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Hi, All!
I'm looking for people from this site who have actual experience with it. Does drinking warm milk before a person goes to bed really help them to go to sleep, please?
If I remember correctly, I think that my mother tried using it with me...
Thanks!
Sometimes it helps me. Not always though. I think its more of a relaxation thing. Sitting down with a warm cup of milk helps me feel relaxed and ready for bed.
Hi, justcurious55!
So, do you think that it's more a psychological thing than a physical thing that's happening?
Thanks!
Yeah. I could be wrong, I haven't actually looked into it before. But that's what it seems like to me. Now, if I take a tablet of melatonin before bed, that will knock me out. But I like that better than other sleeping pills because I don't feel groggy the next morning.
Is Melatonin non-prescription?
Yeah. Your body naturally produces melatonin. But they sell it otc. You can get it at most drug stores and grocery stores by the vitamnis, even trader joe's carries it.
I wonder why it would knock you out?
Okay. I looked it over. Maybe I shouldn't even consider using something like that so soon right now. If you saw the thread that I started about addictions, you'll understand why. KBC and jmjoseph might want to kick my butt!
But, I am having trouble going to sleep...
Tips for Getting Better Sleep: How to Sleep Well Every Night
Hope this helps Clough.
I have never tried the warm milk to help me sleep.
What helps me sleep is saying my night time prayers right before going to sleep.
Also if I have taken a little rest during the day this helps too, as it is hard to go to sleep when I am overly tired.
.
Nothing helps me.
Not warm milk, Not Valerian root, not Melatonin, not over counter sleep aids.
Nothing ever works for me. Although sometimes I take gravel and instead of getting my usual 2 or 3 hours sleep I am able to get 5...
What do you mean by "gravel", please?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesushelper1976
Thanks!
Hi, firmy!Quote:
Originally Posted by firmbeliever
Yes, prayers should help! I hadn't done them at night for a long time and now have started to do them again.
Overly tired being a problem? You're probably correct about that! I know that I don't have a very good sleep-awake pattern!
Thanks!
I meant Gravol.
http://health.lifestyle.yahoo.ca/dru..._id=1805&rot=4
Yea, I wondered if you ate gravel so you would sleep like a rock.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesushelper1976
Sorry...
You had to give me that little jab. Lol Yes maybe that is what I will do. Eat some gravel and then I will literally sleep for good like a rock...Quote:
Originally Posted by jmjoseph
Clough, Melatonin is not addictive. As a matter of fact, if you continue to take it over long periods it doesn't work as well. My pharmacist recommends a week on and a week off.
When my kids can't sleep we give them a cup of warm milk with a teaspoon of sugar added. They sleep like babies!
I knew that it wasn't addictive. However, I thought, because of what's presently going on with me, that it might not be the best choice to take anything that might affect my mind in any way.
Thanks!
It doesn't affect your mind at all. It just helps to relax you so that you can rest easier. I take it, believe me, as a nurse I can't take anything that would affect my mind.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin
Antioxidant
Besides its function as synchronizer of the biological clock, melatonin also exerts a powerful antioxidant activity. The discovery of melatonin as an antioxidant was made in 1993.[31] In many lower life forms, it serves only this purpose.[32] Melatonin is an antioxidant that can easily cross cell membranes and the blood-brain barrier.[6] Melatonin is a direct scavenger of OH, O2−, and NO.[33] Unlike other antioxidants, melatonin does not undergo redox cycling, the ability of a molecule to undergo reduction and oxidation repeatedly. Redox cycling may allow other antioxidants (such as vitamin C) to regain their antioxidant properties. Melatonin, on the other hand, once oxidized, cannot be reduced to its former state because it forms several stable end-products upon reacting with free radicals. Therefore, it has been referred to as a terminal (or suicidal) antioxidant.[34]
Recent research indicates that the first metabolite of melatonin in the melatonin antioxidant pathway may be N(1)-acetyl-N(2)-formyl-5-methoxykynuramine (or AFMK) rather than the common, excreted 6-hydroxymelatonin sulfate. AFMK alone is detectable in unicellular organisms and metazoans. A single AFMK molecule can neutralize up to 10 ROS/RNS (reactive oxygen species/reactive nitrogen species) since many of the products of the reaction/derivatives (including melatonin) are themselves antioxidants. This capacity to absorb free radicals extends at least to the quaternary metabolites of melatonin, a process referred to as "the free radical scavenging cascade". This is not true of other, conventional antioxidants.[32]
In animal models, melatonin has been demonstrated to prevent the damage to DNA by some carcinogens, stopping the mechanism by which they cause cancer.[35] It also has been found to be effective in protecting against brain injury caused by ROS release in experimental hypoxic brain damage in newborn rats.[36] Melatonin's antioxidant activity may reduce damage caused by some types of Parkinson's disease, may play a role in preventing cardiac arrhythmia and may increase longevity; it has been shown to increase the average life span of mice by 20% in some studies.[37][38][39]
[edit] Immune system
While it is known that melatonin interacts with the immune system,[40][41] the details of those interactions are unclear. There have been few trials designed to judge the effectiveness of melatonin in disease treatment. Most existing data are based on small, incomplete clinical trials. Any positive immunological effect is thought to result from melatonin acting on high affinity receptors (MT1 and MT2) expressed in immunocompetent cells. In preclinical studies, melatonin may enhance cytokine production,[42] and by doing this counteract acquired immunodeficiences. Some studies also suggest that melatonin might be useful fighting infectious disease[43] including viral, such as HIV, and bacterial infections, and potentially in the treatment of cancer.[44]
Endogenous melatonin in human lymphocytes has been related to interleukin-2 (IL-2) production and to the expression of IL-2 receptor.[45] This suggests that melatonin is involved in the clonal expansion of antigen-stimulated human T lymphocytes. When taken in conjunction with calcium, it is an immunostimulator[citation needed] and is used as an adjuvant in some clinical protocols[citation needed]; conversely, the increased immune system activity may aggravate autoimmune disorders. In rheumatoid arthritis patients, melatonin production has been found increased when compared to age-matched healthy controls.[46]
[edit] Dreaming
Some supplemental melatonin users report an increase in vivid dreaming. Extremely high doses of melatonin (50 mg) dramatically increased REM sleep time and dream activity in both people with and without narcolepsy.[47] Many psychoactive drugs, such as cannabis and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), increase melatonin synthesis.[47] It has been suggested that nonpolar (lipid-soluble) indolic hallucinogenic drugs emulate melatonin activity in the awakened state and that both act on the same areas of the brain.[47]
[edit] Autism
Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may have lower than normal levels of melatonin. A 2008 study found that unaffected parents of individuals with ASD also have lower melatonin levels, and that the deficits were associated with low activity of the ASMT gene, which encodes the last enzyme of melatonin synthesis.[48]
[edit] Current and potential medical indications
Melatonin has been studied for the treatment of cancer, immune disorders, cardiovascular diseases, depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), circadian rhythm sleep disorders and sexual dysfunction. Studies by Alfred J. Lewy at Oregon Health & Science University and other researchers have found that it may ameliorate circadian misalignment and SAD.[49] Basic research indicates that melatonin may play a significant role in modulating the effects of drugs of abuse such as cocaine.[50]
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