harmful to you.
Hello Sylvia. I’m Scott. Thank you for your efforts. I’m wondering a marijuana and its possible benefit for RLS. You are in The Netherlands, and I’ve heard marijuana is not illegal there, at least not in Amsterdam. Has there been any experimenting done do you know?
Hi Scott, thank you for your question. Opioids are sometimes used by people with RLS. I recently read about someone who tried methadon, with success. Canabis is also used by some. The downside of such substances is of course that they are addictive.