Effects of Sleep Medication
Melatonin, an over the counter drug, is a supplement that many people have become reliant on as a support to help them fall asleep faster. However, given the information that recent studies suggest, these sleep aids may be doing more harm than good, given that people have been excessively using these pills to a point where they are creating a lot of harm to their health. Side effects such as headaches, nausea, stomach cramps, confusion and a predisposition to dementia are linked to an increase in melatonin usage. In addition, studies have found that within a decade, the amount of people taking melatonin has doubled, and scientists are concerned with the stress of the pandemic that there will continue to be an uptick in the amount of people taking melatonin as a way to support falling and staying asleep. A common misconception is that melatonin is an herb, when in reality it contains serotonin, which is a hormone that even with a small dosage can create damaging effects. While melatonin has been proven to not be the most beneficial supplement to take before going to bed given the damaging side effects, researchers and experts suggest other habits that can yield a good night's sleep, such as turning off artificial lighting 20-40 minutes prior to bedtime and eliminating caffeinated foods and beverages from your diet.
As someone who takes melatonin on a daily basis before going to bed, I found this article to be very informative, as I thought melatonin was not a harmful drug prior to reading and engaging with this article. It definitely caused me to think hard about if taking melatonin is worth it based on the potential health risks and factors that come into play. However, I also think that it is very important that I get a sufficient amount of sleep on school nights and that may be an unrealistic wish without taking melatonin before I go to bed. Also, considering the fact that these health related issues only really seem to be prominent when people take too much of the supplement, I don’t think that by taking one a night I am putting my health at risk.
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Using melatonin for sleep is on the rise, study says, despite potential health harms