The Magic of Melatonin

In the early nineties, long before Cancer arrived at our doorstep, I started taking melatonin as a sleep aid. We were traveling a lot at the time and moving across time zones which exacerbated my pre-existing sleep problems. When I saw that it helped with jet lag, I wanted to try it for insomnia but I was concerned about side-effects, the correct dosage, and any problems that might arise with self medication—even though it was touted as natural and harmless.

We didn’t even own a computer at the time which made research a little more difficult. So when I saw The Melatonin Miracle in the book section at our natural food store, I snatched it up. This is what I learned:

1. Melatonin is a hormone produced in all mammals by the pineal gland.

2. The pineal gland, sometimes referred to as the “aging clock,” is part of the endocrine system and located in the center of the brain.

3. The production of melatonin, affected directly by the circadian cycle, decreases as we age.

4. Melatonin has proven to be a safe and effective sleep aid.



The authors, Walter Pierpaoli and William Regelson, included much more in the book about the benefits of melatonin supplementation: slowing the aging process, boosting the immune system, increase in sexual function, improved memory, and more. I wasn’t thoroughly convinced the pill was a miracle solution to all of these problems, but if it would help me get a good night’s sleep, it was miracle enough. If it delivered on all the other promises, all the better.

I started taking melatonin regularly in 1994 and have continued to this day. I take two, one milligram pills, sublingually, between 10 and 10:30 every night. I seldom have any problem going to or staying asleep. The only side effect I have ever experienced is intensified dreaming.

In 2009, during Jim’s fourth episode of lung cancer, his oncologist recommended that he take 20 milligrams of melatonin each night along with metformin a drug used for diabetics. Recent research, he explained, indicated that the two drugs, or I should say the supplement and the drug, in combination, were being used to slow the progression of solid tumor cancers.

It seems Pierpaoli and Regelson were on the right track; maybe melatonin is a miracle.