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Melatonin is not safe for insomia. The reason I know this is because I have used melatonin myself, had caused myself to become an insomiac from it's use, and have carefully researched the effects of introducing naturally occuring hormones in the body.

Let's go back a couple of years ago. I was working on the aircraft carrier, Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) as a nuclear electrician. By my job's very nature, I did not get to sleep like normal people. I was having trouble falling asleep when I needed to and thus did not get to sleep much at all, until I discovered the wonderful supplement melatonin. When I took it, it induced sleepy feelings through me, that meant I could force myself to not only sleep, but to sleep very very well. Weeks went by and I was loving it, but a small suspicion crept into my mind. I began to never feel tired unless I first took the melatonin. Hmmmm

On a bet with one of my friends, I decided to stop taking Melatonin and see if I could naturally go to sleep. Day one went well, when I laid down I realized I wasn't tired at all so I opted to stay awake. As several more days went by I tried harder and harder to go to sleep. I laid in my bunk, eyes wide open for six straight days. Aside of the sleepless nights I operated fine. By day five I became afraid I might never go to sleep again and die. Fortunately by the seventh night I was able to sleep again. After the week long time frame I was awake I wondered why I couldn't go to sleep using the melatonin.

Melatonin, is naturally manufactured by your pituitary gland located at the center of your brain. It's release prepares and sets your body up to go to sleep. The melatonin isn't just released and that's that. Your body monitors how much you already have in your body, if too much is detected, like when you take it as a supplement, the body pulls back on production to compensate. Hence, when I stopped taking melatonin, my body took a long time to adjust and start making it on it's own again.

Melatonin may be natural, that is fine and good, but it doesn't fix an insomiacs issue when it is taken as a supplement. Insomnia is linked to a large array of issues including its production in the body. Taking melatonin will ony fix or hide a sign, sleeplessness, of a possible deeper and more dangerous health problem. As in my experience, it can create more problems than solving them as well.
Anyone who chronically suffers from insomnia must get examined by a real doctor and tested for the various causes of the disorder. Taking melatonin is similiar to taking asprin for a really bad bacteria infection. It only prolongs the inevitable discovery of your real problem. Bandaids don't mend broken bones and melatonin can be dangerous in hiding what is wrong or making a bad problem worse.

Learn more about this author, Rodger Dodger.
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