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        New Message Board Archives >> 2004 Cluster Headache Specific Posts >> Melatonin
        
(Message started by: KanKan on Aug 30^th, 2004, 6:10am)

Title: Melatonin
Post by KanKan on Aug 30^th, 2004, 6:10am

Should be placed on a mantel, and worshiped from here on in - in my house. For the first time in 3 weeks, I Slept the WHOLE night through. Ok, Im very happy over this - so if u cant sleep through the night, get some!

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by E-Double on Aug 30^th, 2004, 6:33am

on 08/30/04 at 06:10:42, KanKan wrote:

Fantastic! I hope it continues ;;D

From http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/7/7_11_1.gifto http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/7/7_11_116.gif

I never realized how great sleep was until I didn't get it.
Keep it up.

Eric

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by toolong on Aug 30^th, 2004, 2:48pm

How much of the melatonin do you take? If you are suffering with a CH or shadows does it help or hinder?Also do you take O2 with it or at the same time you go to bed?I do the O2 each night at bedtime and about 70% of the time I don't have a CH thru the night.But still don't ever have a full nights sleep.David [smiley=ugh.gif]

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by E-Double on Aug 30^th, 2004, 5:01pm

on 08/30/04 at 14:48:30, toolong wrote:

How much of the melatonin do you take?

When I first tried it I only took 3mg. I still woke up with the beast only I was too groggy to do anything.

Then I increased to 6mg. and with the exception of 4hits i have slept through the night since the middle of July. Once in a while if I've had a rough day I'll take 9mg.

on 08/30/04 at 14:48:30, toolong wrote:

If you are suffering with a CH or shadows does it help or hinder?

If I'm having a full blown attack I'm not getting to bed anyway. I have gone to bed with heavy shadows though. I'll take 9mg about 1.2 hour before laying down and I'm usually past out soon after.

on 08/30/04 at 14:48:30, toolong wrote:

I do the O2 each night at bedtime and about 70% of the time I don't have a CH thru the night.But still don't ever have a full nights sleep.David [smiley=ugh.gif]

Sounds like you use the O2 as a preventative @ bedtime? Never tried. If it works hey... don't question it ;)

on 08/30/04 at 14:48:30, toolong wrote:

But still don't ever have a full nights sleep.David [smiley=ugh.gif]

Try it. like I said...4 me 1/2 hour before bed I take 6-9mg. then just let it kick in. It works for some.. Worth a shot
Pretty much has wiped out the night visits. Wish I could say the same for the day but atleast I'm sleeping ;)

Big Props to Thomas for this one. His suggestions got me on this kick.

Good luck!

Eric

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by Superpain on Aug 30^th, 2004, 5:52pm

I started out with a high dose of 18mg. I subsequently tried smaller doses with less effective results. Usually smaller doses made me very agitated feeling. 18mg worked good for me though...

But the thing is, since it's not regulated, "mg's" are different from one manufacturer to another. I've seen some people say theirs comes in .5mg tablets... The one's I use come in 3 mg tablets... So it's kind of hard to tell how much you should use depending on the brand. But it's not like it's going to hurt you taking a little too much... Just work up doses till you get a comfortable nights sleep.

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by ex_pat_asia on Aug 30^th, 2004, 6:45pm

on 08/30/04 at 17:01:40, E-Double wrote:

Sounds like you use the O2 as a preventative @ bedtime? Never tried. If it works hey... don't question it ;)

I noted that as well. I am a bit skeptical about whther or not a bit of Oxygen saturation at bedtime could do much for an attack that inevitably arrives 2 hours after sleep. But who knows, what the heck.

Quote:

Big Props to Thomas for this one. His suggestions got me on this kick.

I'll add a hoorah here. It was Thomas' unwavering posts concerning melatonin that prompted me to try this and I believe that it has been part of the success I've had in turning down the dial on this cycle. Before starting the melatonin I had already started a taper and the verapamil. (I know this sounds boring to many veterans here but I had not used it before in that combo) and it had dramatically reduced the number of attacks. However, the nighttime attacks still breached that combo. When I added the melatonin I have had far fewer nighttime attacks. Thank you Thomas.

PFDANs to all

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by Superpain on Aug 30^th, 2004, 7:11pm

Yep... Props to Thomas here too.

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by Kris_in_SJ on Aug 30^th, 2004, 7:42pm

Same here - Thanks Thomas!

Kris

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by IndianaJohn on Aug 30^th, 2004, 9:06pm

I'm not having alot of luck with the melatonin. I got some that listed as 200mcg. I assume that this is micro grams. maybe that's the problem. It seems to work well the first night then after that it doesn't. In fact I wonder if it's keeping me awake subsequent nights.

Sorry if this isn't making sense, I haven't sleep right in a few weeks. My sleep cycle seems to be really messed up.

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by ex_pat_asia on Aug 31^st, 2004, 11:29am

on 08/30/04 at 21:06:23, IndianaJohn wrote:

I'm not having alot of luck with the melatonin. I got some that listed as 200mcg. I assume that this is micro grams. maybe that's the problem.

John, you may want to check on your sleep problems with a sleep specialist. Talk to your neuro about it and desribe to him whats happening. It could be that you are compounding the cluster with sleep apnea, a more common malady then many people realize. he may decide to refer you for a sleep study.

Since nightime CH attacks are so frequent I almost feel a sleep study should be standard drill for clusterheads. You may want to read this:

http://www.respiratoryreviews.com/sep00/rr_sep00_clusterheadaches.html

I just happened to be picking up melatonin today. Every brand on the shelf came in 3mg sized tablets. Not sure what you are getting with the dosage you wrote but just based on the ad hoc data from our posts here, 3 MG is the low range with 6 up to 12 mg common.

Cheers and PFDANs

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by Bob_Johnson on Aug 31^st, 2004, 3:38pm

The studies I have seen were using 9mg at bedtime to prevent cluster.

But for sleep, an interesting study reported on medscape.com said that 0.3 mg was best; that either more or less as a sleep aid didn't work as well.

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by thomas on Aug 31^st, 2004, 3:47pm

Jesus, you guys are making me blush. No thanks are necessary, that is what we do here, share information and try to support each other. I know each and every one of you would/and do the same thing. That's what it's all about, helping each other, thank God for all those who have been here and helped me in so many ways that I will never be able to re-pay them.

*Snake oil salesmen, take note, clusterheadache sufferers share information, freely.

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by Redrum on Aug 31^st, 2004, 4:20pm

I have been in my current episode for about 4 months with 3 to 5 HAs a day and at least 2 of them reaching level 7 to 9, uhg. So I saw all these recommendations to try melatonin (thanks Thomas et. al.) and though I'd try it.

3 days ago I went to GNC and they sold me 1mg sublingual. I know everyone here has been recommending about 9 mg but I figured I'd give it a shot at the lower dose first, make sure I didn't have reactions to it or anything.

So the first night I took the 1 mg. sublingual and guess what? for the first time in about 4 months I slept through the night with no beast waking me to dance.

The next day I had one level 3 HA. pop another 1 mg under my tongue that evening, slept like a baby and again the following day (yesterday) had just 1 level 3 HA.

I didn't sleep so well last night but thats the dogs fault, lol, not the beast and so far today so good.

Now I'm willing to believe this is coincidence. I remeber about 8 years ago I had a Doc tell me it was just allergies and he prescribed bran muffins and local honey. I knew he was full of it but figured the advice couldn't hurt. a few weeks later my cycle ended (as I was expecting it to) and now this Doc is convinced his muffin recipie was the reason. Of course you and I know better. The point is that I am at that timing in my cycle now when I would hope to see it end so maybe the melatonin didn't really help and its just coincidence but I have a feeling we're on to something good here.

I also relize that 3 days may not be enough time to really evaluate whats going on.

If we assume the melatonin is helping should I be using a stronger dose? are there any risks to using the sublingual? or, as my Pappy says, "If it works don't fix it"

;;D [smiley=laugh.gif] ;;D [smiley=laugh.gif] ;;D [smiley=laugh.gif]

PFDAN to all!
~ (a very happy) Andy

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by IndianaJohn on Aug 31^st, 2004, 4:26pm

Ya know, maybe I just got a bad batch or something. Perhaps it was one of those where the capsule was stuffed with cat shit and I was supposed to rub it on my head. Think I'll head to the nearest GNC and get some real melatonin.

btw, This may sound goofy, but some of the herbal teas may help with sleep. NOT saying they will have the same effect as melatonin and the beast. But just as a sleep aid, stuff like Bigelow's lemon tea usually helps me sleep. I don't think for a moment that it will stop a HA, but if you're out of cycle it can help.

Anyway PFDAN to All!

John

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by floridian on Aug 31^st, 2004, 9:28pm

on 08/30/04 at 21:06:23, IndianaJohn wrote:

I'm not having alot of luck with the melatonin. I got some that listed as 200mcg. I assume that this is micro grams. maybe that's the problem.

That is correct - 200 micrograms, which is on the low side. 5 of those tablets would be 1 milligram. 1 milligram usually has some effect on my sleep, but when things are really messed up, I take at least 3 mg.

The 'sublingual' form may be absorbed better, so milligram for milligram, you might need less.

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by ex_pat_asia on Sep 1^st, 2004, 1:32am

on 08/31/04 at 15:47:33, thomas wrote:

Jesus, you guys are making me blush. No thanks are necessary,

thank God for all those who have been here and helped me in so many ways that I will never be able to re-pay them.

Thomas, let me share with you what I think specifically about your frequent posts about melatonin. I should add, by the way, Floridian's posts as well. One of them some weeks ago led me to research that was encouraging and bolstered my decision to start melatonin.

But getting back to your posts: All of us should realize that every post we make has a potential to be a catalyst that leads to a breakthrough for a reader, the kind of breakthrough that could potentially mean a vastly improved sense of well being. In that fact alone there is potential here to help another human being in a very big way. We need to acknowledge that the nature of the medium (internet - Bulletin boards) is transient. Our posts "decay" very quickly and are often lost in a basket of "noise" such as chit chat posts, or flame posts, etc. Additionally threads die and eventually become part of the archives. To be honest I think there are very few users with the intuition and perservence to use search tools at all, let alone inside a BBS. It is your steadfastness to the subject and repetition that wins in the end.

The first time I read a comment by you about Melatonin I tended to discount it. That was simply because I had used it a number of years ago to assist with jet lag when I was flying all over the place almost constantly. At the time it was not very helpful and, in fact, the morning sluggishness it gave me scared me ...as it sort of felt like the CA shadows.

But reading your repeated comments, and then seeing Floridian's post that referenced some research won me over to at least try. So, perserverence pays off. The infrequent visitor who might get much out of trying melatonin has a better chance to see a post on the subject--the frequent visitor gets won over by the level of conviction displayed in the repetition.

In the end it is your perserverence that pays off. You win kudos for advancing the idea of using melatonin as one more tool for some of us to use against the beast. But the real victory is demonstrating the potential of conviction, and perserverence.

As they say down under-- "good on you mate"

Cheers and PFDANs to all

Title: Re: Melatonin
Post by ExPat_jac on Sep 1^st, 2004, 2:36am

on 08/31/04 at 11:29:06, ex_pat_asia wrote:

My problem isn't so much that I have problems sleeping...it is that my body fights me going to sleep because it knows what will happen....

For me, it is almost like an alarm clock...I sleep for maybe two hours at a stretch...and my body wakes me up....

(you can not imagine what it feels like the times I finally break down a take something such as Xanax and force myself to get a full nights uninterupped sleep...heaaches be damned.....)

I guess over the years my body has come to expect a coralation with sleep=heaaches and thus...brings on anxity when it comes to going to sleep...

Of course, the big problem is, my body is right...if I get much over three to four hours of straight sleep in a single time period, I wake up hurtin like hell!

Boy...life is fun ain't it :)

PFDAN to you all.....

ExPat_Jac