Description
Melatonin is the natural hormone your body secretes that helps to maintain your wake-sleep cycle (also called “biological clock”). Melatonin is also made synthetically and available without a prescription as an over-the-counter (OTC) dietary supplement in the U.S.
Melatonin is most commonly used to : help decrease jet lag, adjust sleep cycles, treat shift-work sleep disorders in people with alternating work schedules, for general insomnias. The wake-sleep cycle is the process of sleep and wakefulness; in humans this averages 8 hours of nighttime sleep and 16 hours of daytime activity.
Dosage: Take 0.1 mg to 0.5 mg thirty minutes before bedtime. Studies suggest supplemental melatonin for primary sleep disorders may be effective in promoting but not maintaining sleep (early morning awakening). Dosage: Take 1 to 3 mg thirty minutes prior to the desired onset of daytime sleep; melatonin may NOT lead to improved alertness during the nighttime work shift.
