Posted by djmmm on May 20, 2005, at 20:18:25
In reply to Re: Melatonin safe with MAOIs? » cybercafe, posted by Larry Hoover on May 20, 2005, at 17:58:41
> > Hey guys... I am sleeping at the strangest hours. Find it really hard to sleep when I should. Want to try melatonin..
> >
> > I am also taking parnate 30 mg / day.
> >
> > Can I combine the two?
>
> Yes.
>
> The effective dose of melatonin, though, can vary by an order of magnitude, across individuals. And, unlike other drugs, melatonin has an inverted-U shaped dose-response curve. If you know what the standard bell-curve looks like, it's something like that.
>
> At lower (relative) doses, response increases with dose (kind of what you'd expect). Then, you reach a plateau. Increasing dose does not increase the effect. Then, at even higher doses, the response drops off (the opposite of what you'd expect).
>
> The thing you need to do is figure out what your plateau dose is, and never exceed that.
>
> Normal physiological amounts of melatonin are about 0.6 mg, yet the standard tablets are 3 mg. It could be that some people don't absorb it well, or their livers degrade it, or whatever....so you need to experiment with dose.
>
> If you start at around 0.75 mg (1/4 tablet) and work up by quarters, you should find your dose without exceeding it. (If you go too high, nothing will happen at all.)
>
> My own effective dose is in the 0.6 to 1.0 mg range. I've heard of people needing 6 mg or more.
>
> Best,
> Lar
>
It also comes in 3 MCG... I have seen 3mcg, 3mg, and 5mg pills...most of the time, Melatonin is combined with a B vitamin, I have found that the 3mg brands, without the b-vitamins, work the best.
poster:djmmm
thread:500404
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050516/msgs/500559.html