nature.com/articles/s41440-...
I am wondering if anyone uses melatonin to slow progress of kidney disease? Although seen primarily as a sleep aid melatonin has many beneficial effects throughout the body. I have been taking 20 mg per night for 4 years for another issue with beneficial results.
The study is very interesting, although clinical trial results would be much more important. The problem is that since there's no money to made from melatonin sales, clinical trials will never take place.
How sad about the clinical triaks, but I'm interested in this, too. I just started taking RemFresh for insomnia which is Melatonin that can be bought in various dosages. It alleges to be slow active taking up to 7 hours to be absorbed. I began to have some serious insomnia and found that the Metoprolol that I have to take at 4 pm kills whatever natural melatonin that you make.
After suffering for weeks and having such poor sleep, I was happy to say that the RemFresh works for me. I fall asleep fairly easily and can go back to sleep easily during the night after bathroom breaks. Before RemFresh, I had been taking only 1 mg of melatonin and it helped once in awhile. The RemFresh I take now has 10 mg of melatonin and it has been working well for my insomnia. It's really a blessing to get some good sleep.
Now, I'm also hoping that melatonin is going to help my kidney function. If anyone has more information on this, will you please post it. I go for my next labs in a few weeks and wondering if any changes will show up.
The article made me go pop a 3mg melatonin pill just now. A big part of my insomnia is anxiety and poor sleep hygiene...ie....going to bed too late at night and not keeping a good sleep schedule. You can now research Resveratrol and you'll probably wanna take that too. I know I do. 
What are you taking Resveratrol for? So far, the 10 mg of melatonin is working for me. A few years ago, my sister had a special kind of insomnia that kept her up all night long. I searched and found her a sleep clinic at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago. The first thing they did was put her on 10 mg of melatonin. Unfortunately, she was too sick to make the trip to Chicago as she lived away in the suburbs. So never knew if it helped. The 10 mg of melatonin was a surprise for me at the time because I always held the belief that with Melatonin, the least you took the better.
Fingers crossed that good information comes from this.
That seems like a lot to take and everything I have read says less is more. I take between 1 and 2.5mg and not every night. Where did you get that dosing info from? I could not find a dosage amount in the article.
I didn't get the dosing from the article. The product, RemFresh, that I'm taking is sold at various high doses, i.e. 4 mg or 5mg, and the directions are to take two tablets30 to 60 minutes before going to bed. Like you, I always believed in taking the minimum amount of melatonin. However, I Iisted in another post how a reliable sleep clinic at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago put my sister on 10 mg right away when she went for treatment. And, two other people I know do take slightly higher dosages of melatonin, too, with positive results.
My nephrologist has had no problem with my taking the higher dose. In my case, the metoprolol that I take for my blood pressure is famous for depleting all the natural melatonin that one makes. This as well as my age has probably left me with a deficit.
Hope this helps.
That was interesting. Wonder what it would do it a person had absolutely no sleep issues but was Stage 4.
I am a firm believer in not taking meds just cause. There can be side effects from taking melatonin including......not sleeping.
Given my ability to fall asleep and if left alone sleep for 11 hours on the weekends I'm not willing to give that up just because of an article or other person's experience. But it was interesting to read. If it was effective in helping my CKD I'm sure my neph would have said something or my PCP as they are pretty on top of things.
I want to clarify something. I'm taking 5mg to 10 mg of melatonin to help with severe insomnia which my medical team agreed for me to do. I am not taking it to slow progression of my CKD; however, if it does slow the progression, it would be great. Still attributing such a result to melatonin would be difficult to establish in my case since, I've been at stage CKD 3b/4 steadiky for 5 years now and only on a high dose of melatonin for a week and a half!
I am not suggesting that anyone take melatonin to slow the progression of CKD and neither is anyone else.
Another person posted the article about melatonin slowing the progression of melatonin as a point of interest and not a treatment suggestion.
I believe melatonin is a supplement and not a drug. It is used as a replacement of naturally made melatonin that can be depleted by certain medications or by age.
Phew!
Melatonin has studies showing its beneficial for a wide range of illnesses including cardiovascular, macular degeneration and even certain cancers. So given this it would not be surprising if it helps with kidney function. It has an excellent safety profile, I know a few people over on the parkinson's forum taking 100 mg per night.
Oh, wow. That is a lot of melatonin. In fact, it a lot of anything! I hope that their wishes and expectations offer them some solace and hope. Thanks for this information.
Coffee substitute?
Can't deal with this disease anymore..
Medicine For care of Proteinuria 
Hyperkalemia
New Member to CKD Community with treatment question
