Hacker News Reader

i have a similar routine with a sprinkle of melatonine. i found that melatonine makes all the difference, but i also heard that it doesn't work at all for some people.

View on HN

And for some, it is very powerful.. I recommend first-timers start with a half-tablet!

Melatonin works great when you're trying to adjust your bedtime to be much earlier than when your body is expecting.

Yes, I don't use it often, but when I do, .25mg is plenty. I don't know why they even sell the 3mg tablets.

I don't know why they sell the 3mgs either because nothing less than three of them has any effect on me. Thank god for 10mg tablets.

I've seen speculation that the reason you never see melatonin pills less than 1mg is this patent:

http://www.google.com/patents/US5449683:

"the dose of melatonin administered ranges from 0.1 to 1.0 mg of melatonin"

The larger dosages supposedly have less risk of running afoul of the patent.

I've taken it several times and it does nothing for me :-(

You may be taking too much, and too late. Shoot for 0.3mg, three hours before 'bedtime'.

You may need to break up the pill yourself.

EDIT: That was supposed to be 0.3mg

Trader Joes sells some that are .5mg that I find to be the perfect dose.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com