¿Qué pasa?

What’s going on here?

I woke up at 3:08 a.m. today, and I didn’t panic. Usually, it’s oh crap stop thinking stop thinking turn off your BRAAAAIN ah, nuts and I’m up for the day. But instead this morning, after pulling the blanket over my head, I woke up a minute later to find it was 4:59 — time to start the day!

Like I said on Facebook last night when PK asked about it — the melatonin thing is either a miracle or an excellent placebo. Either way, I’m getting the desired effect, and that’s all that matters. I think if you suffer from restlessness upon waking in the middle of the night, you should at least give it a try. I paid $11 for a bottle of 10mg tablets at the local Wally. I take one just before going to bed.

Of course, there’s always the “other side” of the debate. If I take this hormone artificially, will my system stop producing it on its own? I’ve done some cursory checking, and I really need to separate the peer-reviewed evidence from the “folk wisdom.” More on that another day, unless one of you philomaths want to check it out and separate wheat from chaff.

But for this week, we take the pill and drink the Kool-Aid. Whatever gets you through audition night.

Bring it!

7 thoughts on “¿Qué pasa?

  1. Mavis

    “Whatever gets you through the night……it’s alright….it’s alright.” :-)
    I’m so thrilled to read that you’ve slept better! I’m definitely talking to the doc about those pills.
    Hope you have a great day, hon!

    Reply
    1. Mavis

      Hmm. I think I should have used the proper “all right” to reference the song. You know me – I always think too late. :-)

      Reply
  2. RD

    Sure glad you were able to sleep better and more!!

    One of our friends in FL owns a health food store, and she has taken a ton of training about homeopathic remedies. Her concern was the one you mentioned, namely, if we take melatonin as a supplement, our bodies will adjust by not producing as much of it naturally. She also said something about there being a realationship between the amount of melatonin our bodies produce and the amount of light our brains receive during the day. I know she said we do ourselves a disservice in this area by constantly wearing sunglasses. I don’t remember all of the reasoning about that, so this info is on sandy ground. My opinion (which isn’t worth all that much) is there’s no harm in taking it, at least in the short term. I’ve taken it in the past with no adverse results of which I am aware.

    Reply
  3. Lori

    My experience with melatonin is that it works for me but has a cumulative effect. If I take it a few nights in a row, there comes a day when I feel like I’ve had a whole bottle of Nyquil. You’re getting veeerrrrryyyy sleeeepy!!!

    Reply
  4. Suzanne

    I had the same experience as Lori when I tried it. After awhile I didn’t like how I felt when I woke up in the mornings. There is some thought that the sleep that melatonin pills bring on isn’t “real” sleep.

    Reply
  5. Rat Fink Post author

    Thanks for the info, everyone. I am definitely going to watch for these symptoms. In fact, I woke up this morning feeling groggy…I don’t know if it’s because I had a long evening last night before bed, or if it’s because I was up a bit earlier than usual because of having to go in to work early today (or if it’s from the mel).

    Maybe I’ll go without tonight and see what happens. I am sure about one thing, though — I don’t want to mess up any natural biorhythmic symbiotic good vibrations, know what I mean? I’ve got about all the insanity I can handle at the moment, heh :-)

    Reply

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