Melatonin, which is also associated with diet, is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain. Again, it seems to be involved in the onset of sleep and the maintenance of the biological clock. It has been synthesized for medicinal and therapeutic use, and is usually taken 30 minutes before bedtime. There is much concern among the sleep medicine community that the melatonin currently available for purchase is not standardized. The exact dosage of melatonin required to treat DSPS, its efficacy, and its adverse effects have not been studied in any great detail and currently cannot be recommended for therapy.
Some people feel sluggish or achy after taking melatonin.
Furthermore, it may complicate pregnancy, nursing, cardiovascular conditions, and depression. Sleeping pills are often misclassified with melatonin, because both are taken orally. Sleeping pills, however, are not very effective in inducing sleep in people with DSPS and are not indicated for continual use. At best, generalized synthetic sleep aids provide only temporary relief from sleep difficulty. They do not address the underlying causes of sleep disorder.