There are those who have SEVERE allergic reactions to melatonin, and CANNOT take such supplements safely. In such cases, this supplement can be life threatening.
Where did you get the idea that people who might be at risk from these (supposed) severe allergic reactions wouldn't know about it?
This is "CDC Ivermectin Tweet" stuff. It's irresponsible Chicken-Little alarmism to make such strident claims witout at least giving a citation AND a probability.
The only 'life-threatening' allergic reaction that is mentioned in the literature is anaphylaxis - which is indeed 'life-threatening' in that people can die of it ... but they rarely do.
FDA approves melatonin for autistic children, FFS - I generally don't consider the FDA a 'good cite', but melatonin isn't patentable, so the usual CDC/FDA/NIH corruption isn't a factor. Here's the document: -> https://www.fda.gov/media/150006/download
CTRL-F anaphylaxis in that file: it's in there, but it's in the section of the document concerning Methylcobalamin (a form of Vitamin B12).
Even more to the point: CDC helpfully collated all the data on 'problematic' ingestions by under-19s in the US between 2012 and 2021.
There were 260 thousand ingestions that were reported; 2 children died - aged 3 months and 13 months. One of those deaths is recorded as "intentional medication misuse", which sounds weird if they're attributing 'intentional misues' to either baby. See this -> https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7122a1.htm
The Cochrane review - the Gold Standard for systematic reviews - has 28 Cochrane Reviews with melatonin in the title: there is 1 review (on melatonin to reduce pre-op stress) that includes the word 'anaphylaxis' in the text: it occurs in this quote from one of the component studies -
============================
"In our study, there were no untoward incidences of bradycardia, cardiac arrhythmias, respiratory depression, nausea, hypotension, anaphylaxis, and drug interactions, in any of the groups"
============================
I thought we were past having to deal with low-information scolds, given how beclowned they've been for the last 3 years.
Melatonin-induced anaphylaxis happens in less than 1 in 10,000 adverse reactions (which are, in turn, only a subset of doses). They are usually as a result of drug-drug interactions, not 'SEVERE allergy to melatonin; has never - as far as I can determine - been fatal to anyone.
Most significant adverse events happen when people take it when it's specifically contraindicated - e.g., people on antihypertensives, anticoagulants, anticonvulsives and diabetes meds. Anyone who does that is dumb: it's a 'known known' that people ignore at their peril.
By very stark contrast: nut allergies, NSAIDS, Aspirin, bee-stings and latex cause significantly more anaphylaxis than melatonin - but it is EXTREMELY RARE for anaphylaxis to be genuinely 'life threatening': the CFR is 0.3 for those whose reaction actually winds up in the hospital. It has an annual mortality rate - across all sources of the allergic reaction - of less than 1 per million population.
Bezog et al (2019) "Adverse Events Associated with Melatonin for the Treatment of Primary or Secondary Sleep Disorders: A Systematic Review" reviewed 37 studies, with doses up to 12mg and study periods of up to 29 weeks: the "money quote" is
===================================
Few, generally mild to moderate, AEs were associated with exogenous melatonin. No AEs that were life threatening or of major clinical significance were identified.
===================================
Low-information alarmism prevents useful stuff from being made available to the public. That has a direct cost in human lives, and quality of life. Not least because our Overlords will seize on any reed - no matter how thin - to put roadblocks in the path of anyone looking to avoid Big Pharma.
They would much rather that people were on zolpidem or a diazipene; line melatonin up against those and see how you go... I'm off to take my nightly dose of melatonin.
I had a severe allergic reaction to melatonin, which was Rxed by a physician, and I did NOT know about the potential. In other words, I know about this from unfortunate personal experience.
I'm not a biologist - and large language models clearly pass the Turing Test (as revised for the internet era) - but as far as I can discern, you almost certainly survived your "life-threatening" allergic reaction.
That's a good thing, but it's not remotely rare... it's common to more than 99% of all people who have a 'severe allergic reaction' to melatonin.
The question that arises - it pretty much asks itself - is as follows: given that
▪️ your body is, with high probability, of some species not far removed from homo sapiens sapiens; and
▪️ all mammals produce abundant endogenous melatonin...
How have you survived to (I'm assuming) adulthood?
Your 'unfortunate personal experience' - as gripping as it might be if converted to a harrowing first-person narrative - is unlikely to have been due to a molecule that is abundant in the human body (and is in fact essential for its proper function).
Don't mistake me: there are some molecules that are abundant, but can be problematic if ingested in excess. Adrelanine (epinephrine/ephedrine) is an obvious example: too much exogenous adrenaline sets one up for an unambiguously bad day.
Ask your physician to explain the mechanism by which melatonin caused the 'severe allergic reaction' you experienced: if it's a drug-dug interaction, that speaks to typical Pharma 'blame-dodging' - in that they sell products that are known to interact with non-patent products, but they don't tell their customers. Still: if I was taking one or more pharma products (say, an anxiolytic; anticonvulsant; antipsychotic; SSRI; antidepressant; diazapene; or diabetes medication) I would not leave it until I got surprised by a reaction.
But that's just me - I'm taking a shedload of Pharma stuff, as it happens: darolutamide; tapentadol; zoladex; tamsulosin; finasteride... etc ,etc ,etc:( I'm old as balls).
But before a new pill - Pharma or 'supplement' - goes in my gob, I try to investigate the extent to which there might be an interaction. It's a bastard of a task, given how much interaction is not reported. It relies on trying to understand the pathways being affected (always with a prior that "this could be bad").
So I'm cool with finasteride - even though it can cause prostate cancer - because ... drum roll .... I've already got that. (LOL)
If it's not a drug-drug interaction, encourage him to write you up as a case study - because as near as I can establish, your reaction is rarer than hens' teeth. It would've sucked at the time, I'm sure... but you survived - which, as I say, is a good thing.
Either way: in 100 years, almost nobody will care. I know that sounds cold, but there's no other way to put it.
Not interested in a debate here. I was just trying to warn people that there can be a risk to taking melatonin. And there is a risk. Moreover, your comment "in 100 years, almost nobody will care," exemplifies why I don't usually respond to anything online and am not likely to again. So sorry but that was crass, and stupid. and unnecessary.
I am sorry for your reaction and hope you had a quick recovery.
Did you rule out the possibility that the reaction was due to other substances? Depending on the melatonin product, several additives may be included in such a melatonin tablet/pill. Even high quality products contain additives. So if someone has a reaction after taking melatonin, it could also be due to additives.
Also, most of the available melatonin that you can purchase is synthetic. Theoretically, this should not be a problem because it is identical to the melatonin that people produce. But who knows, maybe some manufacturers or some batches contain melatonin that is it not completely pure. It might be contaminated?!
Maybe another product from another manufacturer (with different additives) would not have caused the reaction? There is also the possbility to purchase phytomelatonin as far as I know, this is natural melatonin. But I have not seen these products yet and don´t know if they would be an alternative for someone who has reactions to synthetic melatonin. It is just a thought.
People produce up to 1 mg of melatonin in the pineal gland at night. So this is a physiological dose. In addition to that, and besides many other cells and organs in the body, the gastrointestinal tract naturally contains 400 times more than what is produced in the pineal gland and often releases melatonin into the circulation....
So if someone is allergic to pure/natural melatonin, how can this person survive?
It might have to do with additives or with impure synthetic products, contaminated batches etc. ?!
It is difficult to imagine that the pure natural melatonin that is produced in your body and that can be found in many foods is actually responsible for severe allergic reactions.
I read many studies about melatonin and I can not remember that I ever read a report about a severe life threatening reaction. This does not mean it does not exist. But if it exists, it seems to be very rare. Studies constantly showed that melatonin improves survival in many health conditions and people who eat a diet with a high content of melatonin have a lower risk of all cause mortality.
Thank you. I don't care why I had a reaction. I had one. Figuring it out could well prove next to impossible. Yes I survived, obviously. But on doctor's advice, I will never take melatonin again.
Hi Lee, I'm an RN. I BELIEVE you. Yes, your body produces melatonin but not the kind most people take for sleep which is synthetic. So that may be the answer. Also, people can and do have reactions to melatonin. Supplemental melatonin is known to exaccerbate asthma. I've experienced this myself. If you decide to try melatonin again, there IS an all natural plant derived melatonin called Herbatonin. It can be purchased on Amazon.
This is excellent! I am a practicing physician and have read about some of the benefits of Melatonin before--and take it daily. This will help me make some improved recommendations to my patients.
Wow. Excellent. This is not something I've heard before. (I am on a prophylactic protocol for CV, and it includes melatonin. I didn't know why, but now I do.) Has this been peer-reviewed? (And if English is not your friend's native language, it sure doesn't show!) Thank you!
Finally! Information on the importance of melatonin and it’s benefits is getting out. THANK YOU!
I’ve taken high-quality melatonin for over 15 years as recommended by my nutritionist.
Originally for a sleep disorder probably due to Hashimoto’s Disease. I have no natural thyroid function.
More recently (2 years ago) my doc/nutritionalist increased dose due to aging & weaning off pharmaceutical thyroid treatment. Also as part of protocol for new viral infection prevention. I’m not inoculated, definitely been exposed to the variants, cared for sick (jabbed) family, haven’t got it yet. Not even a cold. Knock wood.
Anecdotal I realize, but I’ll never stop taking melatonin.
SEE YOUR TRUSTED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL/NUTRITIONIST 😊
As noted many times in this article, we are all different.
Definitely could be a factor. But people fail to realize that melanoma is on the rise and is pernicious, one of the most invasive cancers with a high kill rate. It can kill you dead in six weeks.
It's also a tricky one, able to adapt and hide from your immune system and difficult to identify early. Any of those seemingly benign marks on your body could be killing you right now. A dermatologist can't tell if they're malignant without a biopsy. Has your PCP ever done a full body examination? Best to cover up in the sun and dose up with 50,000 IUs D3 per week. Know that seed oils may be as responsible for cancer as the Sun and that a tanning booth will increase your cancer risk by 75%.
living in Oregon, i would trade high quality sun exposure for chemical poisoning from sunscreens anyday. If it on your skin it is in your liver. pet peeve is that a certain industry has made so many afraid of any exposure to sun that they cover everything all the time. as if a tiny ray of sunscreen is going to immediately kill them. fear sells products.
Not so much sun in Oregon. You should get it when you can. But still, know that every second of sun exposure degrades DNA and increases susceptible to melanoma. You are not immune in Oregon as Oregon is tenth for melanoma and melanoma deaths. I wonder if pale skin Pacific Northwesterners (I used to live up there) are especially susceptible to melanoma. Certainly if you visit a tanning salon. And certainly if you eat sugar, carbs (which turn to sugar inside you), and seed oils. Also, by the way, a prior tan does not protect you from sunburn or melanoma.
I would suggest looking at the studies re melanoma. They contradict your statement.
Likewise, high dose supplementation of Vit D, do not equal the Vit D created through healthy sun exposure due to the synergistic effects of the added actions generated vs supplement, and supplementation long term can have detrimental effects.
Yes, doesn't always make sense. It is multifactorial. Probably tanning booths for sure, Sun, seed oils, genetics in some order. Vermont has one of the highest rates and Texas one of the lowest. And Utah is high but New Mexico is low. Tanning booths are likely top of the list. People in low sun states may tan more, whereas people in the high sun states do not need artificial tanning. Also, melanoma is increasing 10% every ten years; why is that?
We don't know that. I've seen multiple airplanes in the sky on one day with long contrails and multiple airplanes on another day with no contrails. That says contrails are caused by atmospheric conditions. But I could be wrong.
I have her "Geoengineered Transhumanism," which is a mass of data difficult for me to understand. She connects dots right and left (maniacally) that fit her confirmation biases. The problem is false equivalence, putting highly probable facts together with far less probable factoids and presenting the conclusion as a fact, and also falsely equivalent logic, putting strict logic together with weak logic. Crazy people do this, and journalists, it's not difficult. They do it facilely, sometimes it's all they do all day long. Really smart people do this too and end up in the ozone. Being smart does not make you right.
It's easy to see whatever you want in a pile of data, it's how we rationalize and construct reality. I don't think governments are engaged in a secret conspiracy to poison the air - but I could be wrong. I just don't know. You will not find these people saying "we could be wrong" as they're all-in. We shouldn't believe everything we think even if it appears obvious. Doubt is a good thing, not bad as people assume. That's why humility is considered a virtue.
We also tend to be all in or all not in when we should be somewhere in the middle. I'd say there's some truth to geoengineering but is it significant? I'm not adverse to going all the way. If geoengineering is a real thing it's likely because the outer-space-aliens who are taking over the planet prefer a more comfortable non-human atmosphere that's warmer with less CO2. Since humans breathe out 40,000 ppm and atmospheric CO2 is only 415 ppm, they need to depopulate.
As for the powers-that-be caring about humanity I'm sure they somewhat do (in a minor way), as we all do. But maybe no more than we care about them. We should not expect them to care about us, so I don't see it as much of a fault.
People should not go overboard in any direction. Do that and you're traveling out on a limb and get ahead of yourself and the data into a realm of iffy emotion which will pull you further outside reality.
“It is easy to obtain confirmations, or verifications, for nearly every theory - if we look for confirmations.” - Popper
There are multiple realities going on at the same time. Elana Freeland knows this. She is a Rudolf Steiner trained intellectual, not a crazy. I hope she is still alive.
I agree that these times require all of us to become more spiritual, to pray, to meditate, and hold a positive vision and intention for the world.
That there are multiple realities going on at the same time is the problem. We need to discern which ones are optimal for our situation, it's like choosing the best tool. Not sure what Steiner trained is. Waldorf trained? Waldorf is too spiritual. I'd say Montessori best connects the spiritual with the practical. One can be not-crazy and still mostly wrong. If Freeland is correct we're in trouble and maybe we are.
buddhi: The burning of jet fuel, like the burning of any combustible, produces water as a byproduct. Thus, cloud-like contrails appear in the wake of jet engines of aircraft flying at high altitude. They are always short-lived, and thus short. Chemtrails are long, hundreds of miles long, and they linger for hours. Geo-engineering is a very real thing, and it has been going on for decades.
Yes, geoengineering is real - just not sure of chemtrails. I'd not think private commercial aviation jet fuel would be adulterated with whatever concoction they use. That would be for special scientific or military flights and dispersed from specialized tanks, not from engines. I do see long contrails that cross the sky and stay, but why would chems not disperse and act as water does? (Because they've been engineered to persist?) More likely atmospheric conditions may cause harmless water vapor contrails to persist. Commercial airline pilots would be protesting if chemtrails were fact. During the pandemic Spain did spray the country from the air with some sort of disinfectant, was caught doing so, and got into trouble. That's an example of government hubris thinking they can do anything they want to us, as when they send us to a war. Why don't people just say "No"? Are we robots?
The idea of geoengineering is insane. You can't mess with a complex system and not have it blow up. In the '60s ecologists with good intentions intervened in a pond system and accidently killed the ecosystem.
One goal of geoengineering is removal of CO2, but we're at a very low level of CO2 (415 ppm) and CO2 is absolutely not a pollutant. Historically, over 500,000 years, CO2 has been 200 ppm to 8000 ppm. Optimal CO2 for plants and food (these are greenhouse levels) is 1000 ppm - 1300 ppm. Plants start to die at 200 ppm. If you cut CO2 in half, plant growth declines by four times and vice versa by increasing CO2. Plants are less drought resistant with less CO2, which affects the number of their stoma. What we need is a larger carbon footprint.
Note that people continually breathe out CO2 at 40,000 ppm and the toxic level is 45,000 ppm. Submarines turn on their CO2 scrubbers at 7,000 ppm. We're currently at 415 ppm CO2 and they want to geoengineer us?
Also, there is zero correlation between CO2 levels and global warming, which is nearly non-existent if you look at the data.
What's behind all the anti-human narratives? Only this makes sense:
Excellent article! Congratulations! If you read this article, you now know more about melatonin than almost every physician. It is probably one of the safest and most beneficial molecules for humans in the universe. My staff and I have successfully treated more than 10,000 Covid patients with high dose melatonin. I use it for all viruses including flu, shingles, mono, RSV, etc. About the only beneficial point I didn’t see mentioned is that it is very radioprotective. Great to take before any radiation exposure.
Good stuff, backed by data. There's an exponential correlation between aging and dying, as well as between hormone levels and aging (some decrease, some increase). Those hormones that decline drastically after age 40 are pregnenolone, human growth hormone, melatonin, DHEA, testosterone, estrogen, and Vitamin D3. These are massive drops; DHEA goes from 300 pg/mL to 25 pg/mL. The primary reason hormones drop is because their receptors lose sensitivity.
What's missing is the practical melatonin dosing information. "5 mg" is Way Too Low if you want to live almost forever. The correct dosing of melatonin is a minimum of 125 mg per night up to 500 mg. Those who have dosed at this level long-term only report positive benefits. Note that melatonin has no upper limit, it can't hurt you. Amazon has 60 mg under the tongue dissolvable tabs and 10 mg timed release swallow tabs. The dissolvable 60s are far better.
If aging or dying you need a high-dose therapeutic intervention. Just getting your melatonin back to youthful levels is not enough. And what have you got to lose?
As a side note there are 18 studies (17 peer-reviewed, 9 RCTs) to date on melatonin for covid with a 43% overall improvement, and 78% improvement for early treatment. One can reasonably assume that anything good for covid is also good for everything else.
Dr Shallenberger who treats cancer with high dose melatonin suggests two suppliers : One is the pure bulk powder. You can get this at www.purebulk.com. And, Melatonin Max. You can get it at www.perfectvitaminproducts.com. Alternatively, at a compounding chemist/pharmacist.
I assume you're asking Why the apparent higher than usual dose, and not where to buy (Amazon): from personal experience, experimentation, and reading. Note that you'd not be able to buy 60 mg. caps if melatonin were at all dangerous. Could start lower and ramp up so you don't oversleep but I've noticed the lower 3 mg standard dose is more likely to cause sleepiness.
Case 1: A 2-year-old boy swallowed up to 138 milligrams (mg) of melatonin over an hour. He slept for a couple of hours and was then fine.
Case 2: A 4-year-old girl swallowed an estimated 39 mg of liquid melatonin. She didn't develop drowsiness or any other symptoms.
Case 3: A 50-year-old woman took a deliberate overdose of 100 mg of melatonin time-release tablets. She developed drowsiness that persisted for about 12 hours and her pulse rate was slightly increased for a few hours.
👏👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏🎩🎩🎩 Thank you for sharing his work Matthew. Ill keep an eye for his book too.
I think a mention of Dr Russel Reiter should be included though as he is the world's leading researcher on Melatonin. Been studying it for all of his career and that's spanning some 60 years plus I believe. He also established that there is no LD50 for melatonin. An important fact to note, especially when reading studies involving Scientology cohorts. Likewise, as you said, age affect ability to produce blood melatonin efficiently when in early morning or evening sunlight.
Dr Shallenberger mentions melatonin researcher Dr Russel Reiter in this video presentation, and talks about high dose melatonin. He mentions a 200 mg dose and that it ' not a soporific so you can also take it during the day.
Around 11 minutes in he reports that cancer death can be decreased by 34%* (according to a study) by any dose of Melatonin and with no side effects. With just that information you could open the world's most successful Cancer Clinic until the American Cancer Society arrested you.
This is a very informative and thought-provoking review. The author provides many examples for melatonin’s mediating role between age and many diseases. My question: has anyone ever examined whether melatonin/Vitamin D supplementation could reduce health disparities we see among African-Americans?
Across many epidemiologic studies, African-Americans consistently seem to fare worse, even after controlling for socioeconomic factors (eg, COVID). I’ve read elsewhere that H. Sapien’s skin de-melanized very rapidly as we migrated out of Africa, suggesting strong selective pressure to preserve Vitamin D and melatonin synthesis in low UV light conditions. Therefore those of us whose ancestors evolved outside of Africa are better able to medically withstand the low light environs of N America than those of whose skin and pineal glands are optimized for survival in sun-bathed Africa. IMO, this is why cancer, heart disease, and diabetes disproportionately affects American Blacks.
Have studies like those cited here, been conducted specifically in Black communities? My guess is no, since the race hustlers who’ve overtaken our institutions would rather use disparities as a cudgel to tear our society apart.
The "personalized medicine" space got taken over by the cult promoting mRNA tech, and other nonsense, but demographic specificity on a lot of medical studies would simply fall out of the right approach to distributed data systems. Currently, people give up their data to Big Tech, while silos the results. However, when people begin to control their data, we will have public distributed Big Data with public results, even when the studies are performed privately---because people will demand that when they specify who they do and do not sell their data to.
Settings were accidentally set to subscriber only comments. That has been fixed.
There are those who have SEVERE allergic reactions to melatonin, and CANNOT take such supplements safely. In such cases, this supplement can be life threatening.
It is always important for people to keep track of contraindications, including allergies, for any and all substances we put in our body.
Where did you get the idea that people who might be at risk from these (supposed) severe allergic reactions wouldn't know about it?
This is "CDC Ivermectin Tweet" stuff. It's irresponsible Chicken-Little alarmism to make such strident claims witout at least giving a citation AND a probability.
The only 'life-threatening' allergic reaction that is mentioned in the literature is anaphylaxis - which is indeed 'life-threatening' in that people can die of it ... but they rarely do.
FDA approves melatonin for autistic children, FFS - I generally don't consider the FDA a 'good cite', but melatonin isn't patentable, so the usual CDC/FDA/NIH corruption isn't a factor. Here's the document: -> https://www.fda.gov/media/150006/download
CTRL-F anaphylaxis in that file: it's in there, but it's in the section of the document concerning Methylcobalamin (a form of Vitamin B12).
Even more to the point: CDC helpfully collated all the data on 'problematic' ingestions by under-19s in the US between 2012 and 2021.
There were 260 thousand ingestions that were reported; 2 children died - aged 3 months and 13 months. One of those deaths is recorded as "intentional medication misuse", which sounds weird if they're attributing 'intentional misues' to either baby. See this -> https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7122a1.htm
The Cochrane review - the Gold Standard for systematic reviews - has 28 Cochrane Reviews with melatonin in the title: there is 1 review (on melatonin to reduce pre-op stress) that includes the word 'anaphylaxis' in the text: it occurs in this quote from one of the component studies -
============================
"In our study, there were no untoward incidences of bradycardia, cardiac arrhythmias, respiratory depression, nausea, hypotension, anaphylaxis, and drug interactions, in any of the groups"
============================
I thought we were past having to deal with low-information scolds, given how beclowned they've been for the last 3 years.
Melatonin-induced anaphylaxis happens in less than 1 in 10,000 adverse reactions (which are, in turn, only a subset of doses). They are usually as a result of drug-drug interactions, not 'SEVERE allergy to melatonin; has never - as far as I can determine - been fatal to anyone.
Most significant adverse events happen when people take it when it's specifically contraindicated - e.g., people on antihypertensives, anticoagulants, anticonvulsives and diabetes meds. Anyone who does that is dumb: it's a 'known known' that people ignore at their peril.
By very stark contrast: nut allergies, NSAIDS, Aspirin, bee-stings and latex cause significantly more anaphylaxis than melatonin - but it is EXTREMELY RARE for anaphylaxis to be genuinely 'life threatening': the CFR is 0.3 for those whose reaction actually winds up in the hospital. It has an annual mortality rate - across all sources of the allergic reaction - of less than 1 per million population.
Bezog et al (2019) "Adverse Events Associated with Melatonin for the Treatment of Primary or Secondary Sleep Disorders: A Systematic Review" reviewed 37 studies, with doses up to 12mg and study periods of up to 29 weeks: the "money quote" is
===================================
Few, generally mild to moderate, AEs were associated with exogenous melatonin. No AEs that were life threatening or of major clinical significance were identified.
===================================
Low-information alarmism prevents useful stuff from being made available to the public. That has a direct cost in human lives, and quality of life. Not least because our Overlords will seize on any reed - no matter how thin - to put roadblocks in the path of anyone looking to avoid Big Pharma.
They would much rather that people were on zolpidem or a diazipene; line melatonin up against those and see how you go... I'm off to take my nightly dose of melatonin.
I had a severe allergic reaction to melatonin, which was Rxed by a physician, and I did NOT know about the potential. In other words, I know about this from unfortunate personal experience.
I'm not a biologist - and large language models clearly pass the Turing Test (as revised for the internet era) - but as far as I can discern, you almost certainly survived your "life-threatening" allergic reaction.
That's a good thing, but it's not remotely rare... it's common to more than 99% of all people who have a 'severe allergic reaction' to melatonin.
The question that arises - it pretty much asks itself - is as follows: given that
▪️ your body is, with high probability, of some species not far removed from homo sapiens sapiens; and
▪️ all mammals produce abundant endogenous melatonin...
How have you survived to (I'm assuming) adulthood?
Your 'unfortunate personal experience' - as gripping as it might be if converted to a harrowing first-person narrative - is unlikely to have been due to a molecule that is abundant in the human body (and is in fact essential for its proper function).
Don't mistake me: there are some molecules that are abundant, but can be problematic if ingested in excess. Adrelanine (epinephrine/ephedrine) is an obvious example: too much exogenous adrenaline sets one up for an unambiguously bad day.
Ask your physician to explain the mechanism by which melatonin caused the 'severe allergic reaction' you experienced: if it's a drug-dug interaction, that speaks to typical Pharma 'blame-dodging' - in that they sell products that are known to interact with non-patent products, but they don't tell their customers. Still: if I was taking one or more pharma products (say, an anxiolytic; anticonvulsant; antipsychotic; SSRI; antidepressant; diazapene; or diabetes medication) I would not leave it until I got surprised by a reaction.
But that's just me - I'm taking a shedload of Pharma stuff, as it happens: darolutamide; tapentadol; zoladex; tamsulosin; finasteride... etc ,etc ,etc:( I'm old as balls).
But before a new pill - Pharma or 'supplement' - goes in my gob, I try to investigate the extent to which there might be an interaction. It's a bastard of a task, given how much interaction is not reported. It relies on trying to understand the pathways being affected (always with a prior that "this could be bad").
So I'm cool with finasteride - even though it can cause prostate cancer - because ... drum roll .... I've already got that. (LOL)
If it's not a drug-drug interaction, encourage him to write you up as a case study - because as near as I can establish, your reaction is rarer than hens' teeth. It would've sucked at the time, I'm sure... but you survived - which, as I say, is a good thing.
Either way: in 100 years, almost nobody will care. I know that sounds cold, but there's no other way to put it.
Not interested in a debate here. I was just trying to warn people that there can be a risk to taking melatonin. And there is a risk. Moreover, your comment "in 100 years, almost nobody will care," exemplifies why I don't usually respond to anything online and am not likely to again. So sorry but that was crass, and stupid. and unnecessary.
I am sorry for your reaction and hope you had a quick recovery.
Did you rule out the possibility that the reaction was due to other substances? Depending on the melatonin product, several additives may be included in such a melatonin tablet/pill. Even high quality products contain additives. So if someone has a reaction after taking melatonin, it could also be due to additives.
Also, most of the available melatonin that you can purchase is synthetic. Theoretically, this should not be a problem because it is identical to the melatonin that people produce. But who knows, maybe some manufacturers or some batches contain melatonin that is it not completely pure. It might be contaminated?!
Maybe another product from another manufacturer (with different additives) would not have caused the reaction? There is also the possbility to purchase phytomelatonin as far as I know, this is natural melatonin. But I have not seen these products yet and don´t know if they would be an alternative for someone who has reactions to synthetic melatonin. It is just a thought.
People produce up to 1 mg of melatonin in the pineal gland at night. So this is a physiological dose. In addition to that, and besides many other cells and organs in the body, the gastrointestinal tract naturally contains 400 times more than what is produced in the pineal gland and often releases melatonin into the circulation....
So if someone is allergic to pure/natural melatonin, how can this person survive?
It might have to do with additives or with impure synthetic products, contaminated batches etc. ?!
It is difficult to imagine that the pure natural melatonin that is produced in your body and that can be found in many foods is actually responsible for severe allergic reactions.
I read many studies about melatonin and I can not remember that I ever read a report about a severe life threatening reaction. This does not mean it does not exist. But if it exists, it seems to be very rare. Studies constantly showed that melatonin improves survival in many health conditions and people who eat a diet with a high content of melatonin have a lower risk of all cause mortality.
Thank you. I don't care why I had a reaction. I had one. Figuring it out could well prove next to impossible. Yes I survived, obviously. But on doctor's advice, I will never take melatonin again.
Hi Lee, I'm an RN. I BELIEVE you. Yes, your body produces melatonin but not the kind most people take for sleep which is synthetic. So that may be the answer. Also, people can and do have reactions to melatonin. Supplemental melatonin is known to exaccerbate asthma. I've experienced this myself. If you decide to try melatonin again, there IS an all natural plant derived melatonin called Herbatonin. It can be purchased on Amazon.
This is an outstanding review. Thank you.
This is excellent! I am a practicing physician and have read about some of the benefits of Melatonin before--and take it daily. This will help me make some improved recommendations to my patients.
Wow. Excellent. This is not something I've heard before. (I am on a prophylactic protocol for CV, and it includes melatonin. I didn't know why, but now I do.) Has this been peer-reviewed? (And if English is not your friend's native language, it sure doesn't show!) Thank you!
Finally! Information on the importance of melatonin and it’s benefits is getting out. THANK YOU!
I’ve taken high-quality melatonin for over 15 years as recommended by my nutritionist.
Originally for a sleep disorder probably due to Hashimoto’s Disease. I have no natural thyroid function.
More recently (2 years ago) my doc/nutritionalist increased dose due to aging & weaning off pharmaceutical thyroid treatment. Also as part of protocol for new viral infection prevention. I’m not inoculated, definitely been exposed to the variants, cared for sick (jabbed) family, haven’t got it yet. Not even a cold. Knock wood.
Anecdotal I realize, but I’ll never stop taking melatonin.
SEE YOUR TRUSTED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL/NUTRITIONIST 😊
As noted many times in this article, we are all different.
I've wondered for many years about the negative effects of pushing sunscreen for all outdoor exposure. Could that be a factor?
Definitely could be a factor. But people fail to realize that melanoma is on the rise and is pernicious, one of the most invasive cancers with a high kill rate. It can kill you dead in six weeks.
It's also a tricky one, able to adapt and hide from your immune system and difficult to identify early. Any of those seemingly benign marks on your body could be killing you right now. A dermatologist can't tell if they're malignant without a biopsy. Has your PCP ever done a full body examination? Best to cover up in the sun and dose up with 50,000 IUs D3 per week. Know that seed oils may be as responsible for cancer as the Sun and that a tanning booth will increase your cancer risk by 75%.
living in Oregon, i would trade high quality sun exposure for chemical poisoning from sunscreens anyday. If it on your skin it is in your liver. pet peeve is that a certain industry has made so many afraid of any exposure to sun that they cover everything all the time. as if a tiny ray of sunscreen is going to immediately kill them. fear sells products.
Not so much sun in Oregon. You should get it when you can. But still, know that every second of sun exposure degrades DNA and increases susceptible to melanoma. You are not immune in Oregon as Oregon is tenth for melanoma and melanoma deaths. I wonder if pale skin Pacific Northwesterners (I used to live up there) are especially susceptible to melanoma. Certainly if you visit a tanning salon. And certainly if you eat sugar, carbs (which turn to sugar inside you), and seed oils. Also, by the way, a prior tan does not protect you from sunburn or melanoma.
I would suggest looking at the studies re melanoma. They contradict your statement.
Likewise, high dose supplementation of Vit D, do not equal the Vit D created through healthy sun exposure due to the synergistic effects of the added actions generated vs supplement, and supplementation long term can have detrimental effects.
Which studies on melanoma contradict which statement on melanoma?
From a meta-analysis of seven studies:
"Vitamin D supplementation was more effective than sun exposure at increasing serum 25(OH) D3."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31107101/
What synergistic effects? And what long-term detrimental effects?
it seems like a toe nail would be the best coverage a person could have....
and yet i heard of one person melanoma started under the nail.
how can this be if the sunlight or artificial sunlight are the sole cause ?
Yes, doesn't always make sense. It is multifactorial. Probably tanning booths for sure, Sun, seed oils, genetics in some order. Vermont has one of the highest rates and Texas one of the lowest. And Utah is high but New Mexico is low. Tanning booths are likely top of the list. People in low sun states may tan more, whereas people in the high sun states do not need artificial tanning. Also, melanoma is increasing 10% every ten years; why is that?
or maybe it doesn't have as much to do with the sun as you are lead to believe.
It is likely a multifactorial issue; food additives, dioxins, pollution, pesticides, stress etc.
Check out https://skinscanai.com/. Built buy a medical student who learnt to code while training and is now available.
Yep.
The sun is being blocked almost every day by chemtrails for nefarious purposes.
We don't know that. I've seen multiple airplanes in the sky on one day with long contrails and multiple airplanes on another day with no contrails. That says contrails are caused by atmospheric conditions. But I could be wrong.
GeoengineeringWatch.org will tell you all about it. Also the books of Elana Freeland.
The powers-that-be don't care about humanity.
I have her "Geoengineered Transhumanism," which is a mass of data difficult for me to understand. She connects dots right and left (maniacally) that fit her confirmation biases. The problem is false equivalence, putting highly probable facts together with far less probable factoids and presenting the conclusion as a fact, and also falsely equivalent logic, putting strict logic together with weak logic. Crazy people do this, and journalists, it's not difficult. They do it facilely, sometimes it's all they do all day long. Really smart people do this too and end up in the ozone. Being smart does not make you right.
It's easy to see whatever you want in a pile of data, it's how we rationalize and construct reality. I don't think governments are engaged in a secret conspiracy to poison the air - but I could be wrong. I just don't know. You will not find these people saying "we could be wrong" as they're all-in. We shouldn't believe everything we think even if it appears obvious. Doubt is a good thing, not bad as people assume. That's why humility is considered a virtue.
We also tend to be all in or all not in when we should be somewhere in the middle. I'd say there's some truth to geoengineering but is it significant? I'm not adverse to going all the way. If geoengineering is a real thing it's likely because the outer-space-aliens who are taking over the planet prefer a more comfortable non-human atmosphere that's warmer with less CO2. Since humans breathe out 40,000 ppm and atmospheric CO2 is only 415 ppm, they need to depopulate.
As for the powers-that-be caring about humanity I'm sure they somewhat do (in a minor way), as we all do. But maybe no more than we care about them. We should not expect them to care about us, so I don't see it as much of a fault.
People should not go overboard in any direction. Do that and you're traveling out on a limb and get ahead of yourself and the data into a realm of iffy emotion which will pull you further outside reality.
“It is easy to obtain confirmations, or verifications, for nearly every theory - if we look for confirmations.” - Popper
There are multiple realities going on at the same time. Elana Freeland knows this. She is a Rudolf Steiner trained intellectual, not a crazy. I hope she is still alive.
I agree that these times require all of us to become more spiritual, to pray, to meditate, and hold a positive vision and intention for the world.
That there are multiple realities going on at the same time is the problem. We need to discern which ones are optimal for our situation, it's like choosing the best tool. Not sure what Steiner trained is. Waldorf trained? Waldorf is too spiritual. I'd say Montessori best connects the spiritual with the practical. One can be not-crazy and still mostly wrong. If Freeland is correct we're in trouble and maybe we are.
She was a Waldorf teacher. Humans are spiritual beings having a human experience.
buddhi: The burning of jet fuel, like the burning of any combustible, produces water as a byproduct. Thus, cloud-like contrails appear in the wake of jet engines of aircraft flying at high altitude. They are always short-lived, and thus short. Chemtrails are long, hundreds of miles long, and they linger for hours. Geo-engineering is a very real thing, and it has been going on for decades.
Yes, geoengineering is real - just not sure of chemtrails. I'd not think private commercial aviation jet fuel would be adulterated with whatever concoction they use. That would be for special scientific or military flights and dispersed from specialized tanks, not from engines. I do see long contrails that cross the sky and stay, but why would chems not disperse and act as water does? (Because they've been engineered to persist?) More likely atmospheric conditions may cause harmless water vapor contrails to persist. Commercial airline pilots would be protesting if chemtrails were fact. During the pandemic Spain did spray the country from the air with some sort of disinfectant, was caught doing so, and got into trouble. That's an example of government hubris thinking they can do anything they want to us, as when they send us to a war. Why don't people just say "No"? Are we robots?
The idea of geoengineering is insane. You can't mess with a complex system and not have it blow up. In the '60s ecologists with good intentions intervened in a pond system and accidently killed the ecosystem.
One goal of geoengineering is removal of CO2, but we're at a very low level of CO2 (415 ppm) and CO2 is absolutely not a pollutant. Historically, over 500,000 years, CO2 has been 200 ppm to 8000 ppm. Optimal CO2 for plants and food (these are greenhouse levels) is 1000 ppm - 1300 ppm. Plants start to die at 200 ppm. If you cut CO2 in half, plant growth declines by four times and vice versa by increasing CO2. Plants are less drought resistant with less CO2, which affects the number of their stoma. What we need is a larger carbon footprint.
Note that people continually breathe out CO2 at 40,000 ppm and the toxic level is 45,000 ppm. Submarines turn on their CO2 scrubbers at 7,000 ppm. We're currently at 415 ppm CO2 and they want to geoengineer us?
Also, there is zero correlation between CO2 levels and global warming, which is nearly non-existent if you look at the data.
What's behind all the anti-human narratives? Only this makes sense:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EebPP1ci1IE
Great article. Guess there’s a good reason the FLCCC uses melatonin as part of their COVID prevention protocol!
High tryptophan-containing foods: 1. Poultry 2. Beef 3. Pork. Nobody (except Gates/Schwab, etc.) should be eating number 4. Tofu.
Excellent article! Congratulations! If you read this article, you now know more about melatonin than almost every physician. It is probably one of the safest and most beneficial molecules for humans in the universe. My staff and I have successfully treated more than 10,000 Covid patients with high dose melatonin. I use it for all viruses including flu, shingles, mono, RSV, etc. About the only beneficial point I didn’t see mentioned is that it is very radioprotective. Great to take before any radiation exposure.
Good stuff, backed by data. There's an exponential correlation between aging and dying, as well as between hormone levels and aging (some decrease, some increase). Those hormones that decline drastically after age 40 are pregnenolone, human growth hormone, melatonin, DHEA, testosterone, estrogen, and Vitamin D3. These are massive drops; DHEA goes from 300 pg/mL to 25 pg/mL. The primary reason hormones drop is because their receptors lose sensitivity.
What's missing is the practical melatonin dosing information. "5 mg" is Way Too Low if you want to live almost forever. The correct dosing of melatonin is a minimum of 125 mg per night up to 500 mg. Those who have dosed at this level long-term only report positive benefits. Note that melatonin has no upper limit, it can't hurt you. Amazon has 60 mg under the tongue dissolvable tabs and 10 mg timed release swallow tabs. The dissolvable 60s are far better.
If aging or dying you need a high-dose therapeutic intervention. Just getting your melatonin back to youthful levels is not enough. And what have you got to lose?
As a side note there are 18 studies (17 peer-reviewed, 9 RCTs) to date on melatonin for covid with a 43% overall improvement, and 78% improvement for early treatment. One can reasonably assume that anything good for covid is also good for everything else.
Where do you get the 125-500 mg from?
Dr Shallenberger who treats cancer with high dose melatonin suggests two suppliers : One is the pure bulk powder. You can get this at www.purebulk.com. And, Melatonin Max. You can get it at www.perfectvitaminproducts.com. Alternatively, at a compounding chemist/pharmacist.
I assume you're asking Why the apparent higher than usual dose, and not where to buy (Amazon): from personal experience, experimentation, and reading. Note that you'd not be able to buy 60 mg. caps if melatonin were at all dangerous. Could start lower and ramp up so you don't oversleep but I've noticed the lower 3 mg standard dose is more likely to cause sleepiness.
From poison.org:
Case 1: A 2-year-old boy swallowed up to 138 milligrams (mg) of melatonin over an hour. He slept for a couple of hours and was then fine.
Case 2: A 4-year-old girl swallowed an estimated 39 mg of liquid melatonin. She didn't develop drowsiness or any other symptoms.
Case 3: A 50-year-old woman took a deliberate overdose of 100 mg of melatonin time-release tablets. She developed drowsiness that persisted for about 12 hours and her pulse rate was slightly increased for a few hours.
Exactly. There is no LD50 for melatonin.
👏👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏🎩🎩🎩 Thank you for sharing his work Matthew. Ill keep an eye for his book too.
I think a mention of Dr Russel Reiter should be included though as he is the world's leading researcher on Melatonin. Been studying it for all of his career and that's spanning some 60 years plus I believe. He also established that there is no LD50 for melatonin. An important fact to note, especially when reading studies involving Scientology cohorts. Likewise, as you said, age affect ability to produce blood melatonin efficiently when in early morning or evening sunlight.
Prof. Dr. Reiter is mentioned in the sources/resources list as author/co-author of articles.
Dr Shallenberger mentions melatonin researcher Dr Russel Reiter in this video presentation, and talks about high dose melatonin. He mentions a 200 mg dose and that it ' not a soporific so you can also take it during the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Roh4lQXneQg
Around 11 minutes in he reports that cancer death can be decreased by 34%* (according to a study) by any dose of Melatonin and with no side effects. With just that information you could open the world's most successful Cancer Clinic until the American Cancer Society arrested you.
*he says "44%" but read the study wrong.
Could the simple reason that we are getting more cancers be that we are indoors more? Nefarious! :)
Not scientology- gerontology
This is a very informative and thought-provoking review. The author provides many examples for melatonin’s mediating role between age and many diseases. My question: has anyone ever examined whether melatonin/Vitamin D supplementation could reduce health disparities we see among African-Americans?
Across many epidemiologic studies, African-Americans consistently seem to fare worse, even after controlling for socioeconomic factors (eg, COVID). I’ve read elsewhere that H. Sapien’s skin de-melanized very rapidly as we migrated out of Africa, suggesting strong selective pressure to preserve Vitamin D and melatonin synthesis in low UV light conditions. Therefore those of us whose ancestors evolved outside of Africa are better able to medically withstand the low light environs of N America than those of whose skin and pineal glands are optimized for survival in sun-bathed Africa. IMO, this is why cancer, heart disease, and diabetes disproportionately affects American Blacks.
Have studies like those cited here, been conducted specifically in Black communities? My guess is no, since the race hustlers who’ve overtaken our institutions would rather use disparities as a cudgel to tear our society apart.
The "personalized medicine" space got taken over by the cult promoting mRNA tech, and other nonsense, but demographic specificity on a lot of medical studies would simply fall out of the right approach to distributed data systems. Currently, people give up their data to Big Tech, while silos the results. However, when people begin to control their data, we will have public distributed Big Data with public results, even when the studies are performed privately---because people will demand that when they specify who they do and do not sell their data to.
https://roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/incorruptible-data-and-medical-tyranny
Decentralization is simply good just about everywhere.
Excellent information. Thank you very much.
Wow the part about effects on eye health really hit home, I had a detached retina last summer. Think I'll be taking my melatonin more regularly now.