melatonin dreams and dream journals

for the past cpl months ive been taking melatonin at night before bed...sometimes valarian too.

talk about the craziest dreams in the world...which i love.

soooooo real and often soooo messed up ...which i still love (sometimes VERY disturbing tho)

i have a friend that keeps dream journals, but he doesnt talk about them much (he's a deep thinker like me)

do any of you keep "dream journals"?

if so how do u use them, and any advice?

my dreams (especially when i take melatonin are whaked the fuck out)

i do more or less the same..i drink a lot of valerian and red clover tea as well as take melatonin before bed. when i have a particularly strange dream i immediately tell the first person i can find. like last night i was wading through an epic creek, and came to the realization that i could plant weed anywhere out here! now i'm on a mission IRL to find a deep section of creek to plant nearby. my sister though is big into keeping a dream journal. she keeps an open journal and pen next to her bed, and sometimes wakes up having written down dreams she doesnt even remember having. she says it is all about training yourself to write without thinking...like wake up briefly and just pour the dream onto the page before passing back out. it would be cool to have a thread to accomplish somewhat of the same thing. i know one of the first things i do when i wake up is check IC hahaha.

Dreams are amazing

Dreams are amazing

I think if I would write down all my dreams right after I wake up, I could probably make some sort of movie out of it all. Ever since I was very young I've always had very vivid, random, intense dreams and they happen almost every night. I like it, though. I wish there was some way to record dreams without computer chips being implanted in your brain or whatever. It's like some strange film that winds through my brain at night while I'm sleeping.

yeah thats what im saying....people wouldent understand the "movie" my dreams would make, but to me it's pretty insane.

like most peeps tho i forget them a day or two away, and thats why i was thinking of a dream journal.

whats this melatonin??
i remember it was also pretty big on OG

From Wikipedia


Melatonin
Systematic (IUPAC) name
N-[2-(5-methoxy-1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl]
ethanamide
Identifiers
CAS number 73-31-4
ATC code N05CH01
PubChem 896
DrugBank APRD00742
Chemical data
Formula C13H16N2O2
Mol. mass 232.278 g/mol
Pharmacokinetic data
Bioavailability 30 – 50%
Metabolism Hepatic via CYP1A2 mediated 6-hydroxylation
Half life 35 to 50 minutes
Excretion Urine
Therapeutic considerations
Pregnancy cat. ?

Legal status POM(UK)

Routes ?
Melatonin, 5-methoxy-N-acetyltryptamine, is a naturally occurring hormone found in most animals and some of other living organisms, including algae[1] and humans, at levels that vary in a daily cycle. It plays a role in the regulation of the circadian rhythm of several biological functions. Many biological effects of melatonin are produced through activation of melatonin receptors, while others are due to its role as a pervasive and extremely powerful antioxidant with a particular role in the protection of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA.

Products containing either or both of isolated or synthesized melatonin have been available as a health supplement in the United States since 1993, and met with good consumer acceptance and enthusiasm. However, over-the-counter sales remain illegal in many other countries including some members of the European Union and New Zealand, and the U.S. Postal Service lists melatonin among items prohibited by Germany.


Biosynthesis
In higher animals and humans, melatonin is produced by pinealocytes in the pineal gland (located in the brain) and also by the retina, lens and GI tract. It is naturally synthesized from the amino acid tryptophan (via synthesis of serotonin) by the enzyme 5-hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase.

Production of melatonin by the pineal gland is under the influence of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus, which receives information from the retina about the daily pattern of light and darkness. Both SCN rhythmicity and melatonin production are affected by non-visual light information traveling not through the optic nerve, but through the recently-identified retinohypothalamic tract (RHT).

The light/dark information reaches the SCN via a subpopulation of inner retinal ganglion cells, which are intrinsically-photosensitive photoreceptor cells, distinct from those involved in the visual system. These cells represent approximately 2% of retinal ganglion cells in humans and express the non-visual photopigment melanopsin. The sensitivity of melanopsin fits with that of a vitamin A-based photopigment with a peak sensitivity at 484 nm (blue light). This photoperiod cue entrains the circadian rhythm, and the resultant production of specific "dark"- and "light"-induced neural and endocrine signals regulates behavioral and physiological circadian rhythms.

Melatonin may also be produced by a variety of peripheral cells such as bone marrow cells, lymphocytes and epithelial cells. Usually, the melatonin concentration in these cells is much higher than that found in the blood but it does not seem to be regulated by the photoperiod.

Melatonin is also synthesized by various plants, such as rice, and ingested melatonin has been shown to be capable of reaching and binding to melatonin binding sites in the brains of mammals.


Distribution
Melatonin produced in the pineal gland acts as an endocrine hormone since it is released into the blood. By contrast, melatonin produced by the retina and the gastrointestinal (GI) tract acts as a paracrine hormone.


Roles in the animal kingdom
Many animals use the variation in duration and quantity of melatonin production in each day as a seasonal clock. In animals and in some conditions also in humans the profile of melatonin synthesis and secretion is affected by variable duration of night which occurs in summer compared to winter. The change in duration of secretion thus serves as a biological signal for the organisation of daylength-dependent (photoperiodic) seasonal functions such as reproduction, behaviour, coat growth and camouflage coloring in seasonal animals. In seasonal breeders which do not have long gestation periods, and which mate during longer daylight hours, the melatonin signal controls the seasonal variation in their sexual physiology, and similar physiological effects can be induced by exogenous melatonin in animals including mynah birds and hamsters. Melatonin can suppress libido by inhibiting secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) from the anterior pituitary gland, especially in mammals that have a breeding season when daylight hours are long. The reproduction of long-day breeders is repressed by melatonin and the reproduction of short-day breeders is stimulated by melatonin.

During the night, melatonin regulates leptin, lowering the levels; see Leptin.

Melatonin is also related to the mechanism by which some amphibians and reptiles change the color of their skin.


Roles in humans

Circadian rhythm
See also: Phase response curve
In humans, melatonin is produced by the pineal gland, a gland about the size of a pea, located in the center of the brain on the dorsal surface of diencephalon. The melatonin signal forms part of the system that regulates the circadian cycle by chemically causing drowsiness, but it is the central nervous system that controls the daily cycle in most components of the paracrine and endocrine systems[22][23] rather than the melatonin signal (as was once postulated).


Light dependence
Production of melatonin by the pineal gland is inhibited by light and permitted by darkness. For this reason melatonin has been called "the hormone of darkness" and its onset each evening is called the Dim-Light Melatonin Onset (DLMO). Secretion of melatonin, and its level in the blood, peaks in the middle of the night, and gradually falls during the second half of the night, with normal variations in timing according to an individual's chronotype.

Until recent history, humans in temperate climates were exposed to only about six hours of daylight in the winter. In the modern world, artificial lighting reduces darkness exposure to typically eight hours or less per day all year round. Even low light levels inhibit melatonin production to some extent, but over-illumination can create significant reduction in melatonin production. Since it is principally blue light that suppresses melatonin, wearing glasses that block blue light in the hours before bedtime may avoid melatonin loss. Use of blue-blocking goggles the last hours before bedtime has also been advised for people who need to adjust to an earlier bedtime, as melatonin promotes sleepiness.

Reduced melatonin production has been proposed as a likely factor in the significantly higher cancer rates in night workers, and the effect of modern lighting practice on endogenous melatonin has been proposed as a contributory factor to the larger overall incidence of some cancers in the developed world. As inadequate as blood concentrations may be in brightly lit environments, some scientists now believe that a person's overnight output of melatonin can be further jeopardized each time he or she interrupts his or her sleep and turns on a bright light (suggesting that using a less-bright nightlight would be safer). Others suggest that such short exposures do no harm.[28]


[edit] Antioxidant
Besides its primary function as synchronizer of the biological clock, melatonin may exert a powerful antioxidant activity. In many lower life forms, it serves only this purpose.[29]

Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant that can easily cross cell membranes and the blood-brain barrier.[4] Melatonin is a direct scavenger of OH, O2−, and NO.[30] 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.[31] 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 since many of the products of the reaction/derivatives (including melatonin) are themselves antioxidants, and so on. 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.

In animal models, melatonin has been demonstrated to prevent the damage to DNA by some carcinogens, stopping the mechanism by which they cause cancer. It also has been found to be effective in protecting against brain injury caused by ROS release in experimental hypoxic brain damage. 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.

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can (January 2008).


Immune system
While it is clear that melatonin interacts with the immune system, 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. and by doing this counteract acquired immunodeficiences. Some studies also suggest that melatonin might be useful fighting infectious disease including viral and bacterial infections. Endogenous melatonin in human lymphocytes has been related to interleukin-2 (IL-2) production and to the expression of IL-2 receptor 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.


Dreaming
Many supplemental melatonin users have reported an increase in the vividness or frequency of dreams. Extremely high doses of melatonin (50mg) dramatically increased REM sleep time and dream activity in both narcoleptics and those without narcolepsy.

Many psychoactive drugs, such as LSD and cocaine, increase melatonin synthesis. 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.

It has been suggested that psychotropic drugs be readmitted in the field of scientific inquiry and therapy. If so, melatonin may be prioritized for research in this reemerging field of psychiatry.


Autism
Individuals with autism spectrum disorders 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.


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. A study by Alfred J. Lewy and other researchers at Oregon Health & Science University found that it may ameliorate circadian misalignment and SAD.[47] As of 2006 it is known to affect the timing of endogenous melatonin production during long-term melatonin treatment in rats.[48] Basic research indicates that melatonin may play a significant role in modulating the effects of drugs of abuse such as cocaine.[49]


Treatment of circadian rhythm disorders
Exogenous melatonin, usually taken orally in the afternoon and/or evening, is, together with light therapy upon awakening, the standard treatment for delayed sleep phase syndrome and non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome. See Phase response curve, PRC. It appears to have some use against other circadian rhythm sleep disorders, such as jet lag and the problems of people who work rotating or night shifts.


Preventing ischemic damage
Melatonin has been shown to reduce tissue damage in rats due to ischemia in both the brain and the heart; however, this has not been tested in humans.


Learning, memory and Alzheimer's
Melatonin receptors appear to be important in mechanisms of learning and memory in mice, and melatonin can alter electrophysiological processes associated with memory, such as long-term potentiation (LTP). Melatonin has been shown to prevent the hyperphosphorylation of the tau protein in rats. Hyperphosphorylation of tau protein can result in the formation of neurofibrillary tangles, a pathological feature seen in Alzheimer's disease. Thus, melatonin may be effective for treating Alzheimer's Disease. These same neurofibrillary tangles can be found in the hypothalamus in patients with Alzheimer's, adversely affecting their bodies' production of melatonin. Those Alzheimer's patients with this specific affliction often show heightened afternoon agitation, called sundowning, which has been shown in many studies to be effectively treated with melatonin supplements in the evening.


ADHD
Research shows that after melatonin is administered to ADHD patients, the time needed to fall asleep is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the effects of the melatonin after three months showed no change from its effects after one week of use.


Fertility
Recent research has concluded that melatonin supplementation in perimenopausal women produces a highly significant improvement in thyroid function and gonadotropin levels, as well as restoring fertility and menstruation and preventing the depression associated with the menopause.

However, at the same time, some resources warn women trying to conceive not to take a melatonin supplement.


Headaches
Several clinical studies indicate that supplementation with melatonin is an effective preventive treatment for migraines and cluster headaches.


Mental disorders
Melatonin has been shown to be effective in treating one form of depression, seasonal affective disorder, and is being considered for bipolar and other disorders where circadian disturbances are involved.


Other
Some studies have shown that melatonin has potential for use in the treatment of various forms of cancer, HIV, and other viral diseases; however, further testing is necessary to confirm this.

Melatonin is involved in the regulation of body weight, and may be helpful in treating obesity (especially when combined with calcium).

Histologically speaking, it is also believed that melatonin has some effects for sexual growth in higher organisms. (*Quoted from Ross Histology and Wheather's Functional Histology.)


Use as a dietary supplement
The primary motivation for the use of melatonin as a supplement may be as a natural aid to better sleep, with other incidental benefits to health and well-being due to its role as an antioxidant and its stimulation of the immune system and several components of the endocrine system.

Studies from Massachusetts Institute of Technology say that melatonin pills sold as supplements contain three to ten times the amount needed to produce the desirable physiologic nocturnal blood melatonin level for enhancement of sleep. Dosages are designed to raise melatonin levels for several hours to enhance quality of sleep, but some studies suggest that smaller doses are just as effective at improving sleep quality.[63] Large doses of melatonin can even be counterproductive: Lewy & al[64] provide support to the "idea that too much melatonin may spill over onto the wrong zone of the melatonin phase-response curve" (PRC). In their study, 0.5 mg of melatonin was effective while 20 mg was not.


Safety of supplementation
This section has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality.
Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page.

Melatonin is available without prescription in most cases in the United States and Canada, while it is available only by prescription or not at all in some other countries. The hormone is available as oral supplements (capsules, tablets or liquid) and transdermal, the "melatonin sleep patch".

Sold as a dietary supplement in the USA, not as a drug, often in health food and other grocery stores and some drug stores, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations that apply to medications currently are not applicable to melatonin.[2] Safety and efficacy of melatonin products may not have been assessed.

Melatonin is practically nontoxic and, so far, appears to exhibit almost no short-term side effects when healthy people take it at very low doses. No studies have as yet been conducted to determine whether there are any long-term side effects. There are, however, case reports about patients who have taken the supplement for years.

Ingesting melatonin supplements may cause some unwanted side effects, especially at high doses (~more than 3 mg/day): hormone fluctuations, irritability, increased sleep disturbances including vivid nightmares[2] and reduced blood flow (see below).

Exogenous melatonin normally does not affect the endogenous melatonin profile, merely advancing the phase of endogenous melatonin production in time if taken at an appropriate time of day.[citation needed]

In individuals with auto-immune disorders, there is concern that melatonin supplementation may exacerbate symptoms due to stimulation of the immune system.

Melatonin can cause somnolence (drowsiness), and therefore caution should be shown when driving, operating machinery, etc. When taken several hours before bedtime in accordance with the phase response curve for melatonin in humans, the dosage should be so tiny as to not cause tiredness/sleepiness.

Individuals who experience orthostatic intolerance, a cardiovascular condition that results in reduced blood pressure and blood flow to the brain when a person stands, may experience a worsening of symptoms when taking melatonin supplements, a study at Penn State College of Medicine's Milton S. Hershey Medical Center suggests. Melatonin can exacerbate the symptoms by reducing nerve activity in those who experience the condition, the study found.

Because of concerns of transmission of viruses through melatonin derived from animal sources melatonin derived from cow or sheep pineal glands should not be administered. However, because pineal glands are small (pea sized) and contain only minute amounts of melatonin, animal tissues are not a practical source of melatonin.


In popular culture
Melatonin is the title of a 1998 song by English rock band Radiohead, released as a b-side, and compiled on the album Airbag/How Am I Driving?.
Melatonin is mentioned extensively in William Gibson's 2003 novel Pattern Recognition, as the novel deals with jet lag.
Melatonin is the title of the first track of the Silver Lake-based indie rock band Silversun Pickups' 2006 debut album, Carnavas.
Melatonin is the title of a song by Punk Rock band Smoke or Fire on their album This Sinking Ship.
Melatonin is mentioned extensively in Hunter S. Thompson's novel "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", and is used recreationally by the two main characters.

quite the explanation there

man ive read fear and loathing a few times, dont remember shit about melatonin

i have thought of giving it a try..

the producer from BigBrother UK was arrested at dubai airport with melatonin and held for a few months... now thats fucked up
they said they also found traces of hash in his luggage, about 0.005 of a gram or something like that!!! ill never pass that way again....

i have the wildest craziest dreams ever occasionally i don't dream often but when i do its intense....

usually they are bad but entertaining none of the less

I had a dream I shot off a pistol in my house and you could see the light leaking in next thing i know there are cops looking for me i was hiding and i couldn't find the gun finally i woke up and was like fuck this dream


another one i had i was in a huge downtown city the sky was red and i assume it was the end of the world i was in some kind of crackhouse type building and the government was going around rounding people up and it was me and a few other people i remeber just looking around at the sky and atmosphere how it was blood red with lightning and rain and it seemed like the athmosphere was un stable and the world was going to explode or something

i had another one were i escaped a mental instution and they were looking for me and i was in my real life car running from them the cops and a lot of other random people.... the weird thing was it was set not where the mental instution i went to but in my hometown where i grew up till the ago of 8 or so in a residentail area it was so wild i have the craziest dreams and have no problem remembering so i don't write them down.....

I don't take mealtonin but its weird... normally I can't remember my dreams at all. I guess because I smoke a lot of weed but the last couple days I've had some vivid dreams that were just crazy. I'm glad I started remembering them again, but we will have to see how long this lasts.

i am interested in reading some more freaky dreams i hearby resurrect this thread!!!!!

im gonna buy some and see if it helps me remember. i'm usually on a sedative before bed so i don't remember much in vivid detail.

bump
bump
bumpidity bump bump

i know this isn't about melatonin, but i have noticed that if i wake up in the middle of the night and drink something very sugary before i pass back out i have very vivid and epic dreams.

apple juice works wonders

Melatonin and indicas create a strange knockoutish stone. I have also had some crazy vidid melatonin dreams. The kind where you wake up and you believe them for a few minutes.

About dreams being crazy enough to make a good film, I've thought that about a ton of my dreams that I've been having lately. Things so creative, so bizarre that they would definitely require months of sober contemplation to achieve in the real world.

Many of my dreams involve my father (who I have a bad relationship with) and myself and sometimes my younger brother (who lives with him). We are always banded together for the sake of survival, trying to keep something at bay. One dream I had I was in a 400ft tall RV. In the cabin, my dad and I were playing checkers. I walked around the inside perimeter of the cabin (which was a long winding hallway) to make sure windows were locked and blinds were closed, so the vampires couldn't see us. When I got to the main access point, which was a door sitting on a slant facing away from me (like a storm or outside cellar door) a vampire would try to break in. He eventually gets in, and we just start talking to each other. He's laying on top of the door which is on top of me, just talking to me right in my face.

Some dreams I have a girlfriend. This girl that I used to talk to in middle school. Coincidentally, hers was the first pussy I saw. I think I fell in puppy love with her but we ended up going to different high schools. Now I see her in my dreams, she's always riding a bike at a leisurely pace around me, and I'm standing in a parking lot. Then we are sitting in an antique velvet covered arm chair making out, and I'm fingering her. Maybe this is a memory, long lost to the legions of cannabinoids?

My most recent crazy dreams:

I was a kid again. I woke up in my childhood home and had to go to the toilet, it was late at night. I walked towards the toilet but then the toilet started making 'rumbling' sounds.

It then came to life. Ripped out its foundations and started snapping it's lid like some rabid animal. I ran outside to escape the homicidal toilet.

It was catching me. So magically a kite appeared in my hands. I started to fly the kite and climbed up the kite string...I was flying through mid air with a crazy toilet jumping up and snapping at my heels.

I woke up.

NOKUY, shit man, i thought i was the only one who anylized dreams. About 20 years ago i had a dream in which i was playing a song on guitar. When i woke up, i grabbed my gibson and played the song note for note, wrote it, and sold it for a pretty penny. Unfortunately, (per the contract is signed) i can't divuldge the bands' name who ultimately bought and recorded the song. Not that any of the memebers or there attorney frequents this site but ya never know and i dont feel like getting the shit sued outta me...
Since then i always kept a journal of dreams that stood out.
Dreams in where i'm flying are the best.
Anybody ever notice how in your dreams, no-matter how fast you try and run it seems like you're running in slo-mo? For me, the slo-mo running is always because a Vampire is chasing me. Go figure.
Interesting thread none the less.

Wet dreams are something else alltogether

i chop a 5mg melotonin tab in half every night...well every other night.

2.5 mg's shuts me down,

i did thyat a half hour ago and im almost out.

evlme2 said:

Anybody ever notice how in your dreams, no-matter how fast you try and run it seems like you're running in slo-mo? For me, the slo-mo running is always because a Vampire is chasing me. Go figure.
Interesting thread none the less.

Wet dreams are something else alltogether

Click to expand...

Ive been into dream interpretation for many many years, it is quite an amazing subject.

I definitely feel ya on the slow-motion running. I recently had a zombie dream, in which the slow motion running was even more exaggerated than usual. So much so that I actually had a moment of semi-lucidity and made mention to myself, in said dream, that I was moving ridiculously slow. sorry, Im good at tangents.. anyway, have noticed you cant fight in a dream? Its always like trying to punch in water.