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Do you take melatonin for sleep disturbances?
My Dad has recently been experiencing aggressive moments while he’s asleep. We worry that he might accidentally hit my Mom. Dad’s neurologist recommended taking melatonin to help with these types of disturbances. Do you take melatonin for sleep disturbances? And has it helped with the aggression?
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23 Replies
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I take a product called DreamWell Ultra, Melatonin plus GABA. Also I take magnesium at night. The 2 of these together offers a good nights sleep for me.
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I take 2(two) each night and it helps. It does not give me a foggy or a mad feeling. My husband was very with the melatonin. I was cherry and enjoyed breakfast with him and the kids.
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I occasionally take a half pill of Somnil.
It is an over the counter “sleep aid”.
I find the half tab works better for me that a full one.
Go figure.
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Mary Beth,
I took Melatonin for a moment. Most of all it made me Pee too much. It also made me a little groggy. Now I try and exercise more and sleep comes easier. I don’t experience aggression
in bed. Getting good sleep is so very important. To me natural sleep is the most restorative.
Blessings,
Mike -
I’ve never heard of melatonin for acting out dreams. I take a slow acting tablet to help me get to sleep. If violent dreams are the problem, that is entirely different.
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I noticed that no one mentioned the amount of Melatonin they were taking. My Neurologist recommended that I after had a nightmare one evening that I take a 1MG tablet of Melatonin which is an all natural sleep aid. Sometimes I take 2MG’s but not all at once because it can make you too sleep which can be dangerous when walking etc.. (Google it for more info). Remember: ‘less is more’ until you find the right dosage.
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I noticed that no one mentioned the amount of Melatonin they were taking. My Neurologist recommended that I after had a nightmare one evening that I take a 1MG tablet of Melatonin which is an all natural sleep aid. Sometimes I take 2MG’s but not all at once because it can make you too sleepy which can be dangerous when walking etc.. (Google it for more info). Remember: ‘less is more’ until you find the right dosage.
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Hello Mary Beth et al,
Have you come across any information regarding Rapid Eye Movement sleep Behavioral Disorder RBD? Here is the weblink to the article from Sleep Medicine that I hope you find helpful https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2823283/
Melatonin is recommended by the panel authors.
People with RBD may act out of dreams and may injure himself (or herself) as well as bed partners. Does your father have bed rails to prevent him jumping out of bed during dreams?
Best
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Hey there the Ducks. I just became aware of REM-SBD where Melatonin was recommended over Quetiapine as a neuro-nocturnal assist in helping to lessen the violent dream states of PD. It is noted to help prevent the RBD from seriously compromising our quality of life which leads to impaired daily functioning.
I’ve yet to take flight out of my bed yet — pole vaulting was never my thing. But I have been known to frighten the begeebers out of my spouse; by screaming, cursing, punching, kicking and attempting to strangle her! I don’t know wo I’m tangoing with or who / what I feel threatened by, but it seems the “fight mode” is the response of choice?-
Hello,
I also take Melatonin for REM Sleep Disorder. I take 10mg and try to exercise every day. If I don’t exercise I risk having some breakthrough symptoms. However, melatonin has taken away the violent dreams and serious acting out. My husband says that I sometimes talk in my sleep quietly some nights, but that is much better than violent dreams where I am fighting off attackers. Recent research is indicating that melatonin is good for your brain, so that is good news.
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I also act out hitting and punching ( poor husband).  My doctor recommended melatonin and I take 2 mg with  1 mg CBD and  5 mg THC  and 1 mg CBN tablet .  It is helping
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Debbie — thanks for the confirmation and the vote of confidence using Melatonin. Sweet dreams!
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I take 20 mg melatonin. It doesn’t seem to be that much different from 3 mg in effect, but I have read research that melatonin is neuroprotective: https://site-akiajqrf22xmaqzsiz6q.s3.amazonaws.com/DDI+Website/News/html/Melatonin+-+The+Swiss+Army+Knife+Among+Antioxidants.html
At the beginning I was quite groggy in the morning but no more.
For the kicking part (like reacting to a dream), that is reminiscent of severe restless leg syndrome to me. What helped me was vitamin D for a few months (I’m taking 9,000 IU to keep my serum levels around 60 ng/mL, which sounds like a crazy dose but it’s due to genetics).  Notably, people with PD are usually more likely to be vitamin D deficient than the normal population, and vitamin D supplementation has been shown to help with RLS and hyperkinetic diseases. Also what helped were vitamin E 400 IU and beta carotene (sweet potatoes, carrots). The vitamin E has a risk factor which I do not understand, but it has been shown to reduce tics in some people.
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From what I’ve read on PD forums, the amount of melatonin taken by members varies incredibly. It’s trial and error. My husband takes Valdoxan for anxiety at bedtime. He was also prescribed 4mg of melatonin. Together, they made him sleepy the following morning. It turned out that Valdoxan is a melatonin agonist. We cut out the melatonin, until now.
Recently his legs have been jerking in the night, so we have introduced 2mg of melatonin. It doesn’t seem to make him sleepy. It’s only been a couple of nights, so it’s too early to know whether it’s helping the problem. Certainly he was much quieter last night.
Gwendoline
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I started taking Melatonin as a sleep aid (no violent sleeping) and at first it worked well (12mg). However, I found indica gummies (cannabis) work so much better. I get a near full night rest.
Axel
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I was diagnosed with REM sleep disorder 6+ years ago and am about to get a scan to see about a PD diagnosis. I am very vocal at night. I talk yell, shout and flail and punch. Once I almost bit my husband. I was so humiliated. I tried 20 mg of melatonin for a month. It helps a little but not much. Clonazepam puts me to sleep all night and keeps me pretty quite. I don’t know if induced sleep is of the same quality as natural sleep. Does anyone?
Also my husband has learned to be a defensive sleeper. He used to roll over and try to put his arms around me to soothe me. Problem was that I was dreaming of a bad guy,animal, thing coming toward me and then its arms were holding me down. I was asleep but fought like I was being murdered. Not a good thing. Now he stays on his side of the bed and reach an arm over to my shoulder and taps it saying, “You are all right.” Much safer. Since I am a sleep, I don’t remember anything. I am just glad he is ok. RBD is much worse on a sleeping partner than for the person who has it.
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Hi Mary,
Clonazepam enhances the action of GABA neurotransmitters, which we think of as “calming” neurotransmitters. If Clonazepam is effective for you, you might ask to get your vitamin D levels checked. Vitamin D deficiency, which is significantly more common in Parkinson’s Disease, can mess up how GABA is released in the brain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31821883/
More about vitamin D: https://icwb.com/vitamin-d-levels-what-is-a-healthy-vitamin-d-level
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My Neuro doctor prescribed Clonazapam at 3(.5mg pills) at bedtime. The Clonazepam takes care of lurid dreams. That said, my Neuro Doc has me down from 3 (.5mg pills) to 2 (.5mg pills). Last night was a lurid frightening dream.
I think I will wait on taking any actions until possible future dreams kick in. I’ll report this to my Neuro doc, and I have full confidence in her knowledge and willingness to trust what I tell her.
BTW, I was already taking Melatonin for the getting asleep component. I take 15mg of Melatonin at bed time.
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Yes, 10 mg. I get them from the USA.
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I also take Paxam
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Oui! 2mg per tablet, one hour before bed. Began this course 8 days ago… but seemed to help me immediately. One ting I have noticed is if I miss a night, the REM Sleep disorder comes back with a vengeance!
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Hello all
I was beginning to have nightime sleep acting out episodes.
I was told to take two 3mg Melatonin at bedtime and it helped right away. Perhaps I get to a deeper sleep sooner?  I now also take Carbidopa/Levodopa Controlled Release at betime too.
Thanks,
Robert C.
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In the fringe of this discussion is a discovery by Dr. Gregor of NutritionFacts fame, who had wondered if there are any natural foods high in melatonin. The top of the list is — pistchio nuts, with enough to be clinically interesting to the curious. I’m one, and have found roughly 5-10 kernels (Wonderful is a widely available supermart brand) enough to be gently effective for some in promoting faster falling askeep (but tame enough to encourage creative thinking among trialists). It tastes good, and the kernel surely contains enough other natural stuff along with “the” melatonin moilecule to complicate any attempt at real science. (But not enough profit potantial for sponsored research).
So in the absence of any known actual evidence in favor or agaibst I won’t actually recommend your own test except as just a likely amusement, but I do find this interesting. And I will note that the pill-to-pill variation in dosage of some-pharmaceutical-grade supplements like melatonin that cost a few cents each is well known. if you want a consistent test of melatonin, therefore, you may be better off going a little nuts.
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WWP tried melatonin but she had increased nightmares. She started taking Greenforia Full Spectrum CBD Tincture during the day for anxiety and stress. The night time dose helps with her sleep. She doesn’t have severe nightmares anymore. The full spectrum CBD has a combination of CBD 99% and less than 3% THC. Legal to purchase online in all U.S. states. No morning hang overs from hypnotics and no sluggish daytime experiences. She takes 10 to 12 drops sublingually three times a day. Does not interfere with her PD meds. Her doctors approve CBD and are now recommending to other patients.
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