The other day, I was in line at the store. A friend of mine came up and mentioned how tired I looked. Well, no one ever likes to hear that. She just happened to have a bottle of melatonin in her hand. She didn’t hesitate to tell me all about it. But what she didn’t know was how long does melatonin stay in your system.
We talked for a bit, and I had to tell her why I was so tired. I mean, frankly, who wouldn’t be tired with the extra work and worry I have today. Kids are home all the time doing virtual learning, which I have to figure out how to help them in between working my paid job. Not that I’m complaining; it’s just a lot of extra stress.
But what is a girl to do? I go to bed early and wake up as if I never went to bed. I will not take sleeping pills due to the drowsy side effects I have in the morning. However, I did hear what she said about melatonin, and I think I’ll check this melatonin out some more. Maybe it won’t make me drowsy.
What is Melatonin?
To answer this question, we first need to understand what melatonin is and how it works. When I did check it out, I found that melatonin is a hormone produced by our bodies, and our melatonin levels tend to rise in the evening. The release of this hormone called melatonin tells our bodies when it is time to sleep and when it is time to wake or the day/night cycle.
As we age, the amount of this hormone that the body produces decreases slowly. Older individuals find it hard to get a good night’s sleep because while the melatonin in their body is supposed to rise as bedtime nears, their levels of melatonin are slowing down because of age.
But what if you are not older? Why would you need melatonin or need to know why you can’t sleep? Many factors can decrease melatonin, such as anxiety and some diseases like diabetes or even obesity. Not to mention if you don’t want to take sleeping pills understanding melatonin and how long it stays in your system will be helpful.
Melatonin, A Naturally Occurring Hormone
Your body makes melatonin naturally, so when you take it as a medication, you are basically taking a substance that your body may need if you don’t produce as much for some reason.
Due to the fact that this is a naturally occurring chemical in the human body, it tends not to make one sleepy in the morning like sleeping pills. That sounded good to me, but……this is not the entire story. When you take melatonin, the amount you take or the melatonin’s strength determines how long melatonin stays in your system.
Melatonin: How it Works and How Long it Stays in Your System?
Over-the-counter melatonin begins its magic within an hour of taking the hormone. Typically, the pill is fast dissolving so that it enters your system quickly. At this point, you will feel drowsy and be ready to hit the sack.
Half-Life
After the first hour, melatonin begins to break down by half. This is called the half-life, which simply means the amount of time it takes for half of a substance to be eliminated by the body and determine how long it stays in your system. Now, this is where the tricky part comes into play. The amount of time melatonin stays in your system is determined by the number of milligrams you take.
Dosage
The melatonin you buy over the counter can range from 0.1 to 10 milligrams. What does this mean when it comes to how long it will stay in your system? Depending on how many milligrams you take, it can require 4 to 5 half-lives or simply put 4 to 10 hours before all the hormone is out of your system.
If you take the full dose of 10 milligrams, then at 4 hours, you will still have half of the medication in your system. The half-life does not change, but the rate we metabolize the melatonin, meaning how fast do we move it out of our system, is different for each person. I know this is a bit confusing.
Trial and Error Method
The important part to remember is the higher the dose, the more drug will stay in your system longer. You can take a different amount each night, and then when you get too drowsy, you can back down on your dose, but this trial and error method sounds a bit scary and uncertain. How is one to know what the right dose is or how much you will need.
You are just increasing your lack of sleep ability by worrying about how much to take and if it will work. I know I have enough worry and don’t need this extra headache in my life. At this point, I wonder if it is important how long melatonin stays in your system because the real problem may lie in your body’s ability to sleep from other factors.
Understanding Your Body
Do you know what I mean here? Why not get a deeper understanding of your body instead of just using melatonin to see if it will work for you.
To understand what your body is doing and benefit from melatonin, there is a simple test available to measure some factors that can contribute to your sleeping problem. After all, you do have some sleeping issues, or you wouldn’t need the melatonin in the first place.
The test I’m talking about includes information on anxiety, stress, and sleep duration, along with other factors. It just may be the information you have needed for a very long time. My trouble with sleeping may be due to all of the stress, but mostly it is from too much worry about what is happening in my life which decreased my melatonin. The testing can help you better understand how your body operates. Is your body is prone to anxiety, and how your sleeping habits are?
Simple Swab Test
This test is a simple swab test kit from the saliva in your mouth. It’s simple to do, and once your test is complete, you will receive a report that will explain the test results. It won’t answer your question of how long does melatonin stay in your system, but I’m not sure that is the most important question here. Why? Because Of the information you receive, it can be determined if melatonin is right for you. You will also get information on other things you can do to help you sleep better and decrease your anxiety.
Now, just like a fingerprint, your DNA is coded just for you, and with this blueprint of your body, you gain knowledge that you would have never known. The type of knowledge that very well may change the way you sleep. Knowing what your DNA says about your habits and your unique abilities are liberating.
So don’t waste another night tossing and turning to lie awake wondering why you can’t sleep, what dose of melatonin to take, or how long it stays in your system; order your GxCBD kit today and crack the code to a better night’s sleep.