Sleep medications

Poor sleep is one of the most frequent symptom complaints of patients suffering from chronic disease. It is also one of the symptoms that can be exacerbated by excess exposure to light.

Patients considering the Marshall ProtocolA curative medical treatment for chronic inflammatory disease. Based on the Marshall Pathogenesis. (MP) may already be taking medications that help improve their sleep. Like many drugs, sleep medications can act in immunomodulatory ways, often in ways that have yet to be fully understood.

Although the ultimate goal of someone using sleep medications is to discontinue their use, consistent sleep of a minimum quality is essential. In so far as sleep medications may aid MP patients in achieving improved sleep, they are not contraindicated.

It is important to note that, in many cases, Benicar has a sleep-enhancing effect. Also, many MP patients report that poor sleep resolves over the course of treatment.

MP patients using sleep medications should consult with their physicians as symptoms resolve to experiment with taking lower levels of the drugs. Weaning sleep medications may increase immunopathologyA temporary increase in disease symptoms experienced by Marshall Protocol patients that results from the release of cytokines and endotoxins as disease-causing bacteria are killed..

The following is a list of common sleep medications:

• clonazepam (Klonopin, PMS-Clonazepam, Rivotril, Rivotril drops)
• doxylamine (Dozile, Donormyl, Dormidina, NyQuil, Restavit, Sleep Aid, Somnil, Unisom-2)
• doxepin (Silenor)
• eszopiclone (Lunesta)
• melatonin
• Nytol
• temazepam (Restoril, Temazep)
• trazodone (APO-Trazodone, Desyrel, Donaren)
• zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR, Hypnogen, Stilnoct (Stilnox))

Some patients report that taking a small dose of an antihistamine can assist in getting to sleep. This effect is not long lasting and may not be as helpful for staying asleep through out the night. Not all patients are helped and antihistamines are generally not advised on the MP because they are immunomodulatory.

Melatonin is a naturally-occurring hormone found in most animals, including humans, and some other living organisms. In low levels, not unlike other supplemented hormones, melatonin is immunosuppressive.¹⁾

Humans do not “get melatonin from the sun.” Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland in a process which occurs more actively during the night.²⁾

Normally, the production of melatonin by the pineal gland is inhibited by light and permitted by darkness. For this reason melatonin has been called “the hormone of darkness.” Avoidance of sunlight will not inhibit the production of melatonin. The production of melatonin diminishes with age.

Melatonin appears to have some use against circadian rhythm sleep disorders and delayed sleep phase syndrome and may be a safer palliative than other sleep aids for intolerable insomnia.