If you often have to move from one time zone to another, if you have sleep disturbances, and your immune system is noticeably weakened, then Melatonin will come to your aid. It will help you adjust to the new time zone and avoid the side effects that conventional sleeping pills tend to produce, such as drowsiness and daytime sleepiness.
About how to take the named remedy correctly, how to correctly set its dosage and in what cases it is worth resorting to such treatment, we will talk in this article. It will be possible to get acquainted with melatonin-containing preparations produced in Russia, Ukraine and abroad: Melatonin Plus, Melaksen, Vita-Melatonin. Reviews of patients and specialists about them will help you in your choice.
What is melatonin?
First of all, let's figure out what substance we are talking about and why our body needs it.
Melatonin isthe so-called sleep hormone, which is produced by the pineal gland, the size of a pea, located at the base of the brain. Since ancient times, by the way, it was considered the organ of clairvoyance - the "third eye" of man. This is probably why a lot of mysterious and not fully understood things are still associated with this hormone.
Melatonin (reviews about preparations containing it, you can read here) in modern medicine is considered a regulator of the body's circadian rhythm. So, its especially high level is observed at night - the peak of production falls on the period from 12 o'clock at night to 4 o'clock in the morning. That is, melatonin is a kind of natural sleeping pill.
But, in addition, this hormone is also a powerful antioxidant, with the help of which the body is saved from cancer and premature aging. Melatonin is able to penetrate into any cell and exert its protective effect on its nucleus, which contains DNA, and this allows the damaged cell to recover.
Studies on laboratory animals have shown that the lack of melatonin in the body of highly organized mammals leads to rapid aging, early menopause, reduced insulin sensitivity, as well as the development of obesity and cancer.
Drug "Melatonin": application
But the amount of said hormone produced by the pineal gland (pineal gland) is not always enough to provide the full variety of biological effects. For this, a preparation containing synthetic melatonin is used.
Drugs withmelatonin contributes well to the onset of sleep, since the hormone is able to regulate the sleep-wake cycle (which is especially necessary when forced to change time zones), the work of the gastrointestinal tract, the endocrine system and brain cells. This hormone also stabilizes blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
The described remedy is produced in tablets. It begins its action in an hour or two after ingestion.
Melatonin drug: analogues
According to numerous reviews, synthetic melatonin is considered the least toxic among known substances. For him, the so-called LD-50 was never found (we are talking about the dose of the drug at which half of the experimental animals die).
In the USA, where it was discovered in the 50s of the last century, the synthetic hormone is generally referred to as food additives. In Russia, this is a drug, which, by the way, is also available in sports nutrition stores under the name Melatonin (“Melatonin”).
Analogues of this drug, sold in pharmacies, are called: "Vita-Melatonin", "Melaxen", "Melaton", "Melapur", "Circadin", "Yukalin". They are well-deservedly popular in cases where it is necessary to increase physical and mental performance, reduce the impact of stressful situations and improve the quality of sleep.
When are melatonin tablets used?
Accompanying almost every remedy containing melatonin, the instructions for use indicate that it is prescribed for sleep disorders, problems with the human immune system,as well as to relieve premenstrual conditions in women. By the way, the described hormone is 9 times more effective than the familiar vitamin C, strengthening immunity and saving our body from colds and infections in autumn and winter.
In addition, melatonin significantly improves memory, learning and the ability to focus. It can be used as part of complex therapy in neurotic patients, as well as in depressive conditions. Melatonin also significantly reduces the energy costs of myocardial work, transferring it to a more economical mode.
The drug showed excellent results in the treatment of patients with eczema.
Melatonin and longevity
It is impossible not to draw the reader's attention to the amazing feature of the hormone to influence the aging process in the body.
As it turned out during research, the level of melatonin in the blood of a person by the age of forty-five is only half the amount produced in adolescence. This is due to the fact that in the epiphysis, where the hormone is produced, by adulthood, as a rule, morphological changes are already detected with the degeneration of cell elements and their death.
Interestingly, in rats that were transplanted with epiphyses from young donors, life expectancy increased significantly. And this allows us to conclude that the amount of melatonin in the body directly affects how many years youth will remain.
How melatonin prolongs life
And although seriousresearch on this subject has not yet been conducted, experts already confirm that if melatonin helps to live he althier and longer, then this is due to:
- reducing cell damage from free radicals;
- slow down the aging of the immune system;
- high security of the cardiovascular system;
- as well as maintaining a normal circadian rhythm and stimulating the production of growth hormone.
What other possibilities are hidden in the hormone
According to scientists who conducted research on volunteers for five years in Norway, seasonal melatonin does not have any side effect. Moreover, the body practically does not develop addiction to it, and the production of its own hormone does not decrease.
Recent research suggests that melatonin is very useful for patients with ischemia of the heart, hypertension and gastric or duodenal ulcers. But the mentioned hormone gives the most promising effect in the fight against breast cancer associated with an increase in the level of female hormones estrogen.
Does melatonin cause drowsiness as a sleeping pill?
The undoubted advantages of the synthetic hormone include the reviews available about all preparations containing melatonin, which emphasize that neither in the morning nor during the day, these funds do not give the effect of drowsiness and stupor characteristic of sleeping pills and sedatives. If such a reaction to it is still present, it is enough to reduce the dosage to the one that does notwill call her.
Unlike sleeping pills, the hormone in doses recommended by experts generates natural sleep, improves its quality. Melatonin for sleep is non-addictive, non-addictive, and non-addictive.
All patients taking hormone pills reported a feeling of cheerfulness and energy after sound sleep, if the dosage was chosen correctly.
Peculiarities of taking melatonin
Despite the reviews already available about preparations containing melatonin, consumers should not forget that this hormone is still fraught with many secrets and mysteries. It continues to be actively studied around the world.
As already mentioned, the level of production of the "sleep hormone" in the body with age noticeably changes downwards. It is produced best and in the largest amount in children, so there is no need for them to take melatonin.
There are still situations in which you need to refrain from taking melatonin:
- because of the yet unknown effect of the drug on the fetus, it should be abandoned by pregnant and lactating women;
- melatonin should not be taken by patients with epilepsy, autoimmune and allergic diseases, as well as women seeking to conceive a child (since the drug has some contraceptive effect);
- in addition, it was found that the drug interacts negatively with substances containing, for example, acetylsalicylic acid and ibuprofen.
From which it follows that beforeIf you are taking any melatonin supplement, be sure to consult your doctor!
In addition to the above, it should be remembered that taking Melatonin tablets, the instructions for which are now being considered, costs courses, giving the body a break.
When and how best to take drugs?
Experts advise taking these funds only immediately before going to bed, somewhere in half an hour. On long trips, it is better to take a tablet (1.5 mg) before going to bed. Often, the remedy is prescribed 3-4 days before the trip in order to synchronize the biological cycles and rhythms of our body. The tablet is not chewed and washed down with water.
When asking the question “How to take melatonin?”, remember that you need to do this only in relation to the usual rhythm of sleep and wakefulness. So, if you sleep at night, then you should not take the remedy during the daytime, because it is this hormone that is responsible for the clarity of the biorhythms of our body. In addition, it has been proven that the hormone is destroyed in daylight, and this once again confirms the need to take it only in the evening.
Do melatonin drugs have side effects?
Adverse reactions in the process of taking a synthetic hormone were extremely rare. As a rule, they were expressed by discomfort in the stomach, headache, drowsiness or "heavy head", depression.
Specialists remind that all cases of adverse reactions, even those that are not indicated attached to any drug containing melatonin,instructions for use, you must inform the doctor!
If melatonin was taken less than six hours before going to work, then the patient, by the way, may show a decrease in concentration and coordination of movements.
The state of overdose of the drug in patients was not noted. Only the reviews available for Vita-melatonin tablets noted the indicated condition after a single dose of 30 mg of the substance. This provoked disorientation, loss of memory for previous events and prolonged sleep.
Melatonin intake eliminates alcohol and smoking. Attention! Be sure to consult your doctor before using drugs!
Indications for the use of drugs containing melatonin
Once again I would like to remind you in which cases you need to take drugs containing melatonin. Reviews about them certainly convinced the reader of the usefulness of this hormone. So, the described means are recommended first of all:
- people suffering from sleep disorders
- with frequent stressful situations,
- suffering from neurological disorders, depression and phobias;
- patients with endocrine disorders;
- for menopausal disorders;
- for certain cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis;
- for immune disorders;
- older people (this hormone helps resist polymorbidity - a condition in which a person has several diseases at the same time).
For whatsigns can you suspect a lack of melatonin?
If you have swelling under your eyes, you look tired, look older than your age, your hair turns gray prematurely, and irritability and anxiety are increasingly noticed in your behavior, then your body may have reduced production of melatonin.
An equally bright signal of this is superficial sleep, without dreams, as well as gloomy thoughts that overcome you before falling asleep. If you feel like you're never getting enough sleep, you're having a hard time with daylight saving time, and you're haunted by a state of tension and anxiety, it's probably time to seek the advice of your doctor to get you the right dose of melatonin.
Be he althy!
