Melatonin appears nearly harmless. Isn't it strange that we've grown so accustomed to so many things being restricted that we're taken aback by this sliver of medical self-determination, and we publish hard-hitting investigative pieces about how supposedly terrible that is?
I get it that we maybe don't want to go back to the era of "patent medicine" containing radium, but when we require prescriptions for birth control, eyeglasses, and non-narcotic sleep aids, maybe we've gone a bit too far.
Does it? We really haven't done enough science on it.
> Melatonin has been linked to headaches, dizziness, nausea, stomach cramps, drowsiness, confusion or disorientation, irritability and mild anxiety, depression and tremors as well as abnormally low blood pressure. It can also interact with common medications and trigger allergies. [1]
I've personally stopped using it because of how it started to make me feel. "Brain fog" was not uncommon, not to mention the lack of quality control of the dosage amounts on a pill to pill basis.
I don’t mean to be flippant but aren’t those all symptoms of sleep deprivation? I’m wary of phrasing like “linked to” in science reporting because it falls short of asserting causality.
Other hormones don't get the same treatment. I'm not sure why only melatonin is treated as a dietary supplement when the other hormones are not.
For example, you can't get testosterone or epinephrine, over the counter. Maybe the only other hormones that are as readily available as melatonin are birth control pills, but those are considered pharmaceuticals, and regulated as such.
Why do we always need a boogeyman?
Melatonin appears nearly harmless. Isn't it strange that we've grown so accustomed to so many things being restricted that we're taken aback by this sliver of medical self-determination, and we publish hard-hitting investigative pieces about how supposedly terrible that is?
I get it that we maybe don't want to go back to the era of "patent medicine" containing radium, but when we require prescriptions for birth control, eyeglasses, and non-narcotic sleep aids, maybe we've gone a bit too far.