[tatsuke95]

>"definitely do not take hormonal supplements just to fall asleep."

I'm going to partially disagree with the author here.

I take 3-5mg of oral melatonin every night, and have for years. My basic research, which includes talking to my and my girlfriend's physician, has concluded that there's no harm in taking it as a supplement. Unlike pharmaceuticals, melatonin doesn't knock you out, it creates a very natural sensation of, well, being sleepy. But you can take it in the middle of the day and not have it affect you at all with respect to drowsiness (though I wouldn't recommend warping your hormone pattern like that).

Read up on using it as a supplement. It has long list of benefits/possible benefits, and very few possible side effects. Oh, and it will help you fall asleep.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin

[powertower]

3-5mg of melatonin will have the opposite effect on me and prevent me from falling asleep.

The effective range for me is less-than 0.5mg, anything over that and receptor cross-over happens.

The main problems I have with it is that: 1) it makes me useless the next day (lack of motivation) and 2) I can only take it for a couple of days otherwise, even with the low dosage, it ends up having the opposite effect on me (just can't fall asleep that 3rd day on).

[ga0bi]

i also want to note that the statement you quoted (and the entire article) should not be used as a guide for those diagnosed with sleeping disorders. in their case, they may be required to take melatonin to fall asleep.

i also recommend getting diagnosed by your physician before taking melatonin supplements; it works differently for everyone.