Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
Things I Did: Started Taking Melatonin
As I’ve documented on this blog, I was having some sleep issues. Mainly, I’d wake up multiple times at night and have trouble going back to sleep and turning off my brain. Small worries would clutter my brain and then as minutes turned into hours, I’d invent things to worry about.
Some nights, I’m pretty sure I got less than 3 hours of sleep.
Multiple people suggested I try a Melatonin supplement. It apparently sells like hot-cakes at pharmacies and the thought behind it is, as we get older and as we all work in dark offices and under fluorescent lights, our bodies get messed up and lose their sense of daytime versus nighttime. Personally, for the better part of 4 years and these past 3 jobs, I haven’t had a window. Sitting in my office cubical, there’s no difference between 8:30am and 8:30pm.
It’s been about 30 days. I take it 20-minutes before bedtime (per the instructions) and for the first few nights, I didn’t notice anything happening and then …bam. Suddenly, my nights were like spending time at a drive-in movie. I had the most intense and vivid dreams, and I never dream. I read vivid dreams happen when you hit deep sleep.
So my conclusion, based on my dreams, and that I don’t drive to work feeling like a zombie, is that it’s working. Maybe it’s a placebo effect. Maybe some other circumstances and the addition of exercise to my routine, have helped me start sleeping again, or maybe some good things happening at work …who knows.
But it might be the melatonin.
Don Kowalewski 