Has Anyone Tried Melatonin for Depression and Anxiety Benefits?

[Sunshine00]

My doctor recommended that I take melatonin (10mg) nightly to help with staying asleep during the night - I've been taking it for one year now. Recently I had read some articles about the benefits of melatonin in reducing anxiety and improving depression. Because I've been taking melatonin for the same amount of time with my depression medication I can't speak to it's benefits or not. If I run out of melatonin I never seem to sleep as good but no immediate other effects. Just curious if anyone has read anything or had personal experiences with this regarding anxiety and depression?

 

[HappyKoi]

There are a lot of studies around melatonin, many of them questionable. There are ones that say it can help depression, but clinical trials have not proven this. It is, in a much weaker form, produced by your body in order to help you sleep. Depression is actually a side effect of melatonin, so it would probably not be a good idea to take it for that. I would check the sources of those articles, because there was sort of a convergence around melatonin as a cure-all drug by proponents of natural medicine some years ago, but a good deal of those studies turned out to be wrong.

 

[MandyMarieB]

I don't know whether Melatonin will relieve depression. What I do know though from experience is that as a sleep aid it's not that effective. I used Melatonin to fight insomnia and though I got the assurance that it was the remedy, it didn't help me much. I suppose though since someone who is depressed needs their 8 hours of sleep if you use the supplement and you fall asleep faster then I guess you might find it helpful. But as HappyKoi points out, if depression is actually a side effect then it might be best to steer clear of Melatonin.

Same results here -- tried Melatonin and found it useless. I'm sure it works for some people, since all people react to medication differently, but for me, it was as if I hadn't taken anything at all. I'm currently taking trazodone (and if I miss it, I don't sleep. Period.) but sometimes even with it it's hard. Was hoping for a boost to that, but all in all the Melatonin did not make a difference.

 

[DDNatureLover]

I  have taken Melatonin in the past for sleep. Since my anxiety often keeps me awake, perhaps the Melatonin did have some soft of sedating effect that would help the anxiety, but I can't say I ever noticed it having an effect on either the depression or anxiety. It did help a little regarding the sleep issue. It didn't knock me out the way a prescription sleeping pill would, and also didn't leave me feeling hungover the next day. 

 

[joshposh]

Nah, I stay away from medication that deals with depression.  Sleep always helps, but you need to ask yourself are you doing enough in the day to get you exhausted to fall asleep?  Get up at the crack of dawn and put the work in.  No naps.  Get a lot of sunlight as that helps you go to sleep at night.  A nice hot shower helps the process.  Also you might want to set goals and budget in paper so that you have a piece of mind on how you want to plan the month so there is less to think about at night.  It's when you start brainstorming when you lay down is when you can't sleep.  Don't let your imagination get the best of you.

 

[Allenafaith]

I've tried it a few times and it didn't work for me. I literally have the attention span of a gnat. I can't sit still for even a few seconds, my mind is always racing no matter what I do, and I get bored easily. It's impossible for me. XD 

 

[AngelaMc]

My doctor recommended that I take melatonin (10mg) nightly to help with staying asleep during the night - I've been taking it for one year now. Recently I had read some articles about the benefits of melatonin in reducing anxiety and improving depression. Because I've been taking melatonin for the same amount of time with my depression medication I can't speak to it's benefits or not. If I run out of melatonin I never seem to sleep as good but no immediate other effects. Just curious if anyone has read anything or had personal experiences with this regarding anxiety and depression?

I have taken Melatonin to help as a sleep aid, but I never new it could be used for anxiety or depression. To be honest when I did take it, I still didn't sleep well. It seemed when it did kick in, it was hours later or it made me feel tired the next day.

 

[janemariesayed]

It sounds like it's a pill that takes a few hours to work, so it would need to be taken earlier in the day. I wonder how it would pan out though if it was taken every day? It may even itself out and then you can sleep better at night. If it is a pill that makes you feel tired, then it would work as a relaxant as well. I think this means it would be good as an anxiety pill, or for depression.

 

[qtsam11]

To be honest, it makes it worse for me. I have sleep anxiety and my body wants to fight sleep and the melatonin makes it confused leading to more anxiety.

 

[sierra9779]

I can't take it for anxiety or depression during the day because it really does put me to sleep even at the minimum dose. So I take it to sleep along with gabapentin. The first few times, I'd wake up super irritable as if I had "stress dreamed" all night. Now, I wake up far more "restored" and relaxed. Regardless, taking both together puts me to sleep almost instantly, I stay asleep the whole night, and almost always have the craziest dreams, although they don't feel "stressful" anymore like when I first tried it.