Melatonin and Body Temperature

Gittit Shwartz · 01-27-2009, 04:57 AM

Thought I'd share a recent observation:

Lately I've been having trouble falling asleep, and on two separate occasions about 2 weeks apart decided to take 3mg melatonin. I slept for 7 hours and was wakened by the alarm.

Both times I found my body temperature upon waking had dropped by nearly 1 degee F (0.5 C) from the previous day's. The next day it was back to normal. I track my morning body temperature regularly and know how it varies with the menstrual cycle - neither of these days should have shown a significant change.

I've heard warnings before not to take melatonin unless you know you have time to sleep til you wake naturally, now I'm even more convinced. Apparently melatonin is involved in body temp regulation, lowering the temp at night to make you sleepy.

I'm not sure how long the temperature drop lasted but it was pretty alarming the first time (96.3 F... not good).

Patrick Yeung · 01-27-2009, 06:42 PM

Is it actually bad for your body temp to drop?

I know that some animals, such as mice, can have their body temperatures drop down to half of their waking temps, and their heart rates drop below 10 bpm when they are hibernating. Bats are another example of this.

Thats interesting though. Ive been having a lot of trouble getting to bed all my life, but have refused taking meds because of the dependency created. Though, there are newer drugs where this is not the case, id rather go with something less powerful. Was thinking of taking melatonin, or tryptophan, but havent gotten around to getting either.

And just curious, why do you check your body temp before/after you go to bed?

Steven Low · 01-27-2009, 06:58 PM

No, normally the body drops some temp while sleeping. I'm not sure how much the normal range is... but a few degrees should not be worrisome.

Garrett Smith · 01-27-2009, 08:19 PM

There is something there, obviously. Quick search of Pubmed would seem to confirm.

Complex effects of melatonin on human circadian rhythms in constant dim light.

Quote:

These results indicate that melatonin was able to phase shift sleep and core temperature but was unable to synchronize core temperature consistently.

Gittit Shwartz · 01-27-2009, 10:18 PM

Patrick - I check my body temp in the morning because I have low T3 and I'm trying to fix my thyroid (with Dr. G's help).
While some degree of variation may not be a problem for someone with normal thyroid function, I've noticed a clear correlation between my AM temp and how well I feel/function on that day in terms of fatigue, motivation, mental clarity etc. If it drops below a certain point I might as well be hibernating

Also helped me figure out what things I do may be detrimental (fasting too much/too long, drinking coffee regularly, keeping carbs contantly below 30g) and what may be helpful (carb cycling, vitamin D).

Garrett Smith · 01-28-2009, 04:59 AM

Gittit,
Have you tried any herbal teas to help you sleep?

Gittit Shwartz · 01-28-2009, 06:41 AM

Hmmm, I've tried passionflower in caps but not as a tea. It didn't seem to help much. I'll see what I can find though - thanks for the tip Dr. G.

Garrett Smith · 01-28-2009, 08:35 AM

Try a mixture of herbs, make the tea decently strong, at least at the start.

Valerian may or may not work for you, some folks get a lot of wild dreams. I personally like valerian (in caps, not so much in tea, it smells a bit funky).

Patrick Yeung · 01-29-2009, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gittit Shwartz

Patrick - I check my body temp in the morning because I have low T3 and I'm trying to fix my thyroid (with Dr. G's help).
While some degree of variation may not be a problem for someone with normal thyroid function, I've noticed a clear correlation between my AM temp and how well I feel/function on that day in terms of fatigue, motivation, mental clarity etc. If it drops below a certain point I might as well be hibernating

Also helped me figure out what things I do may be detrimental (fasting too much/too long, drinking coffee regularly, keeping carbs contantly below 30g) and what may be helpful (carb cycling, vitamin D).

Awh, I personally have not had to battle with thyroid disfunctions, but I was dating a girl who did, and it was real tough for her. She had to be real careful about what she ate and what she did, or shed just crash.

Its amazing when you do a little research how many foods have such a big effect on your thryoid functions. All this soy milk drinking/tofu eating people are doing now is gonna be costly later.

Garrett Smith · 01-29-2009, 05:05 PM

Oh yeah, taking a hot shower or bath before bed has been shown by research to help as well.