Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Newcomer introductions, personal anecdotes, caregiver issues, lab results, and n=1 experimentation.
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THOC
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by THOC »

Thank you very much for this forum. I was having such severe bouts of diarrhea that I was scared to go to work. After reading a post on this forum, I checked the ingredients of my melatonin tablets and found magnesium stearate, something which caused me diarrhea before. I stopped taking the pills and the diarrhea stopped within 48 hours.
I can’t express how much I appreciate this.
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emmabarton
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by emmabarton »

THOC wrote:Thank you very much for this forum. I was having such severe bouts of diarrhea that I was scared to go to work. After reading a post on this forum, I checked the ingredients of my melatonin tablets and found magnesium stearate, something which caused me diarrhea before. I stopped taking the pills and the diarrhea stopped within 48 hours.
I can’t express how much I appreciate this.
Oh my goodness, that is unfortunate! I'm glad you figured it out-- and that the site was helpful. Welcome to the community! I'm not sure how familiar you are with the entire site, but there are a few key aspects that are super helpful if you're new. I recognize that another one of our member already shared some resources on this thread, but I figured it can't hurt to repeat :) . First, check out the wiki page-- it's an amazing repository of very useful information. The next is the primer, thoughtfully written by Stavia, an E4/E4 doctor from the ApoE4.info community. Finally, please consider sharing a little more about yourself in the our stories forum. We'd love to get to know you better.

If you have any other questions or comments, please feel comfortable to reach out. This is really a wonderful community filled with a lot of like-minded souls. I'm glad you're here!

Light and peace,
Emma
healing happens in relationship
Danagalmc
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by Danagalmc »

I had been taking 10mg of melatonin for the past 3months. For the past month I have had chronic diarrhea. I just stopped taking them 3 nights ago and today continue to have it, actually I felt more positive yesterday. Did this happen to anyone else? Sure hoping tomorrow is a better day! Also does drinking lots of water help to detox from the melatonin. Would love to hear how your recovery went! Thanks
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Sara Mushel, MS
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by Sara Mushel, MS »

I had been taking 10mg of melatonin for the past 3months. For the past month I have had chronic diarrhea. I just stopped taking them 3 nights ago and today continue to have it, actually I felt more positive yesterday. Did this happen to anyone else? Sure hoping tomorrow is a better day! Also does drinking lots of water help to detox from the melatonin. Would love to hear how your recovery went! Thanks
Hi Danagalmc,

Welcome to the forum! I'm so sorry to hear that you're experiencing similar symptoms. Hopefully discontinuing the melatonin will help within a few days.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a few links for you to check out if you're interested to learn more about the forum and all that it has to offer. The Welcome, Primer, and Wiki pages are great places to start. You can also search for threads on specific topics by clicking on the magnifying glass in the menu bar on the upper right corner of the page.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. Thanks for sharing your experience with us - we all learn from one another!

Sara
mountaineermd
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by mountaineermd »

Danagalmc, Hang in there. it can take up to six weeks to completely resolve, but usually it resolves sooner.
mksween
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by mksween »

A few years ago, I experienced horrible diarrhea. Every time food or liquid entered my body, I had to run straight to the bathroom. My Dr. could find nothing in my stool sample. A friend told me it may be magnesium in my Melatonin supplement and advised me to check the ingredients. It seems manufacturers sometimes add magnesium to their Melatonin products because Melatonin is know to cause constipation. [not sure about pure melatonin]. Sure enough, it did contain magnesium. I recently tried Melatonin (half a 3 mg tablet) again and it had the same effect of causing violent diarrhea. Even after stopping taking it, I had diarrhea for two weeks. So I am off Melatonin for good.
Flo
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by Flo »

mksween wrote:So I am off Melatonin for good.
Dear mksween,

Welcome to the forum!
So glad you managed to work out the issue, your perseverance to get to the root cause paid off!
We would all love to know a little bit more about you, so if you get the chance, why not introduce yourself on Our Stories forum?
If you haven't found it already, the Primer is a wonderful source of information about everything Apoe4 - it was written by one of our member physician and contains lots of scientific information as well as practical step to improve your lifestyle.
Additionally, I've found the How-to section of the Wiki really helpful to help me understand how the website works, so you might too!

Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Warm regards
Flo
mountaineermd
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by mountaineermd »

I suspect that it is melatonin itself that causes the watery diarrhea. I have take magnesium supplements without any diarrhea, yet my melatonin experience led me to initiate the experience on this site. I happen to be Apoe3/4, but I doubt there is any relation to ones Apoe status.
Benson
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by Benson »

I have been taking 1mg of melatonin together with nytol for 6 weeks when I developed dirahea. Thank God I saw this forum and stopped both. It has been two weeks now and the dirahea has not stopped. My stomach growls a lot and I get anxiety which is really disrupting my normal routine. Did anyone experience this kind of growling as there I would realise something is wrong. I know it can take up to six weeks to resolve but with just 1mg for 6 weeks it can have such a devastating effect? It is really disturbing and I am freaking out that something is wrong.
mountaineermd
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by mountaineermd »

Benson, I do not remember stomach growling as a significant part of my symptoms. My experience was relentless, persistent watery diarrhea, worse in the morning. No fever, no pain. The original article said it could take up to six weeks. Mountaineermd.
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