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As I swallow my nightly 1.5 mg dose of Nature Made brand melatonin, I'd love to be able to report that I ended up with a conclusive, incontestable answer. Unfortunately, that did not QUITE happen. I intend to look into this further. If I find out anything more, I'll let you know.

The answers below are divided into two groups: those that are in favor of melatonin, and those that are opposed.

THOSE IN FAVOR:

I read your question on the celiac list serve this morning. We had a pharmacist talking to our celiac group on Saturday. One thing he talked about is melatonin and he said there is a research doctor here in San Antonio who has done a lot of celiac research and has written a book about his studies. I sent your question to the pharmacist who forwarded it to the doctor. The reply from him is below. Pharmacist reply in first paragraph. Doctor's reply in second paragraph.

I researched your question and even found a reference to what you are talking about in Dr. Reiter's book. Since, there has been a tremendous volume of research on Melatonin since the book was published. I decided to go directly to the source. Below you will find the response that I received from Dr. Reiter. I am sure you can research Dr. Russ Reiter if you want to go further with this question.

Dear Mike
Initially, and when the book was written, the idea that melatonin may aggravate autoimmune diseases was a consideration because melatonin stimulates the immume system. However, this has been proven incorrect. Many individuals with autoimmune disease benefit from melatonin, e.g., those with lupus, myasthenia, etc. Melatonin has been shown to be helpful to many patients with autoimmune disease. The only exception may be Crohn’s disease where there is one (1) patient that had an adverse reaction to melatonin. I, however, do not believe this report.
I hope this information is helpful. Keep up spreading the word about melatonin. Be safe.
Russ Reiter

My son has celiac and also crohn's. His endocrinologist suggested using melatonin to help him sleep. He's been using if for quite some time now with no adverse affects.

I use it every day, too. Hasn't done anything except help me sleep. I wonder what the researchers say about sleep deprivation and the resultant rise in cortisol that damages almost every system in the body along with making you feel terrible all day?

I asked the same question of my dr. and she said that it was fine to take-didn't give me a reason, but I trust her because she has celiac herself.

We have used it for years without problems. I am not an expert. I am wondering if they are thinking more of things like MS. Most ordinary people don't even know what celiac is, let alone the autoimmune part.

Our son has celiac and takes melatonin. His pediatrician recommended the melatonin for some sleep issues, and I checked with our son's celiac doctor first to ensure it was ok for him to take it given the contraindication stated on the bottle. The celiac doc gave us the ok, and our son has never had an issue w/melatonin.


THOSE OPPOSED:

I've wondered about that too - my rheumatologist says no - don't take it.

Melatonin is pro-inflammatory.

There is a lot of info online if you google "melatonin auto immune disease". The link I will supply below seemed to sum it up pretty well. Thanks for asking this question because my bottle of melatonin does not warn against it and I know now to not take it. www.livestrong.com/article/435769-why-cant-i-take-melatonin-because-i-have-an-autoimmune-disease/

From a blog written by a family physician who has celiac disease herself, on the web at http://sullivanmedical.wordpress.com. "Melatonin, albeit natural, is a potent immunostimulator. In other words, it awakens the immune system causing it to become somewhat hyperactive. In doing so, melatonin increases Interleukin-1 and Interleukin-2, both strong inflammatory markers, thereby increasing the number of T-cells in the system. Together, these reactions stimulate the immune response and worsen already existing autoimmune diseases. In fact, Melatonin is absolutely contraindicated in conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus.
Now, the question still remains “How about Celiac Diseae?” In those of us with celiac disease, while on a strict gluten-free diet, we manifest no inflammatory response as we have removed the offending agent from the equation. So, theoretically, it should be safe to take melatonin. However, there is no research specific to melatonin and celiac disease, so I cannot recommend the use of this product presently."

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