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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm thinking about jumping onto the Melatonin band wagon but have some lingering doubts.

Can you get hooked on Melatonin?  I mean I know it's not addictive but does your body grow a reliance on it to go to sleep?

What happens when your kid doesn't take Melatonin, are they able to go to sleep on their own at a reasonable hour?

I guess my fear is that by dosing my kid with Melatonin each night, they will grow dependent on that to go to sleep -- maybe not a physical dependence but a mental dependence if that makes sense.  Then, they will graduate to Ambien or something stronger later on in life.

Am I crazy to think that?

[/quote]

There was a lot of fear mongering  about melatonin around 5 years ago. I was worried about it especially Liver damage. But our teen with ADHD has terrible times winding down his/ her brain and sleeping and was becoming a wreck from lack of sleep.

Our pediatrician who is excellent assured me there are no side affects and that it is safe to take as long as needed. Obviously, we will try and wean off or reduce dosage if possible.

However chronic lack of sleep is far more dangerous than taking melatonin especially at low levels. Plus, many teens who do not take melatonin vape and drink/ take drugs (according to our teen). So I would much prefer he/ she take melatonin than self medicate on harmful substances.[/quote]

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