Jan 20 2009
Is Melatonin Addictive with Long-Term Use?
A conversation with my yoga client, a licensed dietitian, brought up this question. She specializes in working with children with special needs, particularly those on the autism spectrum, and recommended to one parent to try melatonin for her daughter. The daughter is sleep deprived and suffering quite a bit because of it. Yet, Mom’s pediatrician warned her against using melatonin , saying it is addictive. So I decided to do some looking into the subject…again.
A search for the long term side effects of melatonin mostly produced results that said the same thing: no one really knows the long-term effects because sufficient studies have not been done. There was one study that seemed to indicate that the levels of melatonin produced by the brain over an extended time could be reduced with the use of the supplement. Again, no one knows for sure, as it is also thought that melatonin levels decrease in the body naturally with age (also not studied extensively).
Gus has been taking .5 mg every night since mid-November, so for a little over 2 months. I did a little experiment to see if he’d sleep without it now, since many people use it to regulate the sleep cycle and then stop using it. Last night he had none and slept just fine. No dependency! I wasn’t really concerned.
I generally err on the side of “use as little as possible for the least amount of time possible.” Since the jury is still out on long-term use, perhaps that should be a consideration when trying it with children. Certainly think twice if your child is on any kind of medication, as the two may react poorly together. But a very low dosage for a while just to try to get your child’s sleep cycle regulated will probably not do any harm. That being said, I’m not a doctor, so you may want to check with a medical professional first.
Further reading:
University of Maryland Medical Center
Long-term study (full article only available via purchase - this links to the abstract)
If you’ve got any further information about the long range safety of melatonin that I haven’t uncovered, by all means, please share!
