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Comment by goodside | Hacker News Reader

The impact of light exposure on circadian rhythms is, as far as I can tell, entirely mediated through melatonin. Until evidence to the contrary appears, why should anyone worry about phototherapy for advancing circadian rhythms when melatonin supplements are ridiculously cheap, completely safe, and demonstrably effective?

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Melatonin supplements have been putting me through college. I don't know if I have a non-24-hour sleep cycle, delayed sleep phase syndrome, or I'm just lazy (I think it's the first choice), but until I discovered melatonin supplements about a year ago, my sleep schedule was hopeless. Now, I have no issues whatsoever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-24-hour_sleep-wake_syndrome Isaiah 34:14

How much do you find effective? The standard dosage, or more? I should have been sleeping 6 hours ago.

Walmart around here carries two different dosages: 3 milligram and something else. I can't remember what the other dosage is, but I buy the 3 mg and a single dose works great. I've read that no benefit is gained above a certain very small dosage.

If I take melatonin I find I wake up still feeling quite groggy the next morning...or if I take less than a pill (i.e. half) I feel like nothing is different.

Furthermore, it would make sense to have the body behaving naturally. Suppose, because I'm 6'3" 215 lb I need a different amount of melatonin than a 5'5" 115 lb girl. It would be hard to work out exactly what I needed versus the girl, and a better idea would be to let the body do it itself.

Agreed, there's also variances in body fat and muscle percentages to take into consideration. I'm 5'10" and when I was 210lb I had less fat than extra lean beef. You, me or the girl can easily be overweight or underweight based on our body fat percentage, which can have a considerable effect on drug absorbency.

To be honest, I've worked outside since I was 17 and I still frequently don't get enough sleep. No matter what you do, I think teenagers are always going to be lacking in sleep because on average they need more like 10 hours sleep not 8, and the world isn't set up for that.

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