Sleep disorders occur frequently in people with bipolar disorder, a psychiatric disorder characterized by extreme mood changes. Around 10 million Americans suffer from bipolar disorder, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Medications for bipolar disorder, which include anti-psychotics and anti-depressants, have unpleasant side effects that often interfere with a person's ability to take them regularly. Melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate your internal clock, may help with some symptoms of bipolar disorder. It is not a substitute or sole treatment for the disorder.
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The pineal gland in the brain releases melatonin when it's dark, and suppresses it when it's light. Melatonin levels rise as bedtime approaches, increasing tiredness and promoting sleep. Taking melatonin supplements can help restore normal sleep cycles. Manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder can severely disrupt sleep patterns, so that people appear to need very little sleep. Increasing the ability to sleep at normal times may help with bipolar symptoms.
Studies
A small study of five patients conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and reported in the September 1997 issue of the "Journal of Clinical Psychiatry" found no benefit when adding melatonin to a stable regimen of medications for 12 weeks. In fact, the addition of melatonin supplements appeared to suppress the body's natural melatonin secretion in two patients.
Side Effects
Melatonin can cause drowsiness during the day and can also cause vivid dreams at night. Melatonin may worsen depression, a serious consideration if you have bipolar disorder with depression. Other potential side effects include decreased sex drive, dizziness and headache, low sperm count in men, abdominal cramping or irritability. Men may experience breast enlargement known as gynecomastia. Melatonin supplements can also decrease the effectiveness of some antidepressant medications, which many bipolar patients take to treat depression.
Considerations
Few, if any, legitimate medical practitioners recommend melatonin as a sole treatment for bipolar disorder, a serious psychiatric disease that can cause life-threatening behaviors in extreme forms. MayoClinic.com classifies melatonin for use in bipolar disorder as not thoroughly tested in humans, with its safety and effectiveness not established. If you have bipolar disorder, do not take supplemental melatonin without discussing its use with your medical practitioner, since it has a number of side effects and medicine interactions that could be harmful.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Melatonin; Steven Ehrlich; December 2009
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: Bipolar Disorder
- "Journal of Clinical Psychiatry"; Effects of Exogenous Melatonin Administration and Withdrawal in Five Patients with Rapid-Cycling Bipolar Disorder; L. Leibenluft, et al.; September 1997
- MayoClinic.com; Melatonin; August 2011
