Side Effects of Melatonin
Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone in the human body. Its chemical name is N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine. Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland and its main function is to establish and regulate the circadian rhythm of the body. In other words, one can even say that melatonin does the re-adjustment of the biological clock of the body. The amount of melatonin in the body generally remains low during the bright hours and tends to increase during the dark.
You wake up in the morning as the level of melatonin in the body goes on decreasing as sunrise approaches. The human body produces certain hormones which are essential for the proper functioning of body parts. Melatonin is one of those hormones. Melatonin can lead to some side effects if consumed externally although enough quantities are produced in the body. Read on to know more about the side effects of melatonin.
Side Effects of Melatonin
Although rare, melatonin side effects do exist. These range from sleeping disorders to malfunctioning of body systems.
Nausea
One of the commonly reported side effects of melatonin usage was nausea.
Abdominal Cramps
Abdominal cramps or stomach discomfort is found to be one more side effect of melatonin. Sexual Disorders Apart from the above, melatonin side effects also include adverse effects on a person’s sexual health. This includes disorders such as a reduction in the sex drive of both the genders and decrease in the sperm count.
Sleep Walking
Though melatonin is believed to be effective in curing sleeplessness, hyper production of melatonin causes sleepwalking. This is a type of sleeping disorder. However, sleep walking ends on stopping the usage of melatonin.
Dizziness Dizziness is another side effect observed in the users of melatonin. This causes a disability in spatial perception and stability in a person. Other side effects of melatonin are headache, irritability and depression.
Melatonin side effects are said to be more harmful to people suffering from high blood pressure and liver diseases.Children are also found to be affected by melatonin. Bed wetting, morning sleepiness, headaches, seizures and stomach ache are the side effects of melatonin in children. Lately, melatonin has been spoken of as a medicine that has anti-aging properties, while some data points that it can boost the immune system and also prevent cancer and other diseases. This information however needs to be confirmed by specialists as one has to take into consideration the side effects of melatonin.
The intake of melatonin supplements can be justified when your body is not able to produce it in sufficient quantities, but what is the point taking it when you actually don’t need it? This is nothing but spoiling your good health and inviting other health problems. If you really think you are facing some medical problem and you need some treatment for it, consult a doctor instead of taking supplements by yourself. It is better not to play with nature.
