Melatonin advice

[deepetshopboy]

Hi anyone had there cared for on melatonin
My dads just put on that last week 2 mg once a day it’s been given by gp on recommendation from memory clinic i spent months going to and throwing between both begging for help from nov for dads restlessness sundowning agitation wandering packing etc dr wouldn’t do anything because said couldn’t because of memory clininc has to authorise it memory clininc didn’t want to because said it would make hes memory worse /falls /sleepiness etc as a result i had to get over the counter sleep tablets as he wasn’t sleeping the issue wasn’t sleeping recently as was dealt with thank god through me taking the matter into my own hands but the issues were as above agitated etc so now finally at last he's been put on low dose temporarily melatonin which is like a small miracle he is quite a lot settled he tolrated the carer the packing is almost stopped and the agitated aggressiveness is much better so i bring him back to dr next week im hoping she will continue but maybe on a higher dose anyone got experience of this ?

 

[Lawson58]

I haven't had any experience of melatonin with a person who has dementia but tried it myself for insomnia.

I am a great believer in giving things a try and if it's helping that is great.

It didn't help my insomnia but that is a different situation.

Keep us up to date because if you are finding it useful then someone else on Talking Point might too.

 

[Izzy]

It’s a long time ago now but my husband was prescribed melatonin for a while. He had restless leg syndrome and slept very badly. To be honest it didn’t make any difference to him but everyone’s different. I hope it will continue to give your husband some relief.

 

[annielou]

No experience of it but glad to hear something is helping your dads agitation when sundowning. Its so sad seeing them in distress and if can get something that helps them feel more settled its a blessing. I hope he can continue on it with a benefit to it X

 

[Palerider]

There have been other posts about melatonin and its use. The effect is not fully understood or known, but it seems to work in some people but not others. Heavy reading but I have posted this for you, which is quite informative but difficult reading:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3001215/

Attached as a PDF as well

 

[deepetshopboy]

I haven't had any experience of melatonin with a person who has dementia but tried it myself for insomnia.

I am a great believer in giving things a try and if it's helping that is great.

It didn't help my insomnia but that is a different situation.

Keep us up to date because if you are finding it useful then someone else on Talking Point might too.

Yes i am too I believe that many pwd have been unfortunately put into homes exactly because the drs and ‘professionals ‘have not helped the situation in providing medication which may have helped the pwd leading to the carer out of despair having to put them in a home this is what nearly happened to me very sad

 

[deepetshopboy]

There have been other posts about melatonin and its use. The effect is not fully understood or known, but it seems to work in some people but not others. Heavy reading but I have posted this for you, which is quite informative but difficult reading:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3001215/

Attached as a PDF as well

Thanks so much i may show this /print it for the memory clininc ! Very informative

 

[deepetshopboy]

No experience of it but glad to hear something is helping your dads agitation when sundowning. Its so sad seeing them in distress and if can get something that helps them feel more settled its a blessing. I hope he can continue on it with a benefit to it X

Thank you i hope so too x

 

[Tcm]

There have been other posts about melatonin and its use. The effect is not fully understood or known, but it seems to work in some people but not others. Heavy reading but I have posted this for you, which is quite informative but difficult reading:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3001215/

Attached as a PDF as well

Thanks for this. Really helpful. Have been struggling with mums poor sleep and nothing tried so far has worked. Have been thinking about asking the Gp about Melatonin. Now feel better informed. Thanks