Sleep allows an overactive adrenal to rest overnight, also allowing your melatonin to give you a good night's sleep. Cortisol and melatonin are agonists, and fight for dominance.
Cortisol is a stress hormone made by the adrenal gland and melatonin is an antioxidant sleep hormone produced by the pineal gland at night, in darkness.
Normally melatonin takes over the night, slowing down cortisol production in the adrenal gland and encouraging proper rest and repair cycles. Then it wanes and cortisol and other adrenal hormones take over during the day, giving you energy. They should switch off in a normal daily cycle.
If the adrenal won't shut down properly overnight due to stress, one may have inadequate melatonin resulting in an improper rest and repair cycle wearing you down.
High cortisol levels are also associated with encouraging the depositing of fat in the abdomen, specifically. So reducing cortisol may also inhibit the formation of abdominal fat.
i supplement with melatonin at night for sleep. but i always wake up a bit groggy and tired. could be the melatonin but i think it's also just my low cortisol in the morning. Do you think supplementing melatonin could be disrupting my cortisol production in the morning?
Something to keep in mind about melatonin and a reason I never recommend it is that the average melatonin supplement ins 3mg. But the body produces melatonin in picograms, not milligrams. So the average melatonin supplement overdoses the body with thousands of times the level of melatonin the body would normally produce. What the safety issues of this are is still to be seen, especially long term. For example, these supplements would likely shut down the body's production even further just like other exogenous hormone supplements will.
That's not definitive. Cortisol and Melatonin are opposites; more of one reduces the other and vice versa.
In the short term, supplementing melatonin to reduce high nighttime cortisol and to get some good sleep in before midnight seems to me like it would outweigh any "likely" disruption in normal hormone patterns.
Trust me, the cancer-causing and downright debilitating (World Health Organization says this, so it's not "likely") effects of high nighttime cortisol are much more dangerous than 6-12 mg. of over-the-counter melatonin every night.
I don't think the people on this board realize how dangerous high nighttime cortisol is.
If there was I would have said "it will" instead of "likely". But it is well known that the use of other exogenous hormones and even glandulars will atrophy the glands they are replacing, which is why I said "likely".
That's not definitive. Cortisol and Melatonin are opposites; more of one reduces the other and vice versa.
In the short term, supplementing melatonin to reduce high nighttime cortisol and to get some good sleep in before midnight seems to me like it would outweigh any "likely" disruption in normal hormone patterns.
Trust me, the cancer-causing and downright debilitating (World Health Organization says this, so it's not "likely") effects of high nighttime cortisol are much more dangerous than 6-12 mg. of over-the-counter melatonin every night.
Since this is a definitive statement is there any data that backs this up?
Personally I strongly disagree with your statement as far as safety of that massive of a level of melatonin, especially on a regular basis. Again the body produces melatonin in picograms. Six milligrams is 6000000000 picograms alone, which is already overloading the body compared to its standard production. Can you imagine if we took the same equivalent of another hormone the body produces such as insulin? Testosterone? Estrogen? Progesterone? TSH? Even cortisol. It would e disasterous. So why would anyone want to deliberately overload their body with massive amounts of the hormone melatonin creating another imbalance in the body, especially when the risks are unknown?
For example, we know that when melatonin levels are increased it suppresses serotonin. And serotonin does a lot more than induce sleep. In fact there are 18 different serotonin receptors in the body. So what are the risks of suppressing serotonin in the body to that extent? Have you looked in to this?
Keep in mind that these would be based on "normal" use of melatonin over time, not sudden massive surges of the hormone in the body. And as they point out people with liver issues will be at higher risk of adverse events.
There are safer ways to control cortisol levels such as building up the adrenals with natural vitamin C and pantothenic acid sources as well as many adaptogens. Or even tyrosine and herbs to raise dopamine, which is a cortisol antagonist. But I do not see overloading the body with a hormone as being safe by any means. If you have that data to the contrary though I would love to see it.
You said: But it is well known that the use of other exogenous hormones and even glandulars will atrophy the glands they are replacing, which is why I said "likely".
From WIKI (you can check the sourcing there): Melatonin appears to cause very few side effects in the short term, up to three months, when healthy people take it at low doses. A systematic review[92] in 2006 looked specifically at efficacy and safety in two categories of melatonin usage: first, for sleep disturbances which are secondary to other diagnoses and, second, for sleep disorders such as jet lag and shift work which accompany sleep restriction.
The study concluded that There is evidence that melatonin is safe with short term use.
A similar analysis[86] by the same team a year earlier on the efficacy and safety of exogenous melatonin in the management of primary sleep disorders found that: There is evidence to suggest that melatonin is safe with short-term use (3 months or less).
>>> In comparing the various hormones, used exogenously, you're comparing apples and oranges. Tsk tsk.
>>> Second, stop being so alarmist. Read the Wikipedia page. There are dozens of health benefits listed. Many, many other studies show it's beneficial for properly resetting circadian rhythms, which are vastly thrown off by cortisol issues related to AF. For three months, to get some sleep, melatonin is fine.
"There are safer ways to control cortisol levels such as building up the adrenals with natural vitamin C and pantothenic acid sources as well as many adaptogens."
>>> As we've all learned, this is just like changing the tires on a car on a beater car. It may look a little better for a little bit, but the transmission is still blown. Even if you were to go that pointless route, there's no way hell you're going to get enough Vit. C and B-5 from food to replenish an adrenal gland -- which is just going to be depleted again, soon.
Why do you feel such as need to act like such an jerk?
You said: But it is well known that the use of other exogenous hormones and even glandulars will atrophy the glands they are replacing, which is why I said "likely".
From WIKI (you can check the sourcing there): Melatonin appears to cause very few side effects in the short term, up to three months, when healthy people take it at low doses. A systematic review[92] in 2006 looked specifically at efficacy and safety in two categories of melatonin usage: first, for sleep disturbances which are secondary to other diagnoses and, second, for sleep disorders such as jet lag and shift work which accompany sleep restriction.
Try researching further. If you think Wiki has all the answers you are wrong. Among other side effects of melatonin use is nightmares. Gee, how much cortisol do you think is released during nightmares?
The study concluded that There is evidence that melatonin is safe with short term use.
A similar analysis[86] by the same team a year earlier on the efficacy and safety of exogenous melatonin in the management of primary sleep disorders found that: There is evidence to suggest that melatonin is safe with short-term use (3 months or less).
And again at what dose? And how do they consider the suppression of serotonin to be safe?
>>> In comparing the various hormones, used exogenously, you're comparing apples and oranges. Tsk tsk.
And again you provide no proof to your claim, just assumptions . Tsk, tsk.
>>> Second, stop being so alarmist. Read the Wikipedia page.
And once again they are talking about lower doses, not the megadosing you are advocating. And once again Wiki is not the only source of information nor are they stating all the known side effects. You are only seeing what you want to see to to validate your dangerous advice. Tsk, tsk.
There are dozens of health benefits listed.
And water has a lot of benefits to the body, but I would not do something stupid like telling people to take megadoses of water, which can be harmful or even deadly. Hint, just because something is beneficial in small doses this does not mean megadoses of that substance are safe.
Many, many other studies show it's beneficial for properly resetting circadian rhythms, which are vastly thrown off by cortisol issues related to AF. For three months, to get some sleep, melatonin is fine.
And once again if taken in levels the body would normally produce this may be true. But there are adverse effects when taken in the massive doses that you are recommending, which are literally many thousands of times higher than the body would generally create on its own. Again we need hormones like testosterone, estrogen, cortisol, insulin, etc. But what do you think would happen if we took thousands of times the level of these hormones than the body would generate on its own? Yet somehow you seem to think that this hormone is magically different and that you can take levels thousands of times higher than the body is used with impunity. You need to research deeper than just Wiki because you are way off base!!!
"There are safer ways to control cortisol levels such as building up the adrenals with natural vitamin C and pantothenic acid sources as well as many adaptogens."
>>> As we've all learned, this is just like changing the tires on a car on a beater car. It may look a little better for a little bit, but the transmission is still blown. Even if you were to go that pointless route, there's no way hell you're going to get enough Vit. C and B-5 from food to replenish an adrenal gland -- which is just going to be depleted again, soon.
Good day, sir!
Again you are wrong. You apparently don't have a clue about natural nutrient sources, their better effects and stability, nor how easy it is to get sufficient levels from food sources if you know what you are doing. But I am not surprised since you seem to think that Wiki is your answer God. No wonder you are still battling with adrenal fatigue.
Dr.Lam said that adrenal glandulars do not atrophy the adrenals.
Yes they do. I have seen this happen to people given adrenal glandulars by doctors.
In fact they believe in useing melatonin for sleep.
I buy trader joe's which has 500 mcg. per tablet and I sleep like a baby with these.
Which is fine. That is closer to what the body would normally produce, although still higher. What Nounicorns is advocating is 6-12mg, which is not safe by any stretch of the imagination.
Let me show you this way. The body produces melatonin in picograms. It takes 1,000,000 picrograms to make one microgram. So as you can see even the 500mcg (micrograms) you are taking is already considerably higher than the body's normal production. Now, it takes another 1,000,000 micrograms to equal a gram. So even at the lowest megadose level Nounicorns is recommending, which is 6mg this is 6,000,000,000,000 picograms. But normal levels for the human body is between 10 to 100 picograms. So why would anyone other than the completely ignorant actually believe that taking 5,999,999,999,900 picograms more melatonin than the upper limit the body would normally produce will be free from adverse effects. And that is only at the minimum megadose Nounicorns is recommending of 6mg.
This is a fantastic example of why people need to be especially careful about getting their health advice from the internet without researching the claims thoroughly.
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Melatonin, another must read 
