Melatonin Experiment: My New Natural Sleep Aid

Optimum Nutrition's brand.

I've been working night shifts for many years now.  There is certainly a learning curve on how to get an appropriate amount of sleep when you have to fight sunlight, noisy kids, doors and cabinets slamming, etc. 
I was prescribed Ambien for a while and it seemed to work pretty well. This stuff comes in REAL handy if you are taking online classes while working a second job too.

I was warned of all the side effects and sometimes (begrudgingly) get cornered into recants of my past "weird" episodes while taking the drug.  Wifey thinks it is REAL funny to tell anyone who will listen about the goofy things I did or said when on Ambien. All the more reason to report that...

Melatonin works just as well and is ALL natural.  The same Emergency Room physician that prescribed me the Ambien had found Melatonin to work for her and she weined herself off of her Ambien addiction.  Now, I wouldn't say I got ADDICTED to Ambien. I know what addiction feels like. I chewed Copenhagen for 15 years. Quiting that was TOUGH. I still think about it from time to time as a matter of fact and I've been off chew for probably ten years or so. With sleep medication, it is more of an addiction to want to fall asleep on demand. Anyway, I digress...

Three years of sleep...in a bag...
for a mere $26.

Melatonin is sold over-the-counter which means no prescription is necessary.  It is relatively cheap, comes in a tablet (no yucky flavor), and disolves quickly (kinda too quickly).  I plugged the word "Melatonin" into my favorite deal website and waited for an alert email to tell me when it was on sale.

When I was finally alerted, I ordered 12 bottles (1200 tables) of Optimum Nutrition's label for $26 on Amazon. It arrived quickly and I always love that I didn't have to leave the house.

I began experimenting with dosage. Each tablet is 3mg. I took one and waited...and waited.  The first time around I guess I was kinda comparing it to the Ambien. If you've never taken Ambien, you can tell when it starts to kick in with a feeling, at least for me, of maybe feeling a little tipsy (slightly drunk).

One tablet of Melatonin didn't produce that feeling but within 30 to 45 minutes I was noticeably tired.  Then I wondered if I was just tired because it was 45 minutes later into the night.

So the next night I took two 3mg tables.  Right around the 30 minutes mark I noticed a drowsiness kick in as I was watching Season 3 of Lost.  Like that show isn't hard enought to follow (with all the time traveling back and forth) without nodding off thanks to Melatonin. Conclusion, two tables worked well.

Now, being the idiot that I am, a few nights later I tried four tablets. I figured "Hey, this is ALL natural. Not like it's gonna be BAD for me or anything." Sure enough, right around the 30 minute mark, the sledge hammer hit me (and right in the middle of a Lost episode, dangit!) I slept for ten hours straight, through the entire family getting up to go to school AND Wifey's return home with two toddlers (read: noisy).

She finally came in the bedroom to check on me and informed me I had been asleep for ten hours. I think I mumbled something and went back out for another two hours.  I finally drug myself out of bed and certainly felt whammied. Like a hard night out partying.

Conclusion: I'm 270 pounds, 6'3" and two tablets of 3mg Melatonin works just fine for me. If you're smaller than that, just stick with one tablet.  If you're broke and two days from payday, take four and by the time you wake up, you'll have enough money to order a pizza.

What do YOU use for a sleep aid?

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