Case study: Melatonin

gwern

I discuss melatonin's effects on sleep & its safety; I segue into the general benefits of sleep and the severely disrupted sleep of the modern Western world, the cost of melatonin use and the benefit (eg. enforcing regular bedtimes), followed by a basic cost-benefit analysis of melatonin concluding that the net profit is large enough to be worth giving it a try barring unusual conditions or very pessimistic safety estimates.

Full essay: http://www.gwern.net/Melatonin

I discuss melatonin's effects on sleep & its safety; I segue into the general benefits of sleep and the severely disrupted sleep of the modern Western world, the cost of melatonin use and the benefit (eg. enforcing regular bedtimes), followed by a basic cost-benefit analysis of melatonin concluding that the net profit is large enough to be worth giving it a try barring unusual conditions or very pessimistic safety estimates.

Full essay: http://www.gwern.net/Melatonin

I take it occasionally (mainly when I need to shift my sleep schedule back a few hours very quickly), but have kept from taking it nightly due to worries of tolerance and such.

Have you noticed any tolerance or know of any studies that cover this?

The metastudy I saw mentioned many studies finding no effect due to large doses causing tolerance effects (and recomended doses of no more than 1mg, IIRC).

I also never heard of the 'subtract an hour' part, nor have I noticed it on my own (though I use it in times when it'd be harder to notice). Has anyone else noticed this effect or are there studies talking about it?

I mainly take it sublingually (0.75mg), which kicks in much more quickly than orally which helps if you can't plan a half hour in advance. I sometimes notice the effects in two minutes this way.

Have you noticed any tolerance or know of any studies that cover this?

I've seen neither. I take pretty much the same dose I did way back in my early teens when I started. But I'll admit, I haven't looked very hard for the latter.

A quick Google Scholar search only turns up a few hits for 'melatonin tolerance' which cover tolerance of melatonin itself; one says

Sleep maintenance and initiation were further improved following the 2-month 1-mg sustained-release melatonin treatment, indicating that tolerance had not developed. After cessation of treatment,

... (read more)

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Case study: Melatonin

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Case study: Melatonin

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