If you have delayed sleep phase syndrome, you know what it's like to toss and turn while wide awake at night when all you what do is sleep. You know how hard, and sometimes impossible, it is to wake up early in the morning after such few hours of restful sleep. Melatonin is a natural supplement that may help suffers of DSPS sleep better, but like any natural supplement, you should only take it under the supervision of a medical professional.
Circadian Rhythms
Delayed sleep phase syndrome is a circadian rhythm sleeping disorder, meaning it delays the internal clock that tells your body to sleep when it's dark and to wake when it's light outside. DSPS delays sleep by at least two hours, and most patients fall asleep between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Melatonin is the hormone that helps regulate the internal clock. At night when it's dark, your body produces more melatonin so you can sleep. When the sun comes up in the morning, the body produces less melatonin, helping you to wake up and function during daylight hours.
Melatonin Benefits
Many studies have shown that in supplemental form, melatonin can help DSPS patients fall asleep earlier, although it does not cure the sleep disorder. For example, in 1994, the Sleep Disorders Centre in Milan, Italy, studied six DSPS patients who took 5mg of melatonin a day for one month. Melatonin helped the patients fall asleep, on average, 115 minutes earlier and wake an average of 106 minutes earlier than before taking melatonin, cites the journal "NeuroReport." Because melatonin can help DSPS patients sleep better and thus function better during daylight hours, melatonin can also improve quality of life.
Dosage
Melatonin most commonly comes in tablets, but it also comes in capsules, a cream and lozenges that dissolve under the tongue. Only your doctor can determine the right melatonin dose for you; however, the University of Maryland Medical Center recommends beginning with a dose of 1 to 3mg an hour before bed. If you do not notice a difference after three days, you can up the dose to 6mg. You can also try taking melatonin earlier in the evening.
A 2005 study published in the journal "Sleep" by the Department of Neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine found that taking melatonin 6 ½ hours before bed was more effective than taking melatonin 1 1/2 hours before bed.
Warnings
The Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated melatonin for safety. In general, children should not take melatonin unless a doctor prescribes it. Melatonin may cause vivid nightmares, daytime drowsiness, stomachache, headache, dizziness, irritability, decreased libido, breast enlargement in men and decreased sperm count.
Talk to your doctor about all conditions you have and any medications or supplements you may be taking. Melatonin might cause complications if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, depression or seizures. Melatonin may negatively interfere with sedatives, birth control, antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, blood pressure medications, beta-blockers, blood thinners, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, immunosuppressant medications, tamoxifen and interleukin-2.
References
- American Sleep Assocation; Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome; September 2007
- End Your Sleep Deprivation; Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome; Josh Stone and Kevin Morton; Spring 2010
- "NeuroReport"; Melatonin and Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome: Ambulatory Polygraphic Evaluation; A. Oldoni, et al.; December 1994
- "Journal of Psychosomatic Research"; Effects of Melatonin on the Quality of Life in Patients with Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome; J.E. Nagtegaal, et al.; January 2000
- "Sleep"; Phase-dependent Treatment of Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome with Melatonin; K. Mundey, et al.; October 2005
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Melatonin; Steven D. Ehrlich, NMD; December 2009
