<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

This is a summary of the responses I got on my listing about my desire to
take Melatonin.  In my e-mail I stated that I had heard that people with
auto-immune diseases should not take Melatonin.

I have done more research on Melatonin.  This research makes it evident that
the FDA, some of the medical professionals and the pharmaceutical company
are upset over the Melatonin fad that has been raging in the United States
for the past couple years.  Because of a law passed by Congress in the
middle of the nineties the FDA is not able to regulate stuff like Melatonin
because it is considered a food supplement under the law.  Apparently the
FDA and part of the medical community are very upset about this new law.

I would like to point out that during my research on Melatonin I came upon
some very interesting articles written by doctors that did research on
Melatonin with blind people and others.  Blind people often have serious
problems with Melatonin levels because these levels are regulated by the
retina.  These doctors came to the conclusion that, indeed, Melatonin does
're-set your sleep  clock' and that it is a solution to sleeplessness for
many people.  There are some of those reports that you have to be a doctor
to understand in MEDSCAPE if you are interested in looking there.

Although they admit that sufficient research has not been done on Melatonin
to definitively show that it is dangerous to people with auto-immune
disease, they SUSPECT that it may stimulate the immune system.  I found
several lists of auto-immune diseases and, of course, celiac disease was not
listed at all.  That's wasn't shocking to me.

One of the responses I got to my post to the group warned that Melatonin is
derived from the brain tissue of cows and this is true of natural Melatonin.
I didn't find one source in my research that recommended taking natural
Melatonin.  The reasons they didn't recommend it was that this matter could
contain viruses or other dangerous substances.  All the sources that I
researched recommended taking pharmacy-quality synthetic Melatonin and they
stated that it works in exactly the same way as natural Melatonin does.

Another respondent stated that she was taking time-release Melatonin and she
recommended that.  She also recommended that we look into the possibility of
taking CALMS FORTE and she furnished the following URL for a site that
describes this herbal mixture.

http://www.getset.com/uptown/hyremedy.html


One person that replied to my post said she has been taking Melatonin for
years and that she started long before she was diagnosed as a celiac.  She
said that she had never heard that Melatonin should not be taken by celiacs.

A lady said that she is taking sub-lingual Melatonin and that she wouldn't
be able to sleep without it.  She recommended starting out with very small
doses and increasing the dose as necessary.  She said she is extremely
sensitive to this remedy and that she needs very little of it.

One person responded to me with, " The Celiac Disease is still there, just
controlled and that does not let you off the hook for something like
Melatonin."

All the other respondents to my e-mail to the group (7) stated that they
were taking Melatonin on a regular basis with  no adverse results.  None of
these people were aware that it was thought that celiacs should not take
Melatonin.

Some of the people that responded  to my post to the group discussed
subjects not related to Melatonin and I am not going to summarize them
although they were very interesting and many of these people offered various
methods of dealing with sleeplessness.  If I understand the message I got
from St. Johns I should only post a summary on the subject of my original
post to the group.  That is what I have done here.

I have decided not to take Melatonin until I get more definitive information
about it.  I am going to contact my doctor and the pharmacist at her office
to get them to assist me in this.

I have decided to try Kava Kava as a solution to my sleeplessness.  It is
prepared from the roots of a tropical pepper plant and has been used as a
medicinal substance by natives and others for many years.  It is apparently
not harmful to anyone except those with Parkinson's Disease and that
connection has not been confirmed by medical research.  The companies that
operate Kava Kava plantations and prepare the powder from the roots of the
plants suggest that people with Parkinson's Disease not take Kava Kava until
more research is done.

Thanks to everyone that responded to my post to the group and Happy 21st
Century, everyone.


Joe Clemens
Port Angeles, Washington, USA
[log in to unmask]

P. S.  I will be changing my Net address on Tuesday so, if you want to
contact me about anything, you will have to do it before then or your e-mail
will be undeliverable and will be returned to you.