Melatonin

[j4dx]

I have just begun taking C/L (25/100 3x day) and am wondering if anyone has experience with combining it with Melatonin (3mg) at night before sleeping. Thanks.

[BlockRuys]

That should be fine. Melatonin is relatively safe for longer periods.

[michelagvolpe]

it is ok, you'll sleep and the day after you'll be more relaxed with less tremors.

[HorseGarden]

I have been on the same daily dose of C/L and melatonin (just before bed) for about 4-5 months, and find the combination gives me a better and calmer night’s sleep.

[gomelgo in reply to HorseGarden]

dosage please?

[j4dx in reply to gomelgo]

3mg

[smilingjane]

Hi all. Can you advice where you buy your melatonin and what the best dose is? Also what is CL?Thank you

Jane 😊

[Badmouth in reply to smilingjane]

I'll buy my melatonin from Amazon. 3 mg. Also available at most pharmacies. I like the soluble tablets that you don't have to swallow.

[jocelyng]

it’s fine. I take melatonin every night and have for years.

[Husbandsupporter]

Melatonin will not interact with Sinemet (Cd/LD). But in fairness to your body, give yourself about 20 minutes between taking Sinemet and taking the melatonin. The “cleaner” you can make the path of Sinemet to enter your system the better and then take other meds.

[Mark000]

I take Pure Melatonin SR 3 mg just before bed. Then if I wake up and cant fall back asleep I take Thorne Melaton-3 and that usually puts me back asleep. I watched a youtube melatonin researcher on Parkinsons and she said the biggest need for melatonin is in the latter stages of a nights sleep. Interestingly, she thought of the drowsiness melatonin causes as a secondary side effect. Instead, she thought of the main effect as being overall brain health since PD people have depleted melatonin production. One more thing that really helps me get a full 8hrs sleep is taking 2 Nordic Naturals Magnesium Complex pills before bed. These solutions are much better than things like Ambien that results in unnatural sleep and addiction.

[peminc]

Yes and no issues. I take 3 mg every night. I try to take it say an hour before bedtime but most often it is minutes before bedtime.

I should note that in addition to Melatonin I use lunesta 3 mg too. But that is my "hammer" used just before lights out.

Sleep is important. I use my Google fitbit watch to keep track of my sleep times, scores and total hours. Not sure I get much put of it anymore.

[Tomkins]

hello

I have been taking 6mg melatonin before bed for the last 6 or so months (to address my thrashing,kicking,REM sleep disorder), along with co-careldopa modified release (25mg/100mg) and one (madopar) co-beneldopa 12.5/50mg.

Ideally I should take the melatonin an hour or so before bed but in reality I often take all meds at the same time.

I am keen to talk to the prescribing nurse - I do sleep very well - from 11pm til 8.30 or 9am but I do feel more groggy than I used. I think my episodes of flailing and kicking and shouting during sleep have reduced.

Overall, I think it’s been a positive effect on me.

My suggestion is that you note your symps and degree of grogginess daily before and after taking it.

I hope that helps

Murna

[Mark000]

Two more things to add: When I first started taking melatonin my night REM sleep disturbances/thrashing etc got noticeably worse - but once I got used to the melatonin everything got better in a couple of weeks as I recall... Now I sleep more soundly with the melatonin than without.... Also - regarding your C/L - instead of 3 x 1 pills a day, I break that same dosage into 6 x 1/2 pills spread out during the day. I find that this evens out the impact of the pills so I feel better for more of the time. It is harder to avoid mealtimes for most people but since I only eat once per day, it is not a problem for me (intermittent fasting)

[gomelgo]

I have been taking 5mg nightly, and still am not going to bed until hours later. Might be because I am dealing with a lot of stress at the moment and feeling driven to find my next home ... but on the night that I got desperate and took 2 of them (ie 10mg), I slept earlier and well. But then was groggy the next day, BUT with less tremor!

[EmptyNester3]

I actually take 10mg melatonin nightly with no issues…I am also on C/L and Rasagiline too.

[JCRO in reply to EmptyNester3]

15-18mg of melatonin nightly. Likewise C/L and the Rasagiline during the day. chartist frequently posts on the myriad benefits of melatonin.

[Smokeypurple]

I recall a Dr Mischley lecture on 'sleep and circadian rhythm' where she says some people who have no problem falling asleep but wake a couple of hours later and then have issues, can benefit from taking melatonin when they wake up (as the body's natural rhythm would produce it between midnight and 2am).

Lots of lectures by her are available on her PD school platform pd-school.teachable.com/ Some are pay per lecture or you can sign up for a monthly fee for a new lecture each month plus access to support groups, a dietician and plenty more...inlcluding a partner support group.

[j4dx in reply to Smokeypurple]

Thanks. Does she have suggested supplements available at her site?

[Smokeypurple in reply to j4dx]

Yes she's very open about which brands she recommends in clinic in the seminars in the school website. I can't remember exactly. Sublingual I think. If I come across it I'll post again - I didn't write it down as we can't get melatonin easily here in the UK.

[Smokeypurple in reply to j4dx]

Yes she's very open about which brands she recommends in clinic in the seminars in the school website. I can't remember exactly. Sublingual I think. If I come across it I'll post again - I didn't write it down as we can't get melatonin easily here in the UK.

[JCRO in reply to j4dx]

I think LKM’s front-of-house team set this allied “Pharmacy” site up: simpharmacy.com which you can get to from: seattleintegrativemedicine.com

It’s my understanding that LKM doesn’t profit from any sales but people asked practiomers where they could get the “good stuff” from and one of the team had a brainwave and created the virtual shop/pharmacy.

You don’t have to buy here. I do as you can’t get many of these products in Europe. And no I don’t get free consultations or discounts… 😇

[Mark000]

Interesting new article: The Vital Role of Melatonin and Its Metabolites in the Neuroprotection and Retardation of Brain Agingncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[chartist]

Melatonin is compatible with C/L. Multiple studies have shown the benefit of melatonin for people with PD and RBD.

RBD is common in PwP. The following study suggests that melatonin may have long lasting effects for RBD if taken for at least 6 months :

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

Here is a relevant quote from the human RBD/Melatonin study at low dose :

' When melatonin was discontinued after 6 months, symptoms remained stably improved (mean follow-up after discontinuation of 4.9 ± 2.5years; range: 0.6-9.2). When administered only 1-3 months, RBD symptoms gradually returned. Without any melatonin, RBD symptoms persisted and did not wear off over time. Clock-timed, low-dose, long-term melatonin treatment in patients with iRBD appears to be associated with the improvement of symptoms. The outlasting improvement over years questions a pure symptomatic effect. Clock-time dependency challenges existing prescription guidelines for melatonin. '

Pertaining to PD, melatonin at 10 mg/day showed significant benefit in people with PD as discussed here :

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

Here is a relevant quote from the study :

' Melatonin supplementation significantly reduced the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part I score (β −2.33; 95% CI, −3.57, −1.09; P < 0.001), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) (β −1.82; 95% CI, −3.36, −0.27; P = 0.02), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (β −3.32; 95% CI, −5.23, −1.41; P = 0.001) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (β −2.22; 95% CI, −3.84, −0.60; P = 0.008) compared with the placebo treatment. Compared with the placebo, melatonin supplementation resulted in a significant reduction in serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (β −0.94 mg/L; 95% CI, −1.55, −0.32; P = 0.003) and a significant elevation in plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (β 108.09 mmol/L; 95% CI, 78.21, 137.97; P < 0.001) and total glutathione (GSH) levels (β 77.08 μmol/L; 95% CI, 44.29, 109.86; P < 0.001). Additionally, consuming melatonin significantly decreased serum insulin levels (β −1.79 μIU/mL; 95% CI, −3.12, −0.46; P = 0.009), homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (β −0.47; 95% CI, −0.80, −0.13; P = 0.007), total- (β −13.16 mg/dL; 95% CI, −25.14, −1.17; P = 0.03) and LDL- (β −10.44 mg/dL; 95% CI, −20.55, −0.34; P = 0.04) compared with the placebo. '

In the following human PD/melatonin study, melatonin at 50 mg / day was shown to return elevated oxidative stress levels, found in people with PD, back to healthy control levels while significantly improving mitochondrial function as discussed here :

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

Here is a relevant study quote :

' Intervention with daily supplementation of 50 mg of melatonin, for three months, resulted in a significant reduction of oxidative stress markers. These data are according to the reported previously [6] and were paralleled with significant increases of catalase, complex I activity, and respiratory control ratio. In consonance, previous data showed that melatonin increases the levels of reduced glutathione [33], decreases malondialdehyde levels, and stimulates gene expression of important antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, complex I, and catalase [34, 35] in rat models of PD. In addition, melatonin prevents cardiolipin loss and oxidation which avoids mitochondrial membrane permeabilization induced by reactive oxygen species and other factors [36]. Reduced glutathione levels are increased by melatonin action, and glutathione also contributes to maintain the correct mitochondrial redox status and the integrity of the mitochondrial membranes [37]. Melatonin also has anti-inflammatory effects by diminishing cyclooxygenase type 2 activity in PD patients [6] and in MPTP-induced PD in mice [38]. Additionally, melatonin lowers the activation of inducible nitric oxide synthase, a well-known pathological marker of neuroinflammation [39, 40], and also decreases protein lipase A2, lipoxygenase, and cytokine activities owing to its antioxidant actions [41]. Therefore, nitrosative stress and inflammation are diminished by the action of melatonin. '

PwP are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) including heart attack and stroke and melatonin has shown in multiple studies to help fend off CVD.

The above has considerable importance for PwP as well as everyone else given that melatonin levels decline very significantly with age as illustrated in the attached graph :

Art

Melatonin Decline By Age