Posted by Tomatheus on August 1, 2013, at 19:00:03
In reply to Melatonin + depression?, posted by Sheilac on August 1, 2013, at 16:39:52
SheilaC,
My anecdotal experience with melatonin is that it worsens the fatigue that I experience during the day (if I've taken melatonin the previous night) and that it also (not surprisingly at all) worsens my hypersomnia. I tend to think based on what I've read that melatonin can worsen depression in some individuals, but it would be my guess that you'd probably know pretty quickly whether or not supplementing with melatonin might worsen your depression.
Having said what I've said that I think melatonin could worsen depression for some individuals, I think it's also conceivable that it might reduce depression in other individuals. Valdoxan (agomelatine) is a melatonin receptor agonist, meaning that it binds to and activates the same receptors that melatonin itself works on, and it's also used to treat depressive disorders in some countries (actually, just Australia, as far as I know). The antidepressant actions of Valdoxan might be explained by the fact that it's a serotonin 5HT2C antagonist, but I think it's possible that some individuals with depression might benefit from Valdoxan's "melatonergic" properties, even though such properties might be detrimental for other individuals with depression.
So, that's my take on melatonin as it relates to depression. I haven't checked to see what scientific studies have been done on melatonin and depression, although I would imagine that there is some data showing that the "melatonergic" Valdoxan is an effective antidepressant.
T.
Conditions:
* chronic fatigue, hypersomnia, and related symptoms
* schizoaffective disordertomatheus.blogspot.com
poster:Tomatheus
thread:1048157
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130730/msgs/1048162.html