Melatonin - is it safe for a 16 year old?

[wanttokickoffbutcant]

Just after some advice.....I have melatonin that I have bought online for me for occassional use as I have insomnia. My DD16 has really disordered sleeping which we want to reset. Is it safe for her to take a tablet? She is bigger than me in height and weight and I have no side effects from taking it. Only advice on line seems to be either no, not under 18 or that people give to very young children. I am not thinking this would be regular - just to get her internal clock a bit more life friendly!

I have some 10mg I bought online in the UK (I see you can buy them online with a "consultation") and I was in Canada last week and bought 5mg ones for c£10 for 60.

I've never felt weird with them. They just help me to drift off, and they don't give that hangover effect that other types of sleep aids can, like Nytol.

My child has been taking it since he was 4. (ASD and trouble sleeping.)

I'm in the US where melatonin is available otc.

Millions of people of all ages use it nightly.

However, as your child has been up all night for the last few days, has she been up all day too? Has she managed any sleep at all for the last few days, in ither words?

Inability to sleep over several days is a medical issue that shouldn't be papered over. It can be an element of the mania cycle of bipolar.

It’s meant for children, not adults, my 17 year old takes 4mg but pharmacist wants her weaned off this year.

just a thought for you, but Piriton is a sleep inducing antihistamine,so you personally could try this, not any antihistamine though, not piriteze either, just Piriton

It depends why she can’t sleep. If she has something like restless leg syndrome, melatonin can make the symptoms worse.

I waited years for my DC to be prescribed this - and found out it was due to funding and govt not wanting parents to sell it on! 🤷🏼‍♀️

How did you get it prescribed for your baby?

My 9 year old takes 6mg and has done for a couple of years now

Melatonin isn’t just meant for children though. In Canada it’s available off the shelf, no need to even speak to a pharmacist (although I personally think it should be used with far more caution than people here use it.) It’s much more common here for adults to take it for jet lag. Giving it to children is a more recent thing I think.

My son has been taking melatonin tablets (prescribed by paediatrician) since he was 3 and he’s a teenager now. Autistic. Cannot sleep without it. As far as I know there’s no massive safety issue with it as long as like all other medications it comes from a reputable source.

I don’t think that’s true? I was told by my son’s paediatrician that it’s only fairly recently really that melatonin is used by children like my son and originally it was people who worked weird shifts like lorry drivers so they could sleep. I think he mentioned blind people too. He was a bit odd generally but both of those things made sense.

@WellYouWereMythTakenthaya strange, our paediatrician said she could potentially carry on but they prefer children to come off by 18, pharmacist keeeps going in about getting her off … perhaps it’s the cost 😵‍💫

Melatonin is safe. My DS took it from 13 to 16 because he couldn't get to sleep early enough for 6.30am wake ups that were needed for school. He took 5mg. I take it, 10mg, it doesn't make me feel anything apart from sleepy. I buy it from piping rock.

The NHS doesn't prescribe it to adults but that doesn't mean it's only 'meant' for children. I guess they want people to be able to manage their sleep without it but as an adult with insomnia I'm not going to stop using it as it's not addictive or dependence forming or harmful in any way 🤷🏼‍♀️

Echoing others - it is safe.

you can buy it otc in America and I took it for jet lag.

it doesn’t work for some people. My DD with adhd - it didn’t impact her sleep at all.

The paediatrician has tried to wean my son off of it before and it was a disaster for him. We will try again at some point I’m sure but if he still needs it as an adult I will do my best to get it somehow if nhs won’t prescribe it.

You can buy it online in the UK from Biovea. They used to ship it from the US. I haven’t ordered any for years but they may even ship from Europe now? Check their webpage

Its sold everywhere in my country as its classed as a food supplement rather than a medicine. 0.5mg works well enough for my DD who has had trouble falling asleep since she was a baby but she won't take it any more because even that small a dose leaves her feeling off in the morning.
It can give horrendous nightmares, I get very intense dreams with it and my dreams are intense enough as it is so I don't use it but apart from that its very safe. But personally I prefer hydroxyzine for insomnia, no side effects and no 'hangover' feeling in the morning so long as I go to bed early enough.

https://uk.vitamingrocer.com/?syclid=f1c7fc46-0e72-4763-9e8a-2641e769997f

US stockist that delivers to the UK, totally straightforward.

There’s a recent What’s Up Docs on R4 about melatonin - worth a listen.

prescribed for us by psychiatrist not GP…

Hi, I take melatonin every night for insomnia..3x 10mgs tablets 😬 helps me sleep and I feel fine in the morning. I use a company called pipingrock that ship them from America, there is normally deals on them. They have all different strengths of melatonin available.

That must have been really frustrating! I live in Spain and it's available over the counter here and also on Amazon, online pharmacies, etc.

It tends to be prescribed for babies though so they can calculate the right dose, I suppose.

After reading several threads on here, I ended up buying some online from Piping Rock. My 17 year son (16 at the time) was able to fall asleep within half an hour for the first time ever in his life. I tried it too. After suffering with insomnia forever, I can now fall asleep in around 15-20 mins! It’s amazing. My 13 year old son was struggling to fall asleep so he tried it too and now he falls asleep at a decent time and is able to get up for school EARLIER than the expected time, and he’s not constantly saying he feels sick when what he really meant was he’s tired.

It’s been revolutionary for us as a family. It’s not expensive either. Think I paid around £8 for 200 tablets.