Ramona W. of Alberta, says she uses melatonin, valerian and tryptophan with no ill effects. She also takes large doses of vitamin B6. Ramona suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.
Teresa M. who lives in northern Ireland has been using melatonin for about two years. She says, "At first I was using 5 or 6 mgs. per night and suffering from the weirdest nightmares." When she reduced the dosage to 2.5 mgs. the dreams stopped. She also uses valerian. When she lived in the States, she took tryptophan until it was banned. "I found it quite effective," she says, "and would still be using it if not for the ban."
Claudia W. says taking melatonin really "knocked her out." If she didn't get at least ten hours sleep after taking it, she was sedated all day.
Several other people I spoke with reported good results using melatonin, either alone or with other sleep products for their sleep problems. They reported very few adverse effects except for vivid dreams and some daytime drowsiness.
DRUGGISTS SAY
Peter Davey, a northern Alberta druggist, says the only complaint he has heard about melatonin is the fact that people can no longer get it. It was banned in Canada several years ago because the Canadian government felt that not enough research had been done on the hormone. Mr. Davey couldn't recall hearing of any adverse effects from taking the hormone.
A second Alberta druggist says people won't talk about melatonin because it is banned here. They know sale of the food supplement is illegal in Canada. However, he claims there are still places where people can buy it. He says buying it this way is a very dangerous practice because of the lack of controls as to strength and purity.
Wonder drug? No. A safe sleeping pill? Possibly. Only time, and more research will tell.
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