Misc Is melatonin psychoactive, at all ?

[DrBigBang]

Um, little voices ? That's definitely not something normal, sorry to say. Either you're experiencing sleep paralysis every time you sleep, or have underlying mental issues. Again, no offense is meant, but that is definitely not normal.

Voices and visuals are pretty common, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia. What I have researched most people get those effects only when drinking a lot caffeine & in lack of sleep (myself included). When I had hypnagogia I was sleeping very poorly, I have slept a lot more now and I'm no longer getting any voices or CEVs.

From other site:

...hearing and seeing things not present when trying to fall asleep (known as hypnagogic (sleep onset) hallucinations) ... all of these phenomena are not that uncommon in the general population and, in many instances, are considered normal. However, in some cases, the hallucinations and sleep paralysis may suggest a primary sleep disorder. Both hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis tend to affect younger individuals most frequently.

...

The underlying cause of sleep related hallucinations is not always clear. Factors known to bring these about or increase the frequency of occurrences include younger age, current drug use, past alcohol use, anxiety, mood disorders, insomnia and lack of sleep. Certain medications may also cause this as a side effect. In addition, these hallucinations may be a sign or symptom of another sleep disorder, such narcolepsy, a primary nightmare disorder or, rarely, they could be part of sleep-related seizures (epilepsy). Psychiatric disease should also be included as a possibility, though assuming these hallucinations occur only after sleep onset, then this would be much less likely. Depending on the underlying cause or factors associated with the hallucinations, the hallucinations may decrease or resolve with age.

Source

Also, first post here %)

 

[Swimmingdancer]

^Good post DrBigBang and welcome

Yea sorry guys regardless if you don't "think" you have mental issues, that is not normal.

If you are experiencing what he described, then like i said, it's either sleep paralysis or you have underlying mental issues. You shouldn't hear other voices that aren't yours inside your head.

Just because something doesn't happen to YOU or perhaps isn't a widely-experienced effect of a drug does not mean that someone has "mental issues". What does that even mean, anyway? Everyone has mental issues . What is "normal"??

I think you are confused about what sleep paralysis is. It is when the person is awake but the body is asleep. You are aware/conscious but you can't move. It can sometimes be accompanied by hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, which are what I think you are thinking of. But sleep paralysis just means you can't move. Sleep paralysis does not equal hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations and they can be present without sleep paralysis. It is VERY possible for melatonin to cause or increase hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucinations, I have experienced this myself from melatonin, even while walking around and fully aware.

I dont think its helpful to call someone crazy because they get an effect from a drug that you dont. Actually shame on you.
It is a tryptamine and in higher doses it is a sopoforic. If you dont believe me then read in shulgin's tihkal (tryptamines I have known and loved.)

Didn't Shulgin say he couldn't tell if he got any effects from melatonin or not? But I think he was just using doses under 10mg in an effort to induce sleep. But it's been a while since I read Pikhal and Tikhal so I may not be remembering correctly.

I used to be in this train of thought -- especially with elderly studies citing less than. 1 mg as the actual 'golden dose.' But , after further examination, countless studies support 5 mg a night for things like REM sleep behavior disorder, and or those who take stimulants during the day.

I take 6 mg a night with a lot of success.

The appropriate dosage for sleep seems to vary greatly from person to person (and can vary in an individual depending on the situation, time of day, whether or not they take it regularly, etc).

No, no shame on me. That is not a normal side effect. First of all, melatonin is a hormone. If we were talking about something that was an a-typical drug and psychoactive substance, then sure I'd agree with you. Melatonin is a naturally occuring compound already found in humans and animals.

Just because something naturally occurs in the human body is meaningless. Lot of things naturally occur in the body that have psychoactive effects. You would not argue, for example, that DMT is not psychoactive because it's found naturally in the human body.

We really don't know that much about melatonin! It affects SO many things in the brain and body and we're just beginning to understand some of what it does. According the the Mayo Clinic, some of the side effects of melatonin include:

- dizziness
- irregular sleep-wake cycles
- disorientation
- ataxia
- sleepwalking
- vivid dreams or nightmares
- altered taste
- giddiness
- dysphoria
- hallucinations
- psychosis (possibly due to overdose)

Again, just because not everyone gets a side effect of a drug doesn't mean someone is crazy if they do.

 

[Tussmann]

Using melatonin for occasional help with sleeping and using it for REM sleep behavior disorder are two completely different things. Also, using stimulants is another completely different thing.

For those only using melatonin occasionally, it is well researched that less is more. High doses like 6mg are overkill. Lots of people end up restless and completely unable to sleep the entire night when taking high doses of melatonin.

Or, on the other side of the spectrum, they get an incredible night's rest. It goes both ways.

 

[Foreigner]

I took melatonin last night for the first time at a dose of 1.5mg and I did notice that it brings on the hypnagogic state rapidly, which for me tends to involve an increase in internal dialogue. They are not voices in the schizoaffective sense so much as they are just a biproduct of the mind processing whatever it needs to process. I've sleep walked before in the past and during those times it was as though a dream was overlaid on reality and I was still acting out the dream. As sleep walking is a REM state, I can see how melatonin induces more REM sleep, just based on what it did to me prior to going to sleep.

I would also characterize melatonin as psychoactive in the non-traditional sense, but its mind alterations are endogenous to the body's natural sleep cycle. Some of the perceptual changes I experienced reminded me of what it feels like to not have slept for days, minus the actual torment.

 

[benofmen]

Been a while since anyone posted here, but I myself have gone through at least 200mg up to 600mg daily. Someone earlier said something about finding it funny people use it as a rec. Drug but it does pretty great stuff. Keeps you lax, calm, makes dreams better than anything, sleep pattern is normalized, a few downsides are sort of kills sex drive, and it relaxes your muscles so can make physical work a little tough. I haven't had any real hallucinations, just a bunch of what was that I just saw moments, and at times utter confusion. It really depends on how your body handles it, just like any drug.