Quote Originally Posted by JakeWasHere View Post
I’ve used melatonin for years to deal with delayed sleep phase disorder and the best advice I ever got was not to use it like a sleeping pill. It doesn’t work by making you drowsy like ambien, it works by readjusting your body clock. Take a much smaller dose than 5mg (after years of spinning my wheels I found success with 300 micrograms) a couple of hours before bed rather than right before bed. If you take it right before bedtime you need to take much more to speed up the effects and that’s how you get the early morning drowsiness. Depending on your sleep schedule maybe take the dose right after training, then spend the next chunk of time winding down before you actually go to bed. Experiment with dosage and timing but less is more with melatonin if you’re worried about next morning drowsiness. Hope this helps!
I have DSPS too. Since I was a baby it was a problem. I found out more isn't better when it comes to melatonin, too. Around 5 mg is good for me, which I found I had to cycle because it's like a hormone, and if you take it more than 1-2 months at a time, the brain ramps down its own production. I now take it in addition to as needed prescription meds because I have severe generalized anxiety which compounds the problem of course.

It's funny to read that checklist. I've learned about all those things through trial and experience and got them covered, more recently the blue light thing. My smart tv is set to emit less blue for night watching and I have all other lights off as much as possible.