January 2025
We are
governed by circadian rhythms, which are 24 hour cycles, part of our body’s
internal clock. During sleep, the cells in our body undergo healing and
replication and our mind works through the experiences and memories of our
lives in dreams. Our psyche needs the stimulation of being awake, and being
asleep. We need, integrally, a consistent routine for our good health. Our
circadian rhythm causes us to sleep and, in the morning, as exposure to light
increases, melatonin production stops and body temperature rises, promoting
wakefulness. Rhythm is the key. Light and dark, wakefulness and sleep, in
harmony and balance giving rise to good bodily and psychological health.
Sleep is
most likely to be refreshing and restorative when circadian rhythms, the
natural cycle of daylight and darkness, and sleep patterns align. Regularity of
meal times, exercise, social interaction, and sleep times as well as exposure
to sunlight and darkness help maintain our natural circadian rhythms.
Sometimes, though, our circadian rhythms are thrown out of kilter: shift work,
travel across time zones, social or study habits that lead to irregular
bedtimes, illness, stress, bright lights, too much alcohol and other recreational
drugs, all contribute to this.
Problems
with sleep can give rise to insomnia, performance issues (memory problems,
difficulty focusing and difficulty performing high precision tasks, emotional
and social difficulties, accidents and errors, health problems (obesity,
diabetes, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and cancer), and symptoms of low
energy and grogginess.
A regular
schedule for sleep, meals, exercise, exposure to a moderate amount of
sunlight and not too much screen time,
etc, helps good sleep. If you are having problems getting to sleep, clinical
hypnotherapy (which I do) combined with light therapy (controlled exposure to
light, eg going outside in the morning after dawn for an hour or so and then at
least 10 to 30 minutes in the afternoon of sunlight is beneficial) and, maybe,
melatonin supplements and, if your doctor recommends it, medication. The latter
can pose risks and have undesirable side effects.
So,
melatonin. I’ve been thinking a lot about why melatonin was given to me in ICU
when I was seriously ill a few months ago when sleep wasn’t a problem.
Melatonin, as we know, is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the body in
response to darkness and regulates day-night/waking-sleeping cycles by
chemically causing drowsiness and lowering the body temperature. Melatonin is
also implicated in the regulation of mood, learning and memory, immune
activity, dreaming, fertility and reproduction. Light decreases melatonin
production creating wakefulness, darkness increases melatonin inducing sleep. Sometimes
some people do not produce enough melatonin and have insomnia. This is usually and
usefully treated with melatonin tablets, drops, patches or gummies. So, why was
it given to me in hospital – until I questioned its use and suggested that it really
wasn’t necessary for me to take it?
I’ve since
discovered that it is quite often given to patients during acute illness within
a particular age group as it has been discovered that such illness sometimes
interrupts the person’s normal circadian rhythm and creates delirium. Well, this might be true, but to give melatonin
to everyone on the basis that sometimes the wakefulness/sleep cycle is interrupted
seems a bit of an overkill. At no time was I suffering delirium. Blanket
prescriptions cannot include all variables.
I often
hear from clients that they have been prescribed melatonin and they’ve been
using the stuff for years, without much useful result. This supplement is
time-limited. The supplement is designed to reset the circadian cycle not to
replace it. As a short-term solution to insomnia, it’s useful, but it loses its
effectiveness and can contribute to the body not restoring its own circadian
rhythm (which is the whole point of taking it in the first place).
Melatonin is
not innocuous and shouldn’t be used if you operate heavy machinery, nor
taken with
alcohol or other sleeping pills as the combined effects may cause breathing
problems. Melatonin supplements interact with many medications, including birth
control pills, blood pressure medicine, antiseizure medicine, medicine to
weaken the immune system, and blood thinners. People who take any of these
medicines should speak to their doctor before trying melatonin supplements.