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Cake day: June 19th, 2023

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  • I have never had many dreams, but they experienced an uptick when I started melatonin. Stress also makes me have more nightmares.

    There is growing evidence that autism involves a dysfunction of the serotonergic system, particularly the central nervous system (CNS) pathway (Tryptophan -> 5-HTP -> Serotonin -> N-Acetylserotonin -> Melatonin). There are also studies showing that the conversion from N-Acetylserotonin (NAS) to melatonin is impeded in autism.

    I did a lot of digging into this to try to aid my sleep and general health. Here are the key takeways:

    1. Vitamin D regulates serotonin synthesis and Vitamin D deficiency can reduce the amount of Tryptophan entering the CNS, so make sure you’re not deficient. Unfortunately Tryptophan competes with other large amino acids for entry into the brain, so if you can’t get enough through your diet, you can use 5-HTP supplements to aid serotonin production.
    2. Vitamin B6 is required for the conversion of 5-HTP to serotonin.
    3. Low magnesium has been correlated with a reduction in serotonin production.
    4. Melatonin supplements (anywhere from 5mg to 20mg) can help a lot with making up for the poor conversion from NAS to melatonin.

    If anyone’s interested I can dig up the studies/references I used.

    (As an aside, sleep apnoea will also reduce the amount of REM sleep, as past a certain point your brain will keep pulling you back into light sleep in order to breathe. If you haven’t checked if you have sleep apnoea, please do so!)