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melatonin can cause hallucinations??!!!


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Peela, That is why I wrote that there seems to be a major cultural difference with this attitude. I think it is something that us as Australians cannot really understand.

 

Yes, you could be right Melissa- although we do do our share of it here too- Perth being the world's capital for ADHD medication apparently. But still...it does seem overall better here. Whatever it is, its nobody's fault- it's a reflection of a cultural thing, as you say.

 

Negin- we don't watch commercial TV here but recently I somehow ended up watching some and was amazed that every 2nd ad was for a painkiller, all evening.

 

Look, I take stuff too- I am not trying to come across all holier than thou about this. You should see my bathroom cupboards stuff full of "natural" supplements. I am a bit nutty about them at times- but I do try to stay really aware of this issue- taking a pill for every discomfort. And my dh is really against it- and doesn't like me giving the kids too many supplements either, for the simple reason of not learning to 'pill pop" as a normal mode of living. Since they don't like taking them, its usually kept to a minimum anyway, and usually its something like magnesium (which by the way can be excellent for insomnia) for sore muscles after a gymnastic lesson.

 

I took over the counter cough medicine for my nasty cough recently so that *I* could sleep. I rarely do it (every couple of years or so) but when you really need it, it's great to have it, no doubt about it.

 

But it is sad to me that our kids are so frequently medicated and that medicating is considered so normal that people don't think twice about it. I guess thats why I raise my voice now and then about it- I feel strongly about it- and I just want to raise awareness about it.

Edited by Peela
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I have to say it- I feel sad and disturbed that so, so many people on these boards- which might be a cross section of U.S. community- need or choose to take so many medications (natural or not) for so many things. I really wonder if you think it is normal-does everyone you know take so many things- for depression, ADHD, sleep- not just adults but the kids?

I think it is a sign of a very disturbed society that so many people are so medicated and need medications to just get through the day, or the night. Not just a few- but so many people- and the poor kids.

Sorry- it just hit me that people discuss these things here all the time to the extent that it seems everyone thinks it is normal to reach for pills for everything.

I dont even like the"take a pill" approach to natural medicine, or the mentality that if its "natural" it must be ok, though I fall into that pattern at times myself- I am still wary of it.

Why are we SO out of balance that we are so sick, so disturbed? Why do our kids need medications, for goodness sakes?

I like to go for the root causes- the out of balance lifestyles, the stress etc and i KNOW its not always simple or simplistic. And I know every single case is different, and if my kid was unable to sleep, night after night, I might as a last resort give them melatonin too- maybe. I doubt it would ever get to that but I can't know that for sure.

These things are all just dealing with symptoms. Uncomfortable, difficult to live with symptoms. But if you sit on the symptoms, make the symptoms go away temporarily for the sake of comfort- without dealing with the cause- the underlying discordance in the system- eventually a different symptom will manifest and then another medication will be prescribed.

I just think its sad.

 

This is very harsh. If you have never suffered from depression, insomnia or other things that make life "unbearable" you have no idea what you are saying or suggesting. To suggest that dealing with the symptoms is not dealing with problem is a very casual misunderstanding of the problem. To suggest that what we are doing is taking the easy way out instead of really dealing with the problem is almost cruel to me. We don't reach for a "pill" for every thing but if there is a quality of life issue and for us sleep (or not in this case) is a huge quality of life issue.

 

You said yourself that you don't know what you would do if your child didn't sleep well take it one step further, what if the child not only didn't sleep but that lack of sleep affected his ability to even function at a somewhat normal level? Then what would you do? What if it prevented you from doing a job that was your source of income? What if you had tried many other things and found that nothing else worked? You are correct because you don't know what you would do and to judge others because they may be using a "natural" remedy to help not only make life bearable but to make it happen in a much more enjoyable way is beyond harsh in my mind.

 

Do you understand that people dealing with certain issues show a chemical imbalance? Do you understand that the brain in certain circumstances CANNOT make up for those imbalances? Medicines either natural or man made are needed.

 

Ds15 is an Aspie and often an insomniac. I let him read all night if he feels he needs to. I just require him to get up in the morning and not be grouchy. At least once a week he reads all night, very rarely two nights in a row; however, and through repeated practice, his moods are not worse after being up all night. It was not always thus, but routine is critical to managing his obsessive-compulsive tendencies, and staring at the ceiling in the dark has never, in my experience, led to good things for anyone I know. This, for him, is a life skill. I can't see encouraging dependence on medication for anyone inclined to insomnia as a long term issue. On the other hand, I take benadryl pretty often at night, especially since I discovered it's really good for preventing managing incipient migraines. Waking up pain-free, if a little groggy is gold.

 

I find this interesting that you admit to taking medicine for preventing and managing an illness but yet you don't want your son to be dependent on medicine for something that for many, many people is also an illness.

 

Have you ever suffered from insomnia? Long term? Please don't dismiss it so lightly. I can promise you that insomnia can be just as serious as migraines.

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Yes, it is judgemental, but it is also how I see it- and it's not attacking any individual, more a collective mentality in our society.

 

Since individuals are the ones making up society, I find this extremely judgmental and it makes me very angry. I'm the first to admit that I haven't always made the best choices on supplements. But Drs. don't always make the best choices on treatments either. And people have died or had their lives seriously impacted by doing nothing as well.

 

Knowledge gives us some power. Research, research, research any kind of treatment you are thinking of doing. Most will have the potential of some kind of side effect, even if it just the possibility of an allergic reaction. Not everyone has every side effect and for those who are not affected by side effects, those treatments can be very beneficial. If you do have a reaction to something then keep looking to see what works for you.

 

People don't spend tons of time and money getting these supplements/treatments/medicines just for the heck of it. They do it because the conditions themselves can be debilitating. Insomnia alone is a debilitating problem for some. Researchers have duplicated the symptoms of fibromyalgia in healthy people by depriving them of sleep. So yea, I'm going to try any remedy I can (after researching it) to try and get that restorative sleep that my body needs. I've found that nightly melatonin and 5-HTP are what I need to have a life that is not functionally disabled. It makes me extremely angry to find myself labeled for doing so.

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But it is sad to me that our kids are so frequently medicated and that medicating is considered so normal that people don't think twice about it. I guess thats why I raise my voice now and then about it- I feel strongly about it- and I just want to raise awareness about it.

 

Trust me, they think twice about it. yes, yes, we all know the stories of people who hand over decisions about their bodies to the medical consumerist culture. Most parents think long and hard before giving their children ongoing medication. Even those who 'go along' are mostly just trying to do right by their kids. To think that "awareness" needs to be bestowed upon people, by you, is the height of arrogance. People whose children are medicated, people who use regular medications don't need your patronization.

 

What is lacking is empathy for the difficult decisions people make about these choices. People struggle with this every day. No one feels great about having to make these decisions. I see people posting here about their own struggles with depression or other mental illness, I see how hard it gets for them. They still struggle with the stigma of medication, needing to prove to others that they are making the 'right' choice.

 

People don't need to line up to justify their choices about this hard, hard issue to you.

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Yes, it is judgemental, but it is also how I see it- and it's not attacking any individual, more a collective mentality in our society.

 

I actually agree with you. Our society does promote the idea that taking a pill can solve everything. I'm sure you don't mean no one should ever take medication and that there is something wrong with people who do. In my own medical issues, it has bothered me that when I see a doctor, his automatic reaction is to pull out the prescription pad instead of working with me to find the root cause. I think in the long run that has caused more issues for me instead of solving anything.

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We LOVE both melatonin and Valerian root in our house. My DH does not sleep unless he's had a dose of both about 20 minutes before bed time. Our first night married was horrible. Then he wondered why I took a 3 hour nap the next day. That's when he finally admitted that he did not pack his usual "sleeping meds". So we ran to the store right then and got them. I don't know how people can live for more than a few days on the little bit of sleep he normally got before the miracle combo we have now.

 

Why were you trying to sleep your first night married?;):tongue_smilie:

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:iagree:

And I think this is where we see a major difference in culture.

I don't know anyone who would give tranquilizers to their children for a plane flight. In fact I really don't know anyone who would give their child tranquilizers unless they had a major health problem and were prescribed it by the doctor.

 

many orphanage children have sleep issues. My dd's orphanage was known to leave the children alone at night, and their orphanage shared a very large building with an adult institution. Dd has ALWAYS had sleep issues as she has many fears surrounding night time. Many people in the online adopt support groups have given their children melatonin to help them sleep. After taking it myself and HALLUCINATING, I realized some of dd's "lies" were actually very, very vivid dreams which she still to this day thinks are a reality. No matter how many times I tell her some things she believes happened never did, there's no convincing her. :sad:

 

No melatonin here.

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I'd give better than even odds it is still just the vitreous gel. It can do wieeeeeerd things. (Now then, if you are seeing everything upside down, go to the hospital.:))

 

while that is true, I saw "code" drawings all over the back side of my bedroom wall. That wall only. They were perfectly spaced apart, and they looked like they had meaning to them. Have you ever seen the movie A Beautiful Mind, where the "code" was written all over the wall when he thought he was an FBI agent? It was like that. FREAKY. I sat up in bed just staring at the "code" until it slowly disintegrated into ashes and then completely went away.

 

That was a hallucination!!! And it FREAKED ME OUT!

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And I know every single case is different, and if my kid was unable to sleep, night after night, I might as a last resort give them melatonin too- maybe. I doubt it would ever get to that but I can't know that for sure.

 

 

that's right. You can't know. When I'm in that situation, I try to be grateful that I don't have whatever that particular issue is and to remember that the most helpful advice comes from people who HAVE been in the same situation.

 

My kid's been a crappy sleeper since the day he was born. I suppose maybe I screwed him up in the womb...or maybe that's just how he is. At any rate, I've chosen giving him a very low dose of a supplement of something that his body's already making over watching him (and everyone else in our house) suffer through years of perpetual sleep deprivation. Because I know that would be bad for him. No hallucinations or nightmares here. Incidentally, I think it's pretty likely I could get the same kid an ADHD diagnosis if I wanted one (probably not coincidentally), but I choose not to. I can count on one hand, with a few fingers missing, the number of times he's had antibiotics for an illness (and, for that matter, the number of times he's been to the doctor for an illness). I'm pretty good at making decisions because they're the right ones for my family and not because I'm hypnotized by societal norms.

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I have to say it- I feel sad and disturbed that so, so many people on these boards- which might be a cross section of U.S. community- need or choose to take so many medications (natural or not) for so many things. I really wonder if you think it is normal-does everyone you know take so many things- for depression, ADHD, sleep- not just adults but the kids?

I think it is a sign of a very disturbed society that so many people are so medicated and need medications to just get through the day, or the night. Not just a few- but so many people- and the poor kids.

Sorry- it just hit me that people discuss these things here all the time to the extent that it seems everyone thinks it is normal to reach for pills for everything.

I dont even like the"take a pill" approach to natural medicine, or the mentality that if its "natural" it must be ok, though I fall into that pattern at times myself- I am still wary of it.

Why are we SO out of balance that we are so sick, so disturbed? Why do our kids need medications, for goodness sakes?

I like to go for the root causes- the out of balance lifestyles, the stress etc and i KNOW its not always simple or simplistic. And I know every single case is different, and if my kid was unable to sleep, night after night, I might as a last resort give them melatonin too- maybe. I doubt it would ever get to that but I can't know that for sure.

These things are all just dealing with symptoms. Uncomfortable, difficult to live with symptoms. But if you sit on the symptoms, make the symptoms go away temporarily for the sake of comfort- without dealing with the cause- the underlying discordance in the system- eventually a different symptom will manifest and then another medication will be prescribed.

I just think its sad.

 

you're right, Peela, it is sad. But there are many, many parents who haven't gotten help from doctors and have had to research things them out themselves to help their child or themselves. I went to doctors for TEN YEARS for unmentionable symptoms but it was my own research which led me to the Candida diet - one I followed while taking supplements to help kill off the yeast. At the end of that diet I was healed. NO doctors healed me.

 

My dd was only 5 years old when she was diagnosed with GERD. I took her to numerous doctors and hospitals before an ALLERGIST told us it sounded like GERD. We took her to Boston Children's, one of the best around (although I've not gotten the help I wished I had) and they did their tests and put her on medication so that she could eat and not be in SCREAMING, WRITHING pain. THe medication didn't help and when she ate a blueberry muffin and then screamed for half an hour, I knew again that doctors weren't going to help me and it was up to me to help her. Again I did my research, placed her on apple cider vinegar and papaya digestive enzymes, and she was cured. She's been off all medication and natural treatments for six years now.

 

I have a son whom I believe has a mental illness, or at the very least has REAL depression. I've been so against medication that he's gotten to a bad place. THAT was not a good choice on my part. We've finally taken him for an evaluation and will likely put him on medication. If we don't, I fear for his life.

 

My youngest used to scream at night, sleep while thrashing all around in her room, cry out that the Chinese men were going to come get her. NOTHING helped her, not even sleeping in my room. I tried melatonin. I won't give it to her anymore, but something had to help my poor child. She was sleeping only 3 - 4 hours per night for YEARS. Even now she's up all through out the night. She somehow seems to function fine but is falling asleep by 7:00 so that's when we put her to bed.

 

Just a few examples.

 

I hear you, though. I really do. I'm not offended by what you've written, but because you've never dealt with issues that many of us have, I think perhaps you don't understand.

Edited by Denisemomof4
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I actually agree with you. Our society does promote the idea that taking a pill can solve everything. I'm sure you don't mean no one should ever take medication and that there is something wrong with people who do. In my own medical issues, it has bothered me that when I see a doctor, his automatic reaction is to pull out the prescription pad instead of working with me to find the root cause. I think in the long run that has caused more issues for me instead of solving anything.

 

ok, I can't help but agree with that. I have MANY times declined medications for my kids AT THE RISK OF BEING CHARGED WITH CHILD NEGLECT should something happen. BUT, I saw my parents on so many medications that it made me sick, and my dad was always happy to add more to the list. I refuse so many myself, looking for natural ways to treat my ailments when they happen.

 

I hate it when DOCTORS want to just send you away with a prescription. HATE it. I wish THEY could get to the root cause of the issues. Sometimes the parents are simply unable to.

 

FWIW, I've spent countless hours researching issues dd11 and dd8 has, and there is simply NO HELP out there for me. I've posted many times about it here on these boards. Thankfully dd11 seems to have outgrown her scary issues (her face would turn blue and she'd lose her eyesight for NO reason!) and dd8 is much more manageable these days. It was my own exhaustive research which got us to where we are with dd8. No amount of research helped dd11 and it was so distressing until her symptoms went away.

 

Oh, and with both dd's, medications WERE recommended. Uh, no thanks. You want to try it to see if he helps because you really don't know what's going on?

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And what would you do if your child has special needs and did not get but a few hours of sleep at night? And this child is on a toddler level and would roam the house while everyone is asleep? :001_huh:

 

I do think that medication is rampant in our society. I have a child that takes melatonin at bedtime. I'd love for her not too, but the alternatives are ugly. I'd just kindly say to walk a mile in my shoes before you judge.

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Nedstr8t

I do not know if it can cause hallucinations, but melatonin side effects like the side effects of many other pills can cause hallucination. When you take this pills there can be many different side effects like, vomiting, headache etc. and also dehydration which can cause hallucination. If you do not drink water and you dehydrated you can also have hallucinations.

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Negin- we don't watch commercial TV here but recently I somehow ended up watching some and was amazed that every 2nd ad was for a painkiller, all evening.

 

Yet over the counter painkillers and cough medicine are the only type of drug advertising you will see in Aus. I lived in Canada for a few years (and had cable from the US) and was shocked at how many ads there were for heavy duty perscription medications. The ad would start out with a list of serious symptoms and then promote the drug and then suggest "Talk with your doctor today if you think this drug would be right for you".

 

My doctor here in Aus would laugh in my face if I walked in and said I researched a drug I saw on tv and wanted to try it. Last time I needed an antibiotic I had to go visit 3 different doctors before one would prescribe it - it's like asking for the holy grail. It's next to impossible to even get an over the counter medication for any child under 2 - they will not sell it to you without a doctors perscription -even though technically you don't need one.

 

It's a very different culture - my DH is from Canada and wants drugs for every little symptom he has - I rarely take anything -even supplements because I get tired of begging the doctors for things - nothing is given out randomly here - that's for sure.

 

Plus we don't have drug companies trying to make a profit - most of our drug developers in Aus are all non-profit organisations.

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Yet over the counter painkillers and cough medicine are the only type of drug advertising you will see in Aus. I lived in Canada for a few years (and had cable from the US) and was shocked at how many ads there were for heavy duty perscription medications. The ad would start out with a list of serious symptoms and then promote the drug and then suggest "Talk with your doctor today if you think this drug would be right for you".

 

My doctor here in Aus would laugh in my face if I walked in and said I researched a drug I saw on tv and wanted to try it. Last time I needed an antibiotic I had to go visit 3 different doctors before one would prescribe it - it's like asking for the holy grail. It's next to impossible to even get an over the counter medication for any child under 2 - they will not sell it to you without a doctors perscription -even though technically you don't need one.

 

It's a very different culture - my DH is from Canada and wants drugs for every little symptom he has - I rarely take anything -even supplements because I get tired of begging the doctors for things - nothing is given out randomly here - that's for sure.

 

Plus we don't have drug companies trying to make a profit - most of our drug developers in Aus are all non-profit organisations.

 

:iagree: about everything you say. The pharmas in the U.S. have gone out. of. control ...

Whenever we have people from non-U.S./Canadian countries visit, they're shocked, since we also get American TV here.

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