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A lot of people don't realize it, but
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melatonin is a hormone. There's a reason
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you can't go to the CVS and get
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testosterone and estrogen, right?
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Because hormones affect the entire
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system. They affect all three almost 300
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different things in your body. So, what
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you don't want to do is have somebody
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just willy-nilly grabbing a hormone and
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starting to pop it without somebody
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understanding what's going on with them.
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More importantly, melatonin in
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particular and the point I wanted to
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make earlier about depression. Melatonin
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interacts with all SSRI medication and
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SSRI is a serotonin specific re-uptake
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inhibitor, an anti-depressant. So things
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like Prozac, Zoloft, Selexa, all of
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those are medications that will be
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affected by melatonin ingestion and
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nobody knows that it is. In addition,
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melatonin affects birth control. It
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affects blood pressure medication and it
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affects diabetes medication. Melatonin
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is a sleep regulator, not a sleep
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initiator. Melatonin doesn't affect
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sleep drive. Melatonin affects sleep
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rhythm. Melatonin only affects your
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brain telling it when it's time to go to
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bed. It does not make you sleepy. You
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need to really be thoughtful about using
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it. Number two, melatonin is not to be
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used in children. Okay? So, a lot of
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people are like, "Michael, I've got
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pediatricians all over the country
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telling my telling me to give my
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children melatonin." I'm gonna say it
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right here in front of everybody. That
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is the dumbest idea I have heard in a
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long time because you just taught your
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child that they need a pill to sleep. No
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child needs pills to sleep. And by the
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way, most children make almost four
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times the amount of melatonin that their
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brain even needs. So, giving them extra
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melatonin doesn't do you any good.
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Dosage also is a problem. Like if you go
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to the drugstore, you can you almost
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can't find it in the appropriate dose.
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The appropriate dose is anywhere from
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about half a milligram to one and a half
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milligrams. Maybe top out at three, but
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that's about as high as you want to go.
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But when you go to CVS, you find that
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gummies in 10 and 20 milligrams. And
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people tell me all the time, "Oh, I
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can't take melatonin. It gives me crazy
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dreams." Number one side effect of
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overdosing on melatonin is crazy dreams.