Posted by Larry Hoover on May 21, 2005, at 17:37:50
In reply to Re: Melatonin safe with MAOIs?, posted by cybercafe on May 21, 2005, at 12:04:36
> > > 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?
> >
> > Sure..I do almost nightly.
>
> I read that MAO is responsible for breaking down melatonin. So if it is inhibited, the melatonin levels should remain higher longer, no?MAO has no substantial role to play in the breakdown of melatonin. A breakdown product of melatonin does become further degraded by MAO, but that accounts for about 2% of all melatonin, according to radioactive tracer studies.
http://www.jbc.org/cgi/reprint/236/11/3072
http://www.jbc.org/cgi/reprint/236/12/3214They're old references, but the second one has an excellent chart of the process (Figure 6).
The principle reaction to inactivate melatonin starts with 6-hydroxylation, followed by sulphation (~70%) or glucoridination (25%), or is excreted in urine unconjugated.
> Having said that... I took about 1.5 mg last night and finally re-set my circadian rythum! A whole 10 hours straight! I love this stuff
It is my belief that you can safely continue to take melatonin, at that or similar dose, as needed.
Melatonin is a better neuronal antioxidant than is glutathione. I can't even think of a way this stuff could hurt you.
> ... though playing around with the body's hormones is something that really scares me.
This one is actually in the food you eat.
> Especially since melatonin is not a pharmaceutical, which I am assuming means not as much testing is done on it.Well....melatonin isn't rocket science. I'd bet you that most of the melatonin comes from two sources, and it is just packaged up differently for different vendors.
> P.S. - i need to find a better line for friends that are CONVINCED "all natural" = safe, than "yeah well so is arsenic, cocaine, and lithium, but I don't see you taking any of those"I don't know. All natural is safe, in the correct dose, at the right time, for the right reason. E. coli O157:H7 is natural, but I wouldn't want it in my hamburger.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:500404
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050521/msgs/500878.html