Anyone use Melatonin?

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Perimenopausal on HRT but still struggling with sleep. Have cut out caffeine completely, banned screens after 8pm, good sleep hygiene but still struggling with early waking and not being able to get back to sleep.

I am so tired and need to sleep. I have some 3 mg timed release. I tried the past few nights cutting them up and taking a small piece, like a 6th because 3mg seems like a large dose but while I fall asleep ok ( I do anyway) I am still waking up between 3 and 5 am. If I go to bed earlier or later I still get the same amount of sleep overall i.e. not nearly enough.

I was wondering if I should just take the 3mg tonight and hope it helps me sleep for longer?

You have to swallow the pill whole as the slow release is in the coating. If you break the coating the slow release aspect will not work.

Also 3mg isn’t a lot - it’s the same dose my 3-year-old takes, and his paediatrician has been clear we could give him at least one more 3mg pill if needed, though we haven’t had to yet.

Hope you get it sorted, OP. Sleep deprivation is soul-destroying isn’t it.

3mg is tiny. My 12yo is on that. I take 10mg and its definitely helped but I found it took a few days. My sleep actually got worse the first few nights then improved alot after day 4 I think

@DavesGirl90 It certainly is! I've been resisting taking the whole tablet as online everyone says its way too much and that I should be on a 0.5mg dose. But if a 3 year old does 3 mg then it can't be that bad!

@FeelingALittleWoozyHere Oh got I really can't face another bad night but I will try it tonight thanks for the heads up!

I buy mine OTC in the US and 10mg is the advised dose on the bottle I have so assume its ok! I havent had any trouble with it anyway

I have 5 and 10mg tablets for myself and 1 and 3mg for my kids

I take 10mg tablets (DP brings them back from the States for me). I don't need them every night, they can make me feel a bit groggy the next morning but better than not sleeping!

I use gummies from biovea, they’re 10mg but you take 2 5mgs so I usually just take one. No grogginess the next day.

bluetooth earphone headband & a soothing show to listen to (sleeping forecast for example)

even lying in bed, resting will help you feel better and less tired.

I used to take 10mg. It was great at getting me to sleep. But I would always wake up after a couple of hours.

i agree with pp above. I will also add, that for me, during perimenopause, I found it wasn’t just caffeine and screens that affected my sleep.

Alcohol - if I had alcohol in the evening then I would wake up at approx 4am without fail. So I had to give up all alcohol.

Sweeteners like phenylalanine - I found these would also stop me sleeping (they are found a lot in diet drinks and sugar free-things.

Chocolate and sugar / sweets - I had to cut that out as it really decimates my sleep, especially having anything like that in the evening…

Are you having any of these things at the moment?

Can you buy these online if you're in the UK? I thought Melatonin was prescription only in the UK.

Lots of US-based companies sell directly to you in the UK. Not sure of the legalities, but I certainly do it regularly. I used to use a company called Piping Rock, but they've stopped now. So now I use Biovea too.

https://www.biovea.com/uk/productlist/results?KW=melatonin&FiltersObject=%7B%22SortValue%22:%7B%7D,%22PageSize%22:36,%22CompareProducts%22:%5B%5D,%22Brands%22:%7B%7D,%22FormValues%22:%5B%5D,%22PriceRanges%22:%5B%5D,%22Categories%22:%5B%5D,%22objects%22:%5B%5D%7D

Yes you can buy them online from biovea and they post them over.

These are the ones I use. You can 120 5mg gummies in the bottle for £24. It's free shipping this week using FRSHP.