However, many people turn to melatonin for chronic or occasional insomnia and experience mixed results, because they use it too frequently, take higher-than-necessary doses or donвЂ™t time it properly. For instance, if you attend a conference on the West Coast and return to Cleveland, you'll shift back to your normal bedtime and awaken more normally in three days, which corresponds with the three-hour time difference.

Melatonin helps travelers because when you cross time zones, your body naturally вЂњcorrectsвЂќ one hour lost or gained every 24 hours. A synthesized form of the naturally occurring hormone, which is secreted by the pineal gland in the brain, was patented by MIT in 1995 and is widely available as a pill or chewable gummy candy. How Melatonin WorksДЄlthough billed as a cure-all for insomnia, melatonin is not a perfect antidote for sleeplessness. Andrefsky says melatonin is more useful in mitigating jetlag than in curing chronic insomnia, so it can be an effective tool for people who travel leisurely or for business. вЂњMelatonin affects when you fall asleep, not how quickly.вЂќДr. вЂњMelatonin decreases sleep latency by about six minutes, which is not a lot of time considering people sometimes canвЂ™t fall asleep for 45 minutes, an hour or two hours,вЂќ he says.

Neurologist and sleep medicine specialist John Andrefsky, MD isnвЂ™t surprised. ItвЂ™s been a rough day and you must wake up early tomorrow for a breakfast meeting, so you take a melatonin pill, brush your teeth and crawl into bed.

Get me to sleep now