ShareThis1 |
I'll take 3mg at night for two weeks and see the effect it has on sleeping. I'll measure informally (we need that iPhone app, darn it!) |
2 |
Trying it will be satisfying: At the end I'll know whether it helps me or not. I'll continue if it does help, obviously. |
3 |
Two weeks. |
4 |
Being curious about its impact. If I sleep better, enjoying being more rested. |
Create an Experiment
Matthew Cornell
- Member Since
- 07/02/09
- About Lover of experimentation and leader of Think, Try, Learn, the scientific method for discovering happiness. Creator of Edison, the Think, Try, Learn experimenter's workbook. http://edison.thinktrylearn.com/ http://www.thinktrylearn.com/ http://www.matthewcornell.org/
- Web http://www.matthewcornell.org/
- Experiments 98
- Observations 1262
Comments & Observations
Matthew Cornell first night! I've entered 1w and 2w calendar reminders
Sep 19, 2009
Brock Tice Good luck, I've found it's wonderful for trans-atlantic (going east) flights. If you want to hear the evidence on what it does and does not work for I'm happy to tell you, but I don't want to corrupt your experiment. :)
Sep 19, 2009
Matthew Cornell A post-experiment review (do we have a name for that?) would be fun.
Sep 20, 2009
Matthew Cornell Another night that felt pretty good. Got to sleep around midnight, up at seven. Will try to get In bed earlier tonight.
Sep 21, 2009
Lizzy Ha, I never say "I told you so..." at least I hope not. Maybe I just quirk my eyebrow a certain way which has the same meaning. But either way, I never think it. The only way to learn is to try right? My son has taught me that. He owns the entire experience.
Sep 21, 2009
Matthew Cornell I teased! [Removed it ;-)]
Sep 21, 2009
Lizzy ha, oh I didn't meant to influence your observations.
Sep 21, 2009
Matthew Cornell Skipped it the night before, but slept ok. Took it last night, went to sleep rather early (~10p), woke up later then back to bed ~1a. Tired today!
Sep 30, 2009
Brock Tice The only use of melatonin that has rigorous evidential support is for reducing the negative effects of jet leg.
Other uses, such as sleep therapy for healthy people, have some support but it's not been rigorously tested.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/melatonin/NS_patient-melatonin/DSECTION=evidence
I have to add my anecdotal support for the jet lag thing. Great for traveling east (i.e. transatlantic flights toward the EU/Africa/Asia).
Oct 06, 2009
Matthew Cornell Thanks very much, Brock. Lots of possible benefits - including bipolar-related.
Oct 06, 2009
Dan Owen A couple of years ago, when I told my doctor I wanted to take DHEA to see if it improved my energy level, he said, "You realize you're conducting a medical experiment on your body, don't you?"
Exactly.
Anecdotally, I understand melatonin creates lucid dreaming. Have you found that to be the case, Matt?
Oct 11, 2009
Matthew Cornell Dan: I *love* your story. Thanks for sharing it. Re: Lucid dreaming, no, I haven't had one. I played with the method about 10 or 15 years ago, and only got it to happen once, after lots of trying. Then I concluded that it wouldn't help my personal development, and I dropped it. (I didn't think of it as an experiment at the time, but - as your MD pointed out - it was one.)
Oct 15, 2009
Matthew Cornell Re: DHEA, I found this entry:
DHEA - dehydroepiandrosterone - The Skeptic's Dictionary
http://www.skepdic.com/dhea.html
It's conclusion: No evidence for any of the claims. Did you find it helped your energy level, Dan?
Oct 15, 2009
Dan Owen It is not helping my energy level.
My energy level is a function of two things: how much sleep I get and how active I am. The more of both I get, the more energy I have. The worst combination is sleeping in short 4-hour blocks combined with sedentary activity (e.g. sitting in front of a computer) which tends to be the activity I gravitate toward whenever I have the opportunity.
Thanks for the link -- I'll check it out. Generally, I'm firmly in the skeptic camp about most alternative medicines, but I'm frustrated by the absence of controlled, peer-reviewed, double-blind studies in so many cases. The Fed Govt has really fallen down on the job with regard to this. I'm also frustrated by the fact that skeptical-aggregators tend to make the same mistake that naive believers do, which is to draw conclusions from inadequate data, sketchy studies, and tiny sample sets.
My doctor's main concern with DHEA was that it raised testosterone levels and therefore the risk of prostate cancer. I therefore got a baseline hormone panel done, but -- after a year of taking DHEA -- I think I'm just going to stop and not even get an end-of-experiment hormone panel.
Oct 18, 2009
Lizzy [Liza wrote] Dan, have you read much about Cortisol and its role with energy and the sleep cycle?
Oct 19, 2009
Matthew Cornell For whatever reason, my sleep has been good. I've been paying attention to when I start yawning, and getting ready for bed within 10 min, approx. This has been b/w 9 and 10, often! I think it's improved my mood too.
Oct 29, 2009
Matthew Cornell Last night I made a cardinal mistake: I didn't go to bed when I felt sleepy. When I DID go, I couldn't get to sleep. I had thrown myself past tiredness into wakeful.
Nov 08, 2009
Brock Tice Oooh, I've totally done that. In fact *yawn* I think I should go to bed right now to avoid it. Glad I was checking up on Edison just now. :) Hope you get back to sleeping well!
Nov 10, 2009
Matthew Cornell I've been consistently getting 10 hours of sleep last week. The main factors are going to bed when I first feel tired (I also notice my breathing changes) and I am still recovering from the flu (oink). Feels good when I wake up, though. But don't tell anyone I'm going to bed at 9pm!
Nov 15, 2009
Matthew Cornell Tonight two obstacles, related: I didn't go to bed when I felt tired because /I didn't want to/! It had to do, I discovered, with dissatisfaction with the day's accplishments. Of course that is my claim in 'Where did the day go?", and I experienced it again. Wisdom from myself! To counter next time: review what I /did/ get done, accept it, ack that it was different from what I wanted/expected, and make peace with the day. Ideas welcome...
Nov 18, 2009
Lizzy Dissatisfaction with the day is a tough one! If I do my Daily Plan at night that helps me sleep alot. Its like hitting the reset button, even if my day went off track I can reset for the next day.
Nov 23, 2009
Matthew Cornell That's a good reminder, Liza. I'll have to try the "night before" variation.
Dec 05, 2009
Matthew Cornell I'm closing this one out. I'll stick with it because it might be helping, and doesn't hurt.
Dec 09, 2009
Matthew Cornell Didn't get to sleep last night until ~1a, instead of my (now) usual ~10p. Result: This evening my mood went to hell. Bad, yet interesting. There's hope.
Dec 22, 2009
Matthew Cornell My sleep's been off due to the meds I took for gum surgery (http://edison.thinktrylearn.com/experiments/show/139), so I'll follow my MD's suggestion to increase to 3x3mg pills at night.
May 03, 2010
Matthew Cornell Update: I stopped the melatonin, and the result seemed to be no difference. More in my new experiment, improve sleep hygiene - http://edison.thinktrylearn.com/experiments/show/186
Jul 29, 2010