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Comment by WalterSear | Hacker News Reader

I'd also not recommend melatonin, but not for the reason that the other poster gave, which suggest that they are taking melatonin in the amounts that it is formulated at pharmacies, which is usually orders of magnitude that of the recommended dose, and probably too late in the evening (>Don't< take it before going to bed, take it ~3 hours before going to bed)

However, after taking it for several years on most days, I developed heart palpitations and other strange sensations. They disappeared a few weeks after I stopped taking it.

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Agree with your use case/pattern - taking the pills n hours before when you want to sleep. Cut the pills in half if you can.

Everybody has a different reaction to sleep medicine. You might also consider environmental changes (blackout curtains, earplugs, or meditation before going to sleep - seriously) to address other possible sleep problems.

I take melatonin every day, and I find my ideal time to take it is about an hour before bed. I take a small dose (1mg), which seems plenty, and in fact in the past I took half of that. People vary. You can buy tablets with ridiculously large doses, and I definitely would not recommend taking those regularly.

I've noticed that in addition to becoming more expensive, over the past few years, it's started coming in really high dosages at retail outlets (drug stores, etc).

The cost difference makes it silly for me to buy a bottle of 90 1mg tablets for $10 instead of the bottle of 90 5mg tablets for $13 so I get the higher dosage and just snap bits off of them to swallow. I've seen bottles at our local Rite Aid with 10mg tablets recently! That's just crazy IMO.

From what I understand, after a certain point, there's not much benefit to higher dose and it can screw up your sleep patterns more than it helps.

The 1 mg bottle may be more effective. Bigger isn't always better.

>I'd also not recommend melatonin

Yeah I'm aware that its not ideal. Come to think of it I actually told myself I'd stop once peak season is over so I guess thats now. First need to get rid of the coffee though then the falling asleep will be fine.

>take it ~3 hours before going to bed

I thought 1 hour?

Closer to 2-3, but you may have to find the right time for you.

If you have ever gone on an extended camping trip, think about the time between sundown and the time you naturally start wanting to fall asleep.

For DSPS sleepers it can be up to 5hrs.

Don't want to get too far off topic but I had never heard of DSPS. Not gonna get into self-diagnosis but...this is exactly what I have been trying to explain to people for the past 20 years or more. Interesting to learn that it's a "known issue".

How much coffee are you drinking?

Some intense exercise (7+ mile runs) will wipe you out. I'd recommend you keep the coffee, and get your body moving. Allocate 1 hour of your day, to 120+ bpm workouts.

Just TRY not to sleep.

>How much coffee are you drinking?

Not a huge amount. Probably like 2-3 good strength cups.

>Some intense exercise (7+ mile runs) will wipe you out.

Yeah been getting some exercise, but I find it keeps me awake if its too close to bedtime.

I used to drink about that much. Any amount after noon, and I would have trouble sleeping.

> I developed heart palpitations

http://drsircus.com/medicine/magnesium/magnesium-the-ultimat...

Thanks for this, I get plenty of magnesium. I'm reasonably certain that the extended melatonin use was a primary cause, in my case.

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