[acb-hsp] "Dreamland"

[Baracco, Andrew W]

I have not heard or read of any adverse effects from taking Melatonin,
but to be effective, it must be taken at the right time of day, and
taking it at the wrong time could affect the sleep cycle adversely. Also
a sleep evaluation can determine if disturbance of sleep cycle is really
the problem as opposed to something like apnea, or the effects of other
meds you might be taking.

Andy


-----Original Message-----
From: acb-hsp-bounces at acb.org [mailto:acb-hsp-bounces at acb.org] On Behalf
Of MARILYN LUTTER
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 3:37 PM
To: John Kolwick; Discussion list for ACB human service professionals
Subject: Re: [acb-hsp] "Dreamland"

Hi Everyone,

I have had my share of sleep problems and have consulted a sleep
specialist. 
I agree with Andy that melatonin should be taken with the advise of a
physician and treated like you should take prescription medicine.  I
apparently am very sensitive to it because a very small dose made me
really sleep more and sooner than I wanted.  It should not be taken,
particularly in high doses without medical advice.  If I am scaring
anyone into rethinking how they handle it, I want to.  I don't know what
the complications can be, but I do know it is not something which should
be treated too casually.

Marilyn Lutter
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Kolwick" <john2109 at suddenlink.net>
To: "Discussion list for ACB human service professionals"
<acb-hsp at acb.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 5:28 PM
Subject: Re: [acb-hsp] "Dreamland"


   Hello Andy, I had responded earlier to her post and the things you
say
here are certainly true.  I guess my brain was not fully awake this
morning.
With sleep apnea that can cause a variety of sleep issues and medication
interactions is certainly a concern.  thanks for pointing this out.


-----Original Message----- 
From: Baracco, Andrew W
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 1:30 PM
To: Discussion list for ACB human service professionals
Subject: Re: [acb-hsp] "Dreamland"

I would only recommend taking Melatonin under the supervision of a
physician who is knowledgeable concerning sleep disorders. There are
many reasons why a person would have difficulty sleeping, and such a
physician would be in a good position to sort out possible causes.  For
one thing, he could reconcile any meds that you are taking, as some
medications, and medication food combinations can adversely affect
sleep.  Melatonin is not simply a food supplement. It is a hormone and
taking such a drug is serious business.  In order for it to be
effective, the timing of the administration must be precise.  Taking it
at the wrong time can make things worse.  Also, there is little quality
control over much of the Melatonin that is sold OTC. Dosage is
important, and you're not always sure just what you're getting.  I would
consider the taking of Melatonin to be a matter that is just as serious
as contemplating taking any other drug.

Andy


-----Original Message-----
From: acb-hsp-bounces at acb.org [mailto:acb-hsp-bounces at acb.org] On Behalf
Of Louise Pearson
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 4:01 AM
To: Discussion list for ACB human service professionals
Subject: Re: [acb-hsp] "Dreamland"

Hi everyone

Now this brings up an interesting topic to me at least Peter, and I
apologise for therefore going off topic.

Does anyone on list take Melatonin? I am having trouble just feeling
tired
all day at work.  I actually have sleep apnoea, so ... I've been back
and
had another sleep study, but ... this is actually not the problem
apparently.

So I'm back at the old ... should I, as a totally blind person, be
taking
supplements of melatonin? I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has
tried this out ... and/or fiddled with the time of day when they
administered this?

I have heard that it can be good to take in the middle of the day, for
example.

I apologise again for going off topic.

Thanks

Louise.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "peter altschul" <paltschul at centurytel.net>
To: "Acbhsp" <acb-hsp at acb.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 2:22 AM
Subject: [acb-hsp] "Dreamland"


> "Dreamland": Inside the Mystery of Sleep
>  August 14, 2012
>  The opening scene of Marcel Proust's "Swannbs Way" is one of the most

> famously difficult to get through in literature.  That's not because
of
> its style, which is sublime, but because it describes the experience
of
> falling asleep.  Many susceptible readers nod off the first few times
they
> attempt it.  All writing about sleep has this problem; of the
fundamental
> human appetites, it's the least exciting.  The better you invoke it,
the
> more likely you are to incite it, and because it canbt be remembered,
> sleep can't be described.  Nothing could be duller than watching
someone
> else do it.  Only people who can't sleep spend much time thinking
about
> it, and if there's anything more tedious than witnessing another
person's
> nap, it's listening to a keyed-up, obsessive insomniac go on and on
about
> how they can't.
>  So kudos to David K.  Randall for writing what must be the most
diverting
> and consistently fascinating book on the topic ever, "Dreamland:
> Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep." I feel I can speak with
some
> authority on the subject because I've read quite a few sleep books in
my
> time.  My interest arises from my own mild parasomnia, or sleep
disorder,
> one that runs in my family.  We talk and sometimes walk in our sleep.
> Randall suffers from the same condition, although of the two of us,
he's
> the only one whobs truly stsufferedst from it.  A few years ago, he
hurt
> himself when he collided with a wall while sleepwalking.  It was the
first
> time (he knows of) that he'd ever walked in his sleep, but every night
his
> wife curls up at the far end of their "oversized" bed, wearing
earplugs to
> shut out his btalking, singing, laughing, humming, giggling,
grunting."
> Also, he kicks.
>  If there's anything creepier than hearing someone laugh in their
sleep,
> it's got to be another of Randall's propensities; he can fall asleep
with
> his eyes open.  We deduce, therefore, that his wife is a woman of
> fortitude, but the sleepwalking incident freaked her out properly.
She
> insisted he seek treatment and Randall visited a sleep lab.  An
> uncomfortable night spent with electrodes taped to his head elicited
the
> observation "you certainly kick a lot" and not much more.  Randall
learned
> that "sleep is one of the dirty little secrets of science." We don't
know
> as much about it as we should, or could.
>  Hence, "Dreamland," a book that cleverly approaches a spectrum of
> sleep-related issues from the worst-case-scenario perspective.  If you

> want to know how serious the problem of sleep deprivation can be, look
at
> the U.S.  Army, which is only just coming to terms with the role lack
of
> sleep plays in the 25 percent of American combat deaths resulting from

> friendly fire.  During the occupation of Iraq, soldiers sleeping less
than
> four hours per night reported five times as many altercations with
> civilians as those who had the full eight.  Lack of sleep impairs a
> person's ability to make decisions, communicate with others and
improvise
> effectively.  Well, we all know that, don't we? But learning how much
> blood and good will has been squandered as a result of macho attitudes

> toward soldiers' sleep needs (four hours a night -- for hardworking
> 20-year-olds -- really?) is sobering.
>  Randall explores the significance of circadian rhythms -- the body's
> internal clock, which "tells an organism when it is time to perform an

> important activity and when it is time to rest" -- 
> by looking at the lives of professional athletes.  Stanford sleep
> researchers, he relates, demonstrated that East Coast football teams
> labored under a permanent disadvantage in Monday night football games.

> The games were always scheduled at 9 p.m.  EST, no matter where they
were
> played, to maximize television viewership.  The average human body
will
> bperk up around nine o'clock in the morning and stay that way until
around
> two in the afternoon, which is when we start thinking about a nap.
Around
> six in the evening, the body gets another shot of energy that keeps us

> going until about 10 at night." A three-hour jet lag may sound minor,
but
> it meant that West Coast teams always played at what their bodies
thought
> was 6:00 p.m., a peak in the cycle, while their East Coast opponents
> played at a time when their bodies were winding down.  The point
spreads
> reflected the difference.
>  Perhaps the most bizarre material in "Dreamland" concerns
sleepwalking,
> and specifically the responsibility a person has for any crimes he
commits
> while asleep.  It happens.  If most sleepwalkers are like me -- barely

> able to bumble across the room before waking ourselves up -- a rare,
> unlucky few have been known to perform complex actions, like cooking
or
> driving a car, while unconscious.  In 1988, a 23-year-old Toronto man
was
> acquitted of murdering his mother-in-law while asleep.  Randall notes
that
> "parasomnias seemed to be a particularly male trait," but I suspect
that
> men, who are more prone to aggressive dreams in the first place, are
more
> likely than women to engage in sleepwalking that presents a threat to
> others.  Attempting to strangle one's bed partner because you think he
or
> she is an attacker is a classic example.  Less dangerous forms of
> sleepwalking, like my own, simply don't get reported.
>  The most unusual thing I've ever done in my sleep is write a letter
--
> although I'd only managed the salutation before the difficulty of the
task
> woke me up.  The next morning, the handwritten evidence of this
incident
> spooked me.  It was like a message from a stranger I could never meet,
but
> who just happened to inhabit the same body.  Whether I could be held
> responsible for this stranger's actions isn't a question I've ever had
to
> face, but it's the kind of quandary that courts, legal scholars and a
> handful of neurologists have had to wrestle with.  One expert Randall
> interviews advocates a new classification for such crimes:
> "semi-voluntary." If the culprit knows he has a problem and doesn't
take
> measures to control it, he holds at least some responsibility for the
> results.
>  The concept of an unconscious mind has fallen out of intellectual
favor,
> associated as it is with largely invalidated Freudian models of the
self.
> Yet some of the sleep-related subjects Randall covers in "Dreamland"
do
> touch upon this territory, from dreams to the many accounts of people
who,
> after having pondering a persistent problem, suddenly woke up with a
fully
> formed solution.  Paul McCartney wrote the hit song "Yesterday" in
just
> this way.
>  It appears that, while asleep, the brain sorts through the day's
events
> and lays down long-term memories, an administrative process that
Randall
> describes as "cleaning up and organizing the mind's filing cabinet."
This
> does not at all resemble the highly symbolic theater that human beings

> have imagined the dream landscape to be for millennia.  However, in a
> later sleep stage, once the initial tidying is over, the brain begins
> bfinding connections and associations with the data embedded in its
memory
> cards,- a creative activity that looks an awful lot like thinking.
This
> makes the idea of an unconscious self seem less obsolete.
>  "Dreamland" covers an abundance of other slumber-related issues, from

> sleep apnea to the importance of mattresses (which is negligible) to
the
> interesting fact that most people sleep much better alone.  It's all
> weirdly fascinating, which -- trust me -- is a testimony to the lively

> curiosity, solid research and inventive angles that Randall brings to
each
> aspect of his subject.  You almost certainly don't sleep the way you
think
> you do.  There's much evidence to indicate that people are the worst
> possible information sources when it comes to their own sleep habits.
> That's not surprising when you consider that they're unconscious for
most
> of it.  It's remarkable to think that such a mundane activity should
still
> be shrouded in so much mystery, but you couldn't find a more charming
> guide to what we do know than "Dreamland."
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