Thanks for posting this. You’ve done a good job of explaining how melatonin is insanely cost-effective. I do want to mention some caveats for anyone who is interested in trying melatonin.
I use melatonin nightly. I admit it’s effective, but it’s no panacea. You can’t drink a cup of coffee, then take some melatonin and expect to fall right asleep. It can also help to keep the lights low for about 30 minutes before bed time. Finally, one side-effect of melatonin is that I often have very vivid dreams. I don’t know of any studies confirming this, but there are quite a few anecdotes.
I’ve done an informal polling of my friends whom I’ve introduced to melatonin, and the majority of them noticed more vivid dreams without me mentioning it.
I use it only occasionally, but the effect it has on my dreams is too large to fake (and I noticed it before ever hearing that it was supposedly a common side effect)
I’ve noticed it too, but I didn’t really think it germane to a cost-benefit evaluation. More dreams is a mixed blessing in general—unless one wants to do lucid dreaming, which is an entirely different kettle of fish, and this little essay covers enough as it is.
Thanks for posting this. You’ve done a good job of explaining how melatonin is insanely cost-effective. I do want to mention some caveats for anyone who is interested in trying melatonin.
I use melatonin nightly. I admit it’s effective, but it’s no panacea. You can’t drink a cup of coffee, then take some melatonin and expect to fall right asleep. It can also help to keep the lights low for about 30 minutes before bed time. Finally, one side-effect of melatonin is that I often have very vivid dreams. I don’t know of any studies confirming this, but there are quite a few anecdotes.
I’ve done an informal polling of my friends whom I’ve introduced to melatonin, and the majority of them noticed more vivid dreams without me mentioning it.
I use it only occasionally, but the effect it has on my dreams is too large to fake (and I noticed it before ever hearing that it was supposedly a common side effect)
I’ve noticed it too, but I didn’t really think it germane to a cost-benefit evaluation. More dreams is a mixed blessing in general—unless one wants to do lucid dreaming, which is an entirely different kettle of fish, and this little essay covers enough as it is.
I’d say it’s worth mentioning, though not worth spending many words on.
Some people I’ve talked to won’t take it because they don’t want any more nightmares than they already have.