Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

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CoachMT
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by CoachMT »

thsailor wrote:I had the same diarrhea issues described here. I quit using melatonin (I was taking 2 pills at night as a sleeping aid) and the diarrhea symptoms disappeared. Incredible what an apparently innocent OTC drug can do to your body. I found this thread quite by chance as many other websites don’t mention this side effect, of course our bodies are so diverse!
Hi thsailor , welcome to the Apoe4.info community! We’re glad you found the site and have had the opportunity to connect and share your experience taking (and stopping taking melatonin) with the community. As you can see, you are not alone in your experience! If you haven’t visited it already, you may be interested in checking out the Our Stories forum to share your own story and learn about fellow members. And if you haven’t seen it already, the primer is a great place to learn about the resources available on the ApoE4.info site that you may want to incorporate into your own learning journey.

Welcome to the community and please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions!
Best, Mandy
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Magda
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by Magda »

thsailor wrote:I had the same diarrhea issues described here. I quit using melatonin (I was taking 2 pills at night as a sleeping aid) and the diarrhea symptoms disappeared. Incredible what an apparently innocent OTC drug can do to your body. I found this thread quite by chance as many other websites don’t mention this side effect, of course our bodies are so diverse!

Welcome to the forum Thsailor!

You are so right that "our bodies are divers" and what works for one individual does not for another. I think when it comes to any treatment or dietary interventions personalization is the key!

I see you found apoe4.info doing a google search to solve a specific problem. If you have found our site interesting, I invite you to stay and look around:). A great place to start exploring our forum is the PRIMER.
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=1418
This part of the site is a summary of everything apoe4.info is about. There you will find information on how to protect and preserve your brain health. The importance of a good nights sleep is mentioned in the Primer and many times on our site, because without a doubt sleep is at the top of the list of saying healthy and sharp.
In addition, there is a whole section dedicated just to sleep. It is filled with tips and links to great resources.
https://wiki.apoe4.info/wiki/Sleep

Again, welcome to the forum!

Best,
Magda
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senior lady
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by senior lady »

I suffered with watery diarrhea for 2 weeks. Finally the doctor said it could be from melatonin. I was taking 15 mg. She said that was too strong. I stopped the melatonin and the diarrhea stopped. I started taking Lexapro and developed diarrhea off and on. After a month I tried 3 mg. of melatonin, but after one does I had diarrhea again so no more melatonin for me. :roll:
NF52
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by NF52 »

senior lady wrote:I suffered with watery diarrhea for 2 weeks. Finally the doctor said it could be from melatonin. I was taking 15 mg. She said that was too strong. I stopped the melatonin and the diarrhea stopped. I started taking Lexapro and developed diarrhea off and on. After a month I tried 3 mg. of melatonin, but after one does I had diarrhea again so no more melatonin for me. :roll:
Welcome, senior lady, from another senior lady,

Even 3 mg of melatonin may be 6X the dose that your body needs! Here's a quote from the National Sleep Foundation:
For Insomnia or Occasional Sleeplessness Between two tenths of a milligram and five milligrams 60 minutes before bedtime is a typical dose for adults, while children should take a smaller dose. Too much melatonin can disrupt your sleep cycle, so start with the smallest dose of two tenths of a milligram and increase it as needed.
https://www.sleep.org/articles/how-much ... n-to-take/

I don't know of any sources for melatonin in a dose as small as .2 mg, but did find on Google that Pure Encapsulation sells 0.5 mg tablets of melatonin. That dose would be only 1/6 the strength of the 3 mg dose you were taking, and 1/30th the strength of the 15 mg. dose. As we get older, our bodies often process medication differently, and what we might need compared to a 185 lb athlete who is dealing with insomnia could be vastly different doses.

If you were taking the Lexapro to deal with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, you may want to talk with your doctor about other drugs with different properties that may still help you without these unpleasant side effects! You may also want to read our wiki section on strategies for better sleep: Sleep
4/4 and still an optimist!
Lucy5
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by Lucy5 »

senior lady wrote:I suffered with watery diarrhea for 2 weeks. Finally the doctor said it could be from melatonin. I was taking 15 mg. She said that was too strong. I stopped the melatonin and the diarrhea stopped. I started taking Lexapro and developed diarrhea off and on. After a month I tried 3 mg. of melatonin, but after one does I had diarrhea again so no more melatonin for me. :roll:
Welcome to our ApoE4 community senior lady! I’m sorry to hear that melatonin didn’t work for you. I see you’ve already gotten some very helpful suggestions from NF52 that you may want to look in to. We all know how important restorative sleep is, so I’m hopeful that some of the ideas presented here will work for you.

As you recently joined us, I’d like to recommend you browse our site Primer as a way to learn more about our community and our focus on lifestyle strategies to maintain health and wellbeing. It also includes a section on sleep. In addition to more in-depth discussions on topics of interest to our community, the Wiki includes a How-To-Guide which has some great tips to help members navigate our site more easily and effectively.

Please don’t hesitate to continuing sharing and asking questions of the group at any time, senior lady!
warmly, Lucy
Plumster
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by Plumster »

Whole Foods has a brand of melatonin that is a lozenge (sorry, I don't know the brand and I don't have the bottle nearby) that you can break up into small pieces. It's 1mg and I cut it into quarters, 0.25mg per night. That works really well for me. (I'm a petite woman, very sensitive to supplements.)

EDIT: The brand is called Source Naturals.
Last edited by Plumster on Sun Jul 21, 2019 9:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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BrianR
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by BrianR »

If you're looking for low dose melatonin, and you don't want to cut up a larger pill, you can buy it in 300 mcg (.3mg) dosage. I get Sundown's version from Amazon, but Life Extension and, I believe, other brands are available.
anniedutchgirl
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by anniedutchgirl »

I am so glad I found this website. I thought I was dying or something. At the same time I started the Melatonin sleep gummies I developed watery diarrhea. I am upset about this because it really has helped me sleep! The worst sprang to my mind.
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by NF52 »

anniedutchgirl wrote:I am so glad I found this website. I thought I was dying or something. At the same time I started the Melatonin sleep gummies I developed watery diarrhea. I am upset about this because it really has helped me sleep! The worst sprang to my mind.
Hi anniedutchgirl!
We'e glad you found this site also! Although I would also recommend that any time you are really worried about the "worst", that you contact your primary care provider, go to urgent care, if that's an option, or just ask yourself "Where have I eaten, and what have I added to my diet, supplements or routine in the last week or so?" Melatonin is one of those things that seems important to start in teeny-tiny doses, and to monitor carefully. Some people obviously are more sensitive than others to it.

Since you're probably looking for other ways to get a good night's sleep, you might want to check out this Wiki entry on Sleep.
Here is a link to a forum topic on Sleep which has five pages of posts and lots of useful suggestions.

Our Primer, by our 4/4 Doctor Stavia, has an important section on sleep as a strategy to improve brain health here: Primer: Sleep

And to help your navigate your way around the forum, if this is a useful place for you, check out the "How-To" Get the most out of the ApoE4.info website.

Here's to more good sleeping for you!
4/4 and still an optimist!
ElleNY
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Re: Unfortunate side effect from melatonin.

Post by ElleNY »

I am so happy that I found this thread! For over three weeks I have been pretty ill with watery diarrhea and stomach pains, which is odd because I never get stomach problems. It wreaked havoc on a vacation was relentless. I was beginning to panic--was this from antibiotics, a food intolerance, a bug that I picked up that wouldn't go away? Nothing helped--immodium, avoiding a few foods and coffee, or probiotics suggested by a doctor. Then after racking my brain about what I had been doing differently, I realized that I started taking melatonin nightly about four weeks ago for insomnia. I googled "melatonin" and "diarrhea" and found this. I stopped taking it three evenings ago, and I already feel almost back to normal. (I also was starting to get some really weird joint pain, which has also almost disappeared).

I had no idea that this could have these side effects. I was about to contact a gastroenterologist. So happy to feel better. Thank you for the information.
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