Melatonin added to the mix

[badnights]

I've recently started using melatonin. The first night was insane. I took it 2 hr before I expected to go to bed, but after 1 hr, I was too sleepy to stay up. I had taken no zopiclone, yet I slept like a log most of the night. It hasn't been that good since but still pretty good, for about a week, but I have been getting very sleepy during the day. I simply couldn't stay awake. (I also couldn't sleep much of the time, since I would have WED/RLS symptoms, so it was not simply a matter of letting myself catch up on lost sleep.) Last night I didn't take melatonin and today I had more energy.

That's not enough data to conclude anything, because my energy levels, sleepiness, and mood are very variable even when I'm not adding and subtracting medications.

Does anyone get melatonin hangover consisting of extra sleepiness the next day?

[Yankiwi]

I've been interested in trying melatonin. It is a prescription drug in New Zealand, I'll ask my GP on the next visit.

[Polar Bear]

It is my understanding that Melatonin is not generally recommended for use when suffering with RLS.
That RLS could be worsened by melatonin as it can tensify RLS symptoms because it lowers the amount of dopamine in the brain.
However, we all know how perverse some reactions to certain drugs may be.

[Yankiwi]

Thanks, Betty. I'll reconsider.

[XenMan]

Try the lowest dose of melatonin.

I take 5 mg, but know someone who takes 0.5 mg or they become a zombie.

Variable results with RLS. Doesn't impact me.

[ViewsAskew]

I started taking it about a month ago. only 50 mcg. Really effective for me. Not tired the next day.

[badnights]

Oh ya, I forgot to tell my dose. I was using 3 mg. Last two nights I've split that in half. No daytime hangover yet.

It is my understanding that Melatonin is not generally recommended for use when suffering with RLS.
That RLS could be worsened by melatonin as it can intensify RLS symptoms

I avoided it for years because there is an association between higher melatonin levels and increased WED symptoms - but fully aware that it was unknown which was the chicken and which the egg. I think partly I avoided it because I didn't think it could be important (I'm not as logical as I think I am!). I decided to try it because QyX pointed me to some research on tryptophan deficiency, and tryptophan is needed to manufacture melatonin. And my doctor recommended it (again) at about the same time.

My son told me he took it once and was dead sleepy for the next 30 hours. So he never touched it again. He didn't remember the dose. I told him to consider trying it again at 1 mg if he could find it. Ann, where do you get it in microgram sizes? online?

[Polar Bear]

Having seen the posts of Ann, Beth and Xenman it shows that Melatonin is worth trying despite it having a n association with worsened RLS symptoms. Indeed, I may make a trip to the pharmacy today. Bearing in mind to try the lowest dose first.

[ViewsAskew]

Low dose is HARD to find. On Amazon, it was 5 mg, 10 mg, etc! I finally found 1 mg there.

But, random chance, I found 500 mg at Trader Joe's! You don't have any, Beth, unfortunately. I snapped the 1 mg in half prior to finding the ones at TJs.

Now...it's about a month or so after starting. I also am close to a year out on my last infusion and 4 months ago my ferritin was already in a range that I could have had an infusion. Because of COVID-19, I haven't done it. We moved this week - which is VERY stressful. And, twice last week and three times this week, I've had symptoms. Not bad, but enough to either keep me up for an hour or so past the time I'd usually go to bed, or to awaken me before I have had enough sleep.

No way to know which it is (or if it is ALL). I will keep taking the melatonin for now. My guess is that it's the ferritin, followed by the stress.

[badnights]

. My guess is that it's the ferritin, followed by the stress.

definitely the most likely from what I know. Time to brave public places for an infusion!