36 User Reviews
Below is a link to an article about a 4 year old boy in Texas who got sick shortly after his father tested positive for Covid-19.
Of note related to this story is that 4 to 7 year olds are at or very near the peak of natural melatonin levels seen in humans suggesting that melatonin can not prevent infection, but it can apparently reverse it in short order based on this and many other reports! This could be useful information for all of those people who have kids or grandkids! Here is a link to that article :
Art
Anon
08/02/2020
Or the boy's ability to produce melatonin has been compromised.
Melatonin and What Type May Be Best for Covid-19:
Previously I had stated that when it comes to Covid-19, the type of melatonin should not be an issue, but Dr. Neel had stated that he was using the type of melatonin that dissolves in the mouth or under the tongue (sublingual).
I thought the only significance of that type was that he felt it would be possible to give to patients already on a ventilator and that was it, but this recent report suggests that there may be more to sublingual melatonin than that! Other sublingual supplements are often said to have better bioavailability in their sublingual forms over regular capsules or pills. Perhaps this is also true for melatonin in its sublingual form? Melatonin on its own has poor bioavailability. Roughly, oral melatonin only offers a maximum of 15% bioavailability at best. So this offers some creedence that even a small increase in bioavailability may have significant ramifications when it comes to melatonin?
Given that information, the following report from a Covid-19/Melatonin patient makes a little more sense and I may need to rethink the use of sublingual melatonin on the chance that it is better absorbed by the human body???
https://devinenews.com/family-of-8-hit-hard-by-coronavirus/
Perhaps type of melatonin does matter??? Since I have been taking melatonin in the capsule form, I may have to get a bottle of sublingual melatonin to see if I respond differently to it? This may take a little bit of time since I have other experiments already in my queue.
Art
Very recently I found out that some 10 mg melatonin capsules also contain vitamin B6. This will not work for high dose melatonin (HDM) treatment as it can deliver to much B6 and this can be unsafe and unhealthful to take in that much B6 everyday! The B6 is added for the purpose of increasing the absorption of melatonin. Stay away from these types of melatonin that contain extra B6 as they should not be used for HDM.
Art
H2o2 use and melatonin:
I have just got over a median case of covid. I have copd and my breathing has worsened since, I just started taking or doing the hp protocol today. I have noticed in your article that melatonin fights off h2o2, so would it be advisable to say I should just do the melatonin to try to recover my lung capacity, I am not on any meds at this time.
Nancy11,
This is going to be a long answer.
To briefly answer your question, yes, I would lean toward "melatonin only", at least until you find that your breathing difficulty has improved significantly back toward your normal. This should help allow your lungs to heal to the extent that melatonin is capable of doing.
Once and if you improve from the melatonin supplementation, then you can consider whether you want to add H2O2 to the mix. Melatonin is likely to work against H2O2 as it is a radical and melatonin neutralizes radicals and melatonin can enter any tissues in the body and is proven to significantly affect the lungs.
More on this below and a possible workaround.This is a tough question for me, because I look at H2O2 as a very potent oxidant that can potentially lead to excess oxidative stress and I see that as the reason it would very likely be effective at destroying SARS CoV-2 that exists in the lungs via inhalation of H2O2, but once the virus is destroyed in the lungs, do you really need to keep inhaling a potent oxidant (H2O2) into COPD lungs that already have elevated levels of H2O2 as shown in existing studies?
I know there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that suggests H2O2 inhalation may be beneficial for COPD and in one sense that seems likely as it will very likely kill bacteria in the lungs that may thrive in the lungs of people with COPD and help to feed the disease process.
On the other hand, studies have shown that exhaled H2O2 is elevated in people with stable COPD compared to controls and is almost 3 times higher in COPD patients whose condition is exacerbated as opposed to stable.
This data could mean that the body is able to produce enough H2O2 for COPD lungs on its own, or it may turn out that even though the body produces more H2O2 in the lungs as the disease severity increases, it is not able to produce enough to reach maximum efficacy.
I have not seen data to confirm that additional inhalation of H2O2 will be beneficial, though the anecdotal evidence suggests it may be.
So inhaling H2O2 will add even more H2O2 to the already elevated levels in patients lungs with COPD and this is where the anecdotal evidence and the science seem to part ways as the science so far does not seem to support the inhalation of H2O2 in patients with COPD.
Oxidative stress is elevated in COPD as is inflammation and these two work together in a vicious cycle to increase each other as elevated oxidative stress increases inflammatory cytokines and mediators which also creates more oxidative stress ultimately creating an environment that is conducive to disease progression.
If you could look inside your lungs to see how they are reacting to inhaled H2O2, that would be very useful, but that is not possible and with no practical way to know if there is enough or too much H2O2 in the lungs, the melatonin may help with this aspect of H2O2 inhalation.
Melatonin, on the other hand, has many studies that show that it is beneficial for COPD patients and two of the effective mechanisms of action are its potent radical scavenging and very potent antioxidant activities as well as its inhibition of inflammatory cytokines which may have the potential to break that vicious cycle that can be quite active in COPD.
Another consideration is knowing that melatonin level drops when the disease is in an exacerbated state, exactly when more melatonin would likely be needed! Melatonin levels also decline with age.
Melatonin is the most potent antioxidant in the human body because it elevates the gene expression Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx), Glucose-6- Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) and Catalase (CAT) while increasing Glutathione. Melatonin doesn't stop there though. It is also a potent scavenger of Peroxynitrite (ONOO) which is elevated in COPD and has negative effects, it scavenges Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) / Hydroxyl Radicals, Reactive Nitrogen Species and H2O2 which are all mostly elevated and damaging in COPD and help extend disease progression.
Melatonin is also able to do something that other antioxidants like vitamin C and E can't.
Vitamins C and E can each neutralize one oxygen radical while melatonin can neutralize as many as 10 oxygen radicals because each time it reduces one oxygen radical, melatonin becomes a different metabolite of itself and each of these metabolites can in turn neutralize another oxygen radical.
Add in the antiinflammatory qualities of melatonin and it is a potent molecule to use against Covid-19 and COPD!So given all of the above, for myself, if I wanted to try one or both of these and if I believed they both had potential to help people with COPD, I would discuss it with my doctor to see if he thought that either one or both might be helpful for me and would be compatible with my current medications. If he or she approved the use of both, then I would consider an appropriate plan of attack.
I suggest that anyone reading this also get their doctors approval before trying to implement such a regimen.
Given that melatonin is likely to work against H2O2 by neutralizing it directly or indirectly through the upregulation of Catalase or other antioxidants which will also neutralize it, I might consider a rotating approach where I use one for a day or two followed by using the other for a day a day or two. This could possibly allow the H2O2 to work while the next phase allows melatonin to give the lungs a break and neutralize the elevated radical levels in the lungs as well as lower the elevated inflammatory levels in the lungs.
H2O2 is highly likely to do some damage in the lungs and the idea being that melatonin may nullify or repair some of this damage while helping to work against COPD through its known multiple actions against COPD.
So that is my idea of how I might use these two substances under my doctor's supervision based on my experience with both substances and the available studies I was able to find. I did not include any study links in this post because it is long enough already.
Art
Canada
07/25/2020
Tn
07/24/2020
Dear Art,
I really appreciate this post on Melatonin, H202 and COPD. It is timely for me. We are getting ready to move my mother in law into our home and she has COPD, in addition to other health problems.
By the way, I continue to take Melatonin at night for sleep and it has definitely helped me!
Thank you!
~Mama to Many~
Hi M to M!
Thank you for saying so! I know you are probably already aware of the following, but I am putting it in for others who may not be. COPD is common, so it is worth putting this info up. Some people refer to it as emphysema, but that is an older term and COPD seems more common now as a blanket term. There are some similarities with chronic bronchitis.I'm not sure about the H2O2 for COPD simply for lack of studies to add confirmation to the anecdotal evidence, but the anecdotal evidence is compelling.
In COPD patients who are stable, the amount of H2O2 in the exhaled air is approximately 7 times that of normal controls while patients who are in an exacerbated state are almost 3 times higher than stable patients and about 21 times higher than control patients.
So H2O2 inhalation will add to these already significantly elevated H2O2 levels. This brief abstract discusses H2O2 exhalation levels in people with COPD:
https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1164/ajrccm.154.3.8810624
Melatonin clearly has studies that show it benefits COPD as does NAC, which is purported to significantly reduce exacerbations at two 600 mg doses per day.
Generally elevated oxidative stress is considered to possibly be the single most important factor driving COPD disease progression, so these two seem quite useful and melatonin is the most potent antioxidant in the human body as I described in the original post. Maximum radical scavenging is desirable.HDM made it possible for me to get rid of a cough that I had had for months that was not getting better, only worse. With HDM it started to lessen in two days and was gone by the third day.Vitamin C is synergistic with melatonin and adds to both its antioxidant abilities as well as its antiinflammatory qualities.Quercetin is also useful for COPD and quercetin is also synergistic with melatonin increasing its antiinflammatory activity.
Vitamin D reduces the number of acute exacerbations also and it is almost always good to be vitamin D replete for overall health, especially with so many people being insufficient or deficient. Getting into the upper half of the reference range for 25 OH d is worth looking into at whatever vitamin D dose is needed to get there. Simply put, some people require more vitamin D to achieve a specific 25 OH d level. The 25 OH d reference range is 30 ng/ml ~ 100 ng/ml
Some essential oils such as eucalyptus are thought to be helpful with COPD also. Not everyone can tolerate melatonin. Does your mother in law have Afib?
Art
Freda,
I answered this question in the original reply I made to Nancy and there is further information re: COPD in my reply to Mama to Many.
Art
Tn
07/25/2020
Dear Art,
Thank you for the information!
Yes, as a matter of fact, my mother in law does have A-fib!
She is actually taking a small amount of melatonin right now. She has been in a nursing home for 9 months and when her sleeping pill prescription ended, they asked if they could give her melatonin instead. Well, I was sure happy about that! I don't know how much yet.
I actually didn't realize that COPD is what they used to call emphysema. But it makes sense.
Thank you again!
~Mama to Many~
New York
07/26/2020
I had Covid in March and coughed almost five months without cure. I discovered that quitting all dairy immediately caused my coughing to stop! But still left with difficulty breathing, runny nose.
I found that NAC 600 mg twice a day has really helped.
Then I do a steam as I do not own a nebulizer with Theranaturals glutathione, one capsule and one drop of eucalyptus essential oil. This glutathione is made for nebulizers. Eucalyptus is beneficial for lungs.
I do not do HP.
You could try above.
Covid takes a long time to recover.
Dr. Neel has treated over 400 Covid-19 patients now, as of July 22, 2020!
Since his patient load has increased very considerably, so has his knowledge and understanding of the use of HDM (High Dose Melatonin) in Covid-19 patients. This seems like one of his most informative updates so far!
Dr. Neel is now seeing patients who are in multiple higher risk categories and treating some of them is no walk in the park. Dr Neel is now using even higher doses of melatonin in these harder to treat patients at dosing that is closer to what Dr. Shallenberger uses in almost all of his non cancer patients and similar to what Dr. Reiter has used in some of his studies. Dr. Shallenberger uses much higher dosing in his cancer patients though.
Dr. Neel also mentions that he is now seeing many more young patients than in the previous 3 months. He also mentions that people with asthma are having a harder time with Covid-19 than his patients who don't have asthma. He is also seeing more young patients who are developing gastrointestinal issues. He does not mention any deaths in this latest update.
He also mentions that he is seeing at least one strain of virus that seems to be more virulent. The information he includes with this latest update does not seem to bode too well for the supposedly soon to be available vaccinations, if the virus is mutating significantly. Here is the link to this latest update:
Art
July update From One of Dr. Neel's Patients Describing Her Experience
This is an update from one of Dr. Neel's patients describing her experience using high dose melatonin (HDM) to treat her Covid-19 case. She adds confirmation to what Dr. Neel has been saying about the rapid onset of action by HDM (High Dose Melatonin).
Also of interest in this update is the fact that Dr. Neel appears willing to go slightly above his proposed dosing schedule of 1 mg of melatonin per kilogram if he deems it necessary.
This is essentially one patient's play by play of her experience with Covid-19 and HDM:
https://devinenews.com/ms-ovalle-shares-battle-with-covid-and-what-got-her-through-it/
Art
Here is the latest update (6/23/2020) from Dr. Neel. It appears that he now has about 100 patients based on what he says in his update and he gives a brief idea of how things are going for his Covid-19 patients and his results are holding up very well as his patient base continues to expand (Texas appears to be having a significant increase in Covid-19 cases) and no deaths to report among his Covid-19 patients!
To me that is awesome news compared to all other major drugs being trialed and tested, as even the best of these are showing patients still dying, but at a lesser rate. Importantly, he once again reiterates the importance of vitamin D based on the Italian vitamin D statistical analysis as it relates to Covid-19 patients. In this latest update you can see that Dr. Neel is becoming even more focused in treating his covid-19 patients quickly and has had no major complications or deaths!
Dr. Neel also mentions the study trial in Manila that will treat 350 Covid-19 patients who also have pneumonia. It seems pretty bold to focus on Covid-19 patients with pneumonia, as this group has a significantly higher death rate!
Here is a link to his latest update:
Art
Below is a link to a nurse who had Covid-19 and Dr. Neel is her doctor. She gives an idea of what Dr. Neel is like as her doctor :
https://devinenews.com/medina-county-woman-shares-what-her-battle-with-covid-was-like/
Art
Here is a link to a new abstract that suggests that melatonin is useful for restoring the glutathione redox system as well as working against Covid-19!
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32597503/
Art
GREAT NEWS!!! The latest from Dr. Neel is that over 50 of his Covid-19 patients have recovered using his high dose melatonin protocol!!! https://devinenews.com/50-covid-patients-recover-under-dr-neels-care/ Art
This new article explains how melatonin inhibits the cytokine storm that is proving to be a serious problem from Covid-19 : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590098620300312?via%3Dihub Art
The new study link below shows that melatonin use reduced the risk of testing positive for Covid-19! https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32533957/?from_term=melatonin&from_sort=date&from_size=20&from_pos=2 What will it take for mainstream medicine to start considering something that will actually work instead of the repurposed drugs that result in not much of anything good? Art
Apparently, the Doctors Hospital in Manila, Philippines has gotten funding to do a clinical trial of high dose melatonin (HDM) in 350 patients with "Covid-19 and pneumonia or other Covid-19 related high risk features" based on their experience of successfully treating their Covid-19 patients with HDM. They still have not publicly released their Covid-19 patient data that they said they were going to publish in a scientific journal, but they did manage to get funding for this study based on their initial experience with HDM and the study is being funded by their Department of Science and Technology (DOST). They also mentioned that melatonin is being used in other countries for Covid-19. They further stated that the trial will last at least 4 months which suggest that the results will be available near halloween. https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/12/20/dost-allots-p98-million-for-melatonin-clinical-trials-to-treat-covid-19 Art
Why melatonin for Covid-19? Melatonin also protects endothelial cells as well as red blood cells being damaged by excess oxidative stress as seen in Covid-19 which can lead to blood clots, while also being the most potent antioxidant in the body ( more powerful than glutathione) that helps to neutralize the significantly elevated levels of ROS that is seen in patients that damages endothelial cells, a potent antiinflammatory agent, an upregulator of the gene expression of the bodies own potent antioxidants, catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. Melatonin also scavenges reactive oxygen species/hydroxyl radicals, reactive nitrogen species and peroxynitrite. Melatonin is also protective of all major organs in the body that the virus has shown itself to damage. Melatonin is an excellent protector of the lungs which is very important in Covid-19 to help protect against the cytokine storm. Melatonin acts as an anticoagulant which is very useful in Covid-19 as it has shown itself to cause blood clots. Melatonin also lowers the inflammatory cytokine IL-6, chemokine IL-8, IL-17, inflammatory mediator TNF-alpha, NF Kappa b and IL-1b which are all elevated in Covid-19. There is much more that melatonin does to fight Covid-19, such that if one was trying to create a good drug to fight the effects of the virus, melatonin could possibly be it. Art
Apparently the combination of melatonin and vitamin D may have synergy against Covid-19 health issues according to the following new study. Is anybody surprised? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7227533/ I am glad that they released this study, because it is already known that high dose vitamin D lowers native melatonin levels in humans, so having more of both will nullify this issue and likely speed the healing process. I wonder what they will find if they add vitamin C? You just know that this combination is likely to be more effective than any of the drugs which they are continuing to test despite dismal results in Covid-19. EC has the answers and governments and their scientists continue to look in all the wrong places! Art
EC's Facebook
05/31/2020
But melatonin is related to the body's sleep modes ...how can that stop a virus? The body has its OWN inbuilt protocols for resisting infection and disease ... you can't ameliorate an infection using stuff that doesn't deal directly with that infection where it matters ... in the cells! In the case of virus, it's Zinc that prevents viral replication and it's Quercetin that puts it there! Now its taken that if you have LOW levels of vitamin D .... then you are a sitting duck ... and the majority of the vulnerable have that due to inability to get out in the sun coupled to a surfeit of toxic drugs courtesy of doctors making profits! HIGH Vitamin D is protective meaning that its renders infection much harder to gain a foothold ... it is NOT however a treatment once you have that virus ... that needs ultra high levels of Vitamin C ... known as LVC coupled to Zinc supplemented ... Zinc Picolinate is the best absorbed!
Hi, Steve, Yes, melatonin does affect sleep, but it does way more than that! Melatonin does not stop the virus, but it reduces the the innate immune response which is what can trigger the potentially deadly cytokine storm and inhibits the potential for pneumonia and thus eliminates the need for a ventilator, three important actions associated with death in Covid-19. Melatonin also is protective of all major organs of the body which in autopsies have all been shown to have been attacked by the virus, including the brain, liver,kidneys, pancreas, spleen, eyes, skin, lungs and heart. Dr. Neel is able to turn his patients around in just 24 hours after starting them on HDM! By not attacking the virus directly, the body can then use its adaptive immune response to create antibodies that will fight the virus as the body is supposed to do. Kill the virus too fast and the body may not be able to generate enough antibodies before the virus is eradicated and this is important in case the virus comes back each year as other Coronaviruses have and scientists are indicating is very possible. By having adequate antibodies in your system, the body should be able to eradicate the virus on its own next time around. In hydroxychloroquine studies that used zinc and azithromycin, the zinc has not shown effectiveness even though hydroxy is supposed to act as an ionophore to help the zinc to have better cell access. Yes, people still died with this combination! Art
US
07/10/2020
Does taking the high dose melatonin cause drowsiness since its a sleep aide. I want to start taking it but am not sick at this time for prevention off Covid???? I have been exposed and want to be proactive and start on regimen before I do become ill.
Karen S.,
Dr. Neel has never mentioned a preventative dose because melatonin is not likely to prevent Covid-19, only lessen the symptoms and help the body fight the virus off on its own without the deadly complications often seen in Covid-19 patients. Dr. Neel has only given melatonin to patients who have shown symptoms and tested positive for Covid-19 and these patients have turned their symptoms around in one day after starting HDM.
Many people have reported next morning drowsiness with melatonin, myself included. I don't necessarily consider that a negative for someone with Covid-19 as rest is likely good for someone with Covid-19 to help maintain a more effective immune system. Dr. Neel is currently recommending 1 milligram of melatonin for every kilogram that the patient weighs. So if a patient weighs 80 kilograms, then they would take 80 milligrams of melatonin.
That is the advice he is giving to other doctors who are wanting to use melatonin on their Covid-19 patients.
Art
Anon
07/11/2020
Someone posted that melatonin does cause next day drowsyness at first, but after you take it for a while it does not.
Madison
07/12/2020
You can always do the usual anti-virus things--vit C and D, lysine, chicken soup, healthy diet, plenty of water, sleep, fresh air and sunshine. Melatonin surely can't hurt and may help. Whenever I am exposed to anything, even stress, I try to fall back on the tried and true remedies.
Here is the latest from Dr. Neel who now has at least 20 covid-19 patients and all are doing well on his high dose melatonin/vitamin C protocol. He now has patients calling him from across the country, including New York who he is advising on his protocol! This latest update is very hopeful and continues to show quick improvement in his patients and I would say it is one of his best updates yet! https://devinenews.com/dr-neel-sees-amazing-results-in-covid-19-patients-by-boosting-amount-of-melatonin/ Art
USofA
05/22/2020
Thank you Art. I found this quote from the devinenews article you posted very helpful: “As a Ph.D. student I was taught that a virus actively kills our cells during the course of the infection…..But now I know a virus is more like a provoking bully, a bully who continues to provoke cells in our lungs and our respiratory tract to commit suicide……We analyzed the molecular mechanism, how the virus does it, and matched it with scientific databases. Then, came to conclusion that melatonin can block the process that promotes suicide in lung cells,” Shneider said. Source: https://devinenews.com/dr-neel-sees-amazing-results-in-covid-19-patients-by-boosting-amount-of-melatonin/
Meg, I agree and found that an interesting statement that goes against what many people think when it comes to viruses! I think that kind of thinking is helpful to looking at Covid-19 in a different light in order to come up with a better answer like melatonin. The current methods being deployed to fight SARS CoV-2 are proving to be only marginally effective at best, yet these methods continue to be the standard of care as people continue to die from Covid-19. Unfortunately the powers that be continue to ignore melatonin which according to Dr. Neel is easily more effective than any of the drugs currently being tested based on his experience with his Covid-19 patients. Art
It has become well established that Diabetes is a significant risk factor when it comes to Covid-19 so it is good to know that melatonin can reduce many of the factors that are elevated in diabetes such as CRP, A1c, IL-6, Serum Ferritin, chemokine IL-8, ESR, Fibrinogen, oxidative stress, inflammation and Serum Ferritin. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32416321 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7140344/ Art
One problem that seems to come with a cytokine storm and pneumonia, assuming you survive both, is significant damage to the lungs in terms of fibrosis and scarring as outlined in the article link below. Although not talked about a tremendous amount, this can become a long term problem well beyond when you are cleared of the virus. In some cases, possibly for the rest of your life if the damage turns into scarring. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid-19-some-patients-may-suffer-lasting-lung-damage So far, Dr. Neel and the doctor in Florida have not mentioned this problem in their patients who they have given high dose melatonin (HDM) to! In fact, so far, they have not seen many of the complications that other doctors who are treating Covid-19 patients have reported. What Dr. Neel is seeing in his HDM treated Covid-19 patients is rapid recovery with no apparent complications. This bodes well for the potential to entirely avoid these long term lung complications associated with Covid-19. No cytokine storm, no pneumonia, no lung complications, no ventilator are so far what Dr. Neel has reported in his patients! Just one more reason to consider HDM with your doctor's guidance should the need arise! Art
Since I tend to look at melatonin plus vitamin C as a potential way to open up the economy in a somewhat safer way, I thought that the following videos, although not related to melatonin, might also add to the safety of "reopening". My apologies if it is old news here on EC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfc6QdBiRK8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhfh5XBzyFA Given that the current Covid-19 tests are notoriously inaccurate, this seems like it is likely to be more accurate with instantaneous results! Art
Dr. Neel is now at 17 patients as of 5/13/2020 and reports that all are doing well using his melatonin protocol with vitamin C! Another doctor in Florida has reported similar results in her two Covid-19 patients! https://devinenews.com/dr-neel-continues-treating-covid-19-patients-all-across-the-country/ Sadly, the only scheduled trial for melatonin is only going to be using 2 mg / day of melatonin. I don't understand why they even bother at that dose! Art
United States
06/17/2020
Art, I really don't understand the high dosages listed above! I bought 10 mg melatonin because that was the highest I could find in my store. My husband and I took it for about a week but it is just too much. Feel groggy and sleepy the next day well past noon. I wouldn't be able to function if it was a higher dose! How is this possible?
somewhere, europe
06/18/2020
Annette, the way I understand it is: if you are ill, higher dosing is appropriate. If not, and you are just taking it for prevention, why would you need high dosing? Personally, I always prefer the lowest dose of anything I try until a need for higher dosing shows up.
This is a common issue that people experience, but for most, the "melatonin hangover" gradually goes away after a couple of weeks. What I have tried that has helped is taking the dose earlier in the evening. So if I feel groggy for about two hours after getting up in the morning, I might try taking my dose a couple of hours earlier. Failing that, you can consider just taking it if you get Covid-19. The extra rest may be helpful at that time and Dr. Neel has had very good success treating his patients who were already infected. I have experimented at multiple dosing levels up to 180 mg per night recently and I find the melatonin hangover goes away much sooner and now I seem to tolerate most dosing well. The highest dose I have heard of in a human study was 1,000 mg for thirty days, but I'm not sure why you would ever need such a high dose. I believe animal studies have gone higher and according to Dr. Reiter, he has never had an animal die at any dose. Art
Dr. Neel is currently at 14 patients and according to him, all are doing very well. This is a far cry from what the reports are saying about the drugs that are currently being tested for Covid-19. With any of those drugs, people still die! It just seems odd that they will not even consider testing melatonin when they already know that none of the current drugs being tested are showing as good results or even just fair results. Melatonin, from hundreds of previous studies has already shown that its multiple methods of action are very likely to have a very significant impact against Covid-19, but the direction seems to remain testing drugs that are not doing much of anything against this virus. In the meantime, people continue to die. Melatonin has a better safety profile than any of the drugs being tested. Melatonin is available over the counter here in the US and production can be ramped up quickly if it proves to work because there are multiple manufacturers already making it. Here is an incomplete list of everything that they currently know Covid-19 can do to humans: 1. Heart attacks 2. Strokes 3. Neuronal damage 4. Liver damage 5. Kidney damage 6. Damage to the spleen 7. Skin damage 8. Heart damage 9. Lung damage 10. Pneumonia 11. Loss of taste and smell 12. Kawasaki or Kawasaki like disease 13. Seizures 14. Death 15. Damage to the eyes 16. Blood clots 17. Damage to the endothelium 18. Oxygen deprivation 19. Fibrosis 20. Damage to the brain 21. Cytokine storm 22. Covid-19 toes 23. Tissue damage throughout the body 24. Organ failure 25. Fever and oxidative stress Just about any of the above items would require significant treatment, but with Covid-19, you are almost guaranteed to get at least 5 of these symptoms, which means that it is like your body is fighting multiple diseases all at one time! Melatonin is known through studies to ameliorate symptoms related to this whole list. Furthermore, it is one of the most potent antioxidants in the human body and it upregulates gene expression of the most potent antioxidants of the body and has potent antiinflammatory qualities which are thought to potentially prevent the potential for a cytokine storm. Having this many things going on in the body at one time will certainly deplete the natural antioxidant defense system which means the elevated levels of ROS is going to be causing cellular damage throughout the body and melatonin will definitely bring that elevated ROS level down. Given the above, it seems like melatonin would be high on the list for potential drug candidates to treat and test against Covid-19, but such is not the case. I wonder why that is? Art
Philippines
05/15/2020
Hi Art... Concerning your question about why melatonin has not been already recognized as a successful treatment for COVID-19, it really depends on how much you trust the American drugs companies and the US medical system. For some while now, I've realized that the FDA, in cahoots with the power of the drugs companies, have insured that they are indeed the Lords of Medicine in every sense. To this end, the FDA has already ensured that all research must adhere to their own broken and perverted version of "the scientific method". In effect, this means that the FDA owns ALL the medical laws in America and in the West. These biased laws are, for the most part, mainly used to banish any competing opposition i.e. natural herbal therapies and nutraceuticals. For instance, did you know that melatonin has been ordained by the FDA -- and backed by a Federal Law -- to be a food and not a drug? And according to that law, a substance defined by the FDA as a food can never be used in modern medicine as a drug. Did you know that? That's according to the medical laws already on the statute books in America (and in other Western countries). And that's also why the FDA will never allow food or nutraceutical substances like Melatonin or BHT to see daylight in any US hospital.
Wow, Bill! I was not aware of that point about the FDA! I was aware that the large pharmaceutical companies do what they can to eliminate any competition, even in a pandemic! It is a sad state of affairs for the citizens though, because they are the ones who get hurt in the end. I am glad that there are doctors like Dr. Neel who are willing to buck the system and use something like melatonin rather than push the current list of drugs for C-19 which seem mostly just marginally effective if at all and people still die, so that to me is not my idea of effective! We are fortunate that we have EC to share these ideas that we will likely never hear from our doctors! Thank you for EC, Deirdre and thank you for the information, Bill! Art
Hi, Bill, Okay, but can you tell me what you really feel!!! I agree 100% with what you said, sadly. Here, it seems to always come down to money and or politics. I was hoping that the pandemic might change things, at least for a moment,but that is obviously not the case, but I certainly don't see a problem with asking other governments who seem to have a handle on Covid-19, what they are doing to make that happen, but that doesn't seem to be happening either. I think of the combination of melatonin and vitamin C (M+C) as a possible way to move forward in a safer manner as the government begins to reopen the economy because opening is assuredly going to cause an increase in new cases and deaths. Yes, more people will get sick at a faster rate with the reopening, but M+C shows the potential to lower that death rate significantly if Dr. Neels success with his C-19 patients is any indicator. Thank you for the comments and information! Art
Philippines
05/16/2020
Hi Art...I confess that I too am somewhat shocked by the hapless anti-COVID-19 strategies that mostly the western countries are using against COVID-19. These strategies are not working by any stretch of the imagination are they? And when you start sending people back to work when both the infection rate and the death rate are still high then how sensible is that? The governments are saying that they need everyone back at work and the FDA are saying "No, no -- more people will die". Well, they are both right in a way because it's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Because if people don't go back to work the national economy will die a horrible death and people will continue to die anyway and if people do go back to work then even more people will likely die. So what should we do? The answer is obvious. All the American and European government leaders should look around at other world nations that have used successful treatment therapies against COVID-19. Oh look, China has got it's death rate down to zero.....How did they do that? Maybe we should talk to them in a friendly way and see if they can help us out? Is America or Europe talking in a friendly way to China to see how they achieved a death rate of zero with a population of 1.3 billion? Not a cat in hell's chance. All the western leaders are all still plying their stupid political agendas, propaganda and misinformation for other lowly political reasons while their people -- their own citizens -- continue to die in high numbers in there own countries. This is particularly true for both the US and UK. And this is exactly what the drugs companies want. They want confusion and fear, because when their fast-tracked COVID-19 vaccines eventually become available in 18 months or so then every western country will be clamoring for a vaccine -- ANY vaccine. That is the really scary part. As far as I can see, there has been no significant research at all on the mutation rate of COVID-19. This is very important because if the mutation rate is too high then the vaccines will not work well. Why do I say this? In 2014, the US CDC actually apologized publicly for the fact for the previous years flu vaccine failed so badly. I mean heck, if our eminent vaccine companies can't even get the simple flu vaccine right then what chance those same vaccine companies getting a much more complex COVID-19 vaccine right? And what about the likely and obvious dangers of rushing through a COVID-19 vaccine in a tenth the time it would normally take to make a regular vaccine? All bad. I've also just read some interesting articles about how Iran who, without the help of any western drugs (because of the US embargo), has managed to quickly flatten her COVID-19 infection rate and rapidly reduce her own COVID-19 death rate. I think China helped Iran initially and now Iran is successfully running with the ball and is currently helping infected people from other countries in her own region because she now appears to have a successful therapeutic treatment for COVID-19. So if our western leaders want you to go back to work and get their economies up to speed again -- without a climbing COVID-19 death rate then, without any doubt, they will need to find a successful therapeutic COVID-19 treatment to achieve that. And what about hydroxychloroquine and remdesevir? I think Melatonin, at 20mg taken 4 times a day with 1000mgs vitamin C, would be far more effective than using both those failed drugs. Melatonin also has a high safety profile. That's my honest opinion from looking at the research.
Cautionary about melatonin… maybe. Just a funny story about my parent's recent experience after I sent my mom this link and some melatonin, just in case they got sick. My dad was gardening with my brother-in-law for a couple of days, and he seemed really out of it. They had a pow-wow to talk about what was going on with my dad. He was super dingy and lethargic, started to be grumpy and kinda goofy, hoarse sleepy voice. It was a marked change; he is a very active grandfather and sharp-minded. He nodded out while having a fourth cup of coffee. Mike says, "Steve, what's wrong with you, are you smoking a lot of pot or taking pain meds?"… Dad says, "no, just the herbs and my anti-rejection meds, Melody (my mom) was giving me!" Mikes ask what it was. "Melatonin." My mom says. "20mg 4 x a day." He's like, "What! 5mg, and I pass out." It turns out my mom skimmed reading the article and didn't realize it wasn't a preventative; it was only to be taken if he was to get sick. We now have a new story about how Grandma was dosing Grandpa. They are adorable and well. I hope we all make it through this new life. Good luck, and thanks for all the info!
Trina, I'm glad you posted about your mom and dad's experience. This is why I say to include your doctor in a decision to use melatonin for this purpose and to also make sure it will be compatible with any medications that you may be taking. Dr Neel has not yet mentioned a dose to take before actually being sick, only after symptoms appear and you test positive. Some people are more sensitive than others to melatonin. Another point that your mom may have missed is that the actual dose range that Dr. Neel is using is between 50~100 mg / day depending on the size of the person and the severity of symptoms. Well, it sounds like if your dad ever has to use it, he will be getting plenty of rest! Art
Even Thailand gets it! https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-covid-19-supplements-melatonin-helps-lessen-severity-risk-in-covid-19-patients-by-preventing-cytokine-storms Art
Canada
05/12/2020
They are getting it, thanks to you, Art! You published on April 20 and finally news publications are picking up on it 20 days later. Thank YOU!!!
Megan, Thank you for saying so. My interest is in sharing the information and hoping people realize that melatonin looks likely to do more than any drug the governments are currently testing for Covid-19! You would think with Dr. Neels results so far that researchers would be all over melatonin, but such is not the case. At least we have the information here on EC to add it to our tool box of Covid-19 tools! Art
I got excited for a moment when I saw this future study that said it was going test melatonin against Covid-19 in patients and then I read a little further and saw the dosing schedule they are going to be using just two milligrams of melatonin vs placebo. I think I can save them time and money and just say don't bother, because 2 mg of melatonin at best might improve your sleep and that's about it! https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04353128 Art
This new article from "Psychology Today" discusses melatonin and Covid-19. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sleep-newzzz/202005/could-melatonin-help-protect-against-covid-19 Here is a quote from the article: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ' This capacity of melatonin, to target this inflammasome that is so critical to the most serious and life-threatening complications of COVID-19, along with melatonin's high degree of safety and benefits for sleep, is drawing attention from scientists as a therapy to de-escalate the immune response to coronavirus, potentially reducing the severity of COVID-19. ' ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Oddly, Psychology Today magazine is aware of the potential of melatonin for Covid-19, but our scientists that are specifically working on Covid-19 are silent??? I don't really understand how so many government agencies in so many different countries can be searching relentlessly for potential ways to fight this virus, but they just skip over a molecule that through research is known to block, inhibit or ameliorate many of the known bad effects of Covid-19??? Art
Let's discuss the bad first 😩😩😩 and the good second! Covid-19 was originally thought to zero in on the lungs and the ACE-2 receptors located there. More recently it has been found that C-19 is attracted to ACE-2 receptors in other areas of the body and the virus is now known to attack much more than the lungs! C-19 autopsied patients are showing that it is attacking the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, brain, skin, endothelium and is causing blood clotting which is causing heart attacks and strokes in patients who are otherwise asymptomatic and not considered to be in the high risk groups. Yes, the virus is causing much more damage system wide than initially thought. C-19 is causing a 4 times increase in Kawasaki disease reports in New York. The disease is attacking the vascular system and causing very elevated oxidative stress levels as well as significantly elevated inflammation. It also seems to be causing significantly more problems in black people who are not necessarily in the at risk groups, but possibly should be. C-19 is causing heart attacks, strokes, heart damage, pneumonia, liver damage, lung damage, organ failure, Kawasaki or Kawasaki like disease, rash up to full body coverage, blood clotting in different areas of the body that can potentially result in the need for amputation, neuronal damage, intestinal issues and death and this is an incomplete list! Yes, this disease is very serious indeed, even for those not to be considered in the high risk groups. Many of the heart attack and stroke victims are much younger than these two conditions are generally associated with, with no previous symptoms and doctors are only finding out these patients have C-19 when they start working on them and see the damage that is known to be associated with C-19 and that is when they are tested and confirmed to have C-19. Yes, this is one f'd up disease that is considerably worse than initially thought and it seems like new troubling aspects of this disease are being discovered each week if not almost daily !!! Now let's discuss the good! 😂😂😂 The good news is that melatonin works against this disease process at multiple levels of disease progression and at every place in the body where the disease has been found because melatonin can readily penetrate body tissues (including its metabolites) and easily cross the BBB to express its very potent antioxidant and antiinflammatory effects as well as other positive effects. Melatonin is a protector of all major organs and is protective of endothelial cells as well as the skin. Melatonin has anti-clotting abilities. Melatonin has shown itself to "upregulate the gene expression" of some of the bodies own very potent antioxidants such as Catalase(CAT), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and this aspect of melatonin is very important because it is very likely that all of these natural antioxidant defense mechanisms of the body are being depleted very significantly trying to fight this disease because of the multiple areas of the body being affected simultaneously, so melatonin boosting their production can help to level the playing field giving the body more than a fighting chance to defeat this virus. Since it has been proven in autopsy that C-19 is attacking multiple areas of the body simultaneously, it is as though the body is fighting multiple diseases all at the same time!Never show up to a gang fight with just yourself! Melatonin's boosting of the body's potent antioxidant system is absolutely needed to deal with something worse than it would normally ever have to deal with in moderate and severe patients. Add to this melatonin's potent and broad antiinflammatory abilities and things are starting to look hopeful! To add a little more brightness to that light at the end of the tunnel, melatonin itself is a highly potent scavenger of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), Reactive Nitrogen Species(RNS), hydroxyl radicals, Hydrogen Peroxide(H2O2) and Peroxynitrite (ONOO). All of these radicals are thought to be highly active in C-19 and doing a lot of damage. One melatonin molecule can scavenge up to 10 oxygen radicals while many other antioxidants can only scavenge and neutralize one oxygen radical 1:1. Melatonin inhibits NADPH Oxidase which is a very bad player that ends up generating ROS in large amounts and damaging almost all cells in its path. Now let's add in the vitamin C that Dr. Neel is using alongside melatonin in his C-19 patients. Vitamin C is synergistic with the antioxidant and antiinflammatory aspects of melatonin! Together they are better than either one alone and vitamin C pales in comparison to the broad ranging effects that are melatonin, but adding it to melatonin makes melatonin more potent. That light at the end of the tunnel is looking brighter! 💡🔦💡🔦💡🔦💡 A couple of points I would like to make. Originally some people thought that inhalation of food grade hydrogen peroxide via a nebulizer or ultrasonic vaporizer would be sufficient to kill the virus and it likely will in the lungs if you use HP as early as possible, but HP is an oxidant and Catalase will come along and neutralize it soon enough, turning it into water and oxygen, which means HP will not have staying power and more importantly, it suggests that HP will never make it past the lungs to other areas of the body where the virus may be thriving. So I would not want to rely on HP alone. Though I am a believer and user of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), although inhaled AgNPs are likely to have staying power in the lungs before being absorbed into the blood I do not believe that by itself it will be enough. It will require drinking the AgNPs also and that combination with melatonin and vitamin C, may just be what it will take to put this virus down as quickly as possible, in my opinion. Although I think melatonin and vitamin C may be sufficient, I think that the addition of AgNPs will speed the process considerably! Art
Ragaa Shabib, The only two products I have seen that appear to be AgNps or silver nanoparticles are MesoSilver and MediSilver : https://www.amazon.com/MediSILVER-AMBER-Traditional-Colloidal-Silver/dp/B00ADQ5VWS https://www.amazon.com/s?k=mesosilver&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 I'm not recommending either one, just saying they appear to be AgNPs. As far as I know, everything else is likely ionic silver as they are colorless unless you go to a chemical supplier who can probably get most anything you want, but probably at a higher price though. Art
I no sooner got this list above this post complete and posted last night and I read the following article that shows that Covid-19 is negatively affecting the eyes too! Just when I thought this disease couldn't get any worse, it does! https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/85752 Art
Dave, That is a really good question! I'm trying to spread the information around as much as possible about melatonin, but actually trying to get a politician to seriously look at and consider it is another story. What I have noticed is that the drugs that they are repurposing for use with Covid-19 patients are only marginally effective or not effective enough. Hydroxychloroquine is only marginally effective at best and Remdesivir, although touted by Fauci, is only marginally effective. This seems to be the case with most if not all of the drugs they are trying so far. It seems like more natural items like those presented here on EC are mostly ignored by scientists and the powers that be. The government is having to spend trillions of dollars to try and keep the economy going, but they don't seem interested in spending a few million dollars to trial supplements or vitamins of any kind. Our government seems so convoluted when it comes to Covid-19. Everyone seems to have their own agenda and alternatives, supplements, herbs and vitamins do not seem to be on anyone's agenda who might have the power to actually test them in patients. If I was in Fauci's or Trump's position, I would have a very small team of people scouring the internet everyday to find ideas that might sound promising and EC seems to be a very good place to start looking, but clearly that is not the case. They would rather pump their research dollars into drugs that are not really showing good results at all. Dr. Neel is, in one week, highly recommending that doctors use melatonin in their Covid-19 patients based on the very good safety profile of it, as well as a lot of research studies clearly suggesting that it is definitely worth trying and testing it. And then the very next week is already using it successfully in his patients. He's only been using it since the beginning of April and already has 14 patients on it. I think it is going to take doctors like him who are willing to suggest it to their patients. And if more doctors find similar results in their Covid-19 patients as Dr. Neel has, then the politicians will have no choice, but to start testing it in trials. In the meantime, we common folks are left to figure things out on our own! Art
Africa
05/11/2020
Dimoune, Before I found out about melatonin for this purpose, my intent was to use the combination approach of inhaling and drinking with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The truth is that there is no clinical experience with AgNPs for Covid-19 or anything else, but the method of action seems likely to work, so I would have tried it right away myself and if I didn't think it was working or working well enough, I would have moved on to something else or added something else with the AgNPs just in case. Art
This is a reminder for people in the USA who might think that things are getting under control as far as Covid-19 because Trump is encouraging governors to open their local economies. The following will hopefully explain why that may not be the best move at this time! There are currently 3,897,925 cases of Covid-19 in the world. Of that number, the US is accounting for a solid 33% of those cases, but the US only accounts for 4.25% of the world population. There are currently 269,519 dead from Covid-19. Of that number, the US is accounting for 28% and again that is 28% when we only represent 4.25% of the world population. The US is clearly way ahead of any other country in the world by a very wide margin in terms of cases and deaths! The next closest country in terms of cases is Spain with 256,855 cases whereas the US has 1,286,024 or over 5 times as many cases! In terms of deaths, the US currently has 76,672 deaths from Covid-19 while the UK (2nd) has 30,615 deaths or less than half of the US deaths! Compared to the rest of the world, the US is accounting for over 28% of the deaths, again, even though the US accounts for only 4.25% of the total population of the world! If that does not give Trump pause to push for opening the economy, what will??? Art
Madison
05/08/2020
Trump is not pausing. It's about the economy... and of course his re-election. The re-opening is happening, whether we think it's a good idea or not. One of the things that amazes me is that so many of us refuse to social distance and wear masks. The masks are about caring for others, in case we are carrying the virus without knowing it. The social distancing is caring for ourselves and for others. Yes, it's a pain, but what is that compared to slowing the progression of the virus, compared to saving lives? My parents' generation went through the Great Depression and WW2. Neither of these difficult times lasted for a just few months, and they couldn't quit because they were 'tired of it'. C'mon folks! We can do this!
Hi Kathleen, Yes, apparently the economy is more important than human lives, but that is truly short sighted thinking as this virus has proven quite adept at spreading from human to human so once the economy opens again and people are back in relatively closed spaces together with many other people, the virus will begin its voracious spread again. Trump said the other day on the news that Covid-19 has been "some of his best work", but the stats for the US show that we are leading the world in number of cases at a whopping 33% of the total cases in the world! We are also leading the world in number of deaths with America accounting for 28% of the total deaths from Covid-19 in the world! All of that, yet we only account for 4.25% of the world population. We have more than 5 times the cases of the next closest country to us, Spain. We have greater than double the number of deaths than the next closest country, the UK! If this is some of Trump's best work......? Once the economy reopens, those numbers will climb much faster and put the US even further apart from the crowd.! I guess we really are expendable when it comes to money! On the other hand, if you are living from paycheck to paycheck and don't get back to work soon, you could lose everything you have and end up homeless or you can go back to work and possibly end up dead. It is a no win situation for many people! Art
