Melatonin & Diarrhea???

I started melatonin (10 mg) after a nurse friend told me how much it had helped her. I started taking it about a week after my bout of diverticulitis cleared up. I almost immediately developed diarrhea and loose stools along with serious cramping. I was also waking up with a headache every day. I thought I had not recovered from the diverticulitis, but am now wondering if it is the melatonin. I have severe cramping on the left side, but doesn't feel the same as before. Hoping it is gas. Have been off the melatonin for about 5 days. Diarrhea seems better, just cramping now. Does anyone have suggestions on how to get rid of the gas? At least I hope it's gas! Have tried Pepcid, but doesn't seem to help.

Wow, I never ever considered the melatonin! I've been having serious bouts of diarrhea the past few months (and months of constipation before that!) and finally decided I have IBS and began researching more about that online. (Glad I found this place!) I've changed my diet, fiddled with my supplements, tried to stay calm and relaxed yet symptoms persist. I have taken melatonin in various forms off and on for many years with no noticeable issues but I recently started a new liquid 'sleep aid' with melatonin in it and after reading all the posts here ... well, I'm going to stop taking that and see how it goes. Who knew? I sure didn't!

I swig activated charcoal slurry a lot. I buy a large container of the activated charcoal powder and mix it with water and put it in a bottle. I think I have one in my bathroom and one in my livingroom. Good stuff.

On advice of my doctor, Started taking 5 mg Melatonin tablets at night to help with sleep disturbances I was having. Melatonin worked great for the sleep problems and still does. However, after 3-4 weeks, I started getting watery stools, then explosive diarrhea at times. # of BM's was 3-4 a day, after eating (normal for me) but my bowel movements were almost disabling. At times, I would get stomach cramps and had to race to the toilet as fast as I could. Other times, I would feel BM coming, feel some gurgling in my intestine and when I got to the bowl it was like someone turned on a fire hydrant. Then I would be fine. Felt a little tired and needed more sleep at night, but that was OK. No nausea. I was away at the beach on vacation anyway. Initially, lost about 10 pounds(which I wanted to do anyway, so I was not alarmed by that). After a few weeks, weight plateaued. I had a healthy appetite, which was frustrating while I ate bland foods and drank seltzer water only(no milk) to eliminate allergies and bad water as potential causes. After 3 weeks, I gave up on the food precautions and ate anything near me and gained back 2-3 pounds but the diarrhea remained exactly the same. Outside of the bathroom, I felt pretty good. Like clockwork, the watery stools and/or diarrhea continued. It was not at all like the Giardia that I had 2 years ago that was totally debilitating. Returned home and went to doctor who wanted to test my stools, but insisted that the lab would only do the 3 tests she needed if I submitted liquid only stools. Many plastic containers and rubber gloves later, I discovered that I was not able to retrieve a liquid only sample. I checked online yesterday and discovered HealingWell posts that matched my experiences EXACTLY. I stopped the Melatonin completely yesterday and put the stool tests on hold. The diarrhea is still the same (36 hours after my last Melatonin) but I will post a followup when diarrhea stops or in a few weeks if it does not.

Followup:Maximus49: Started taking 5 mg Melatonin on 5/3/218. Melatonin worked great for sleeping but after 3-4 weeks developed loose & water stools. This developed to full-blown diarrhea after a month. Went to doctor on 7/16/2018, who asked for stool sample of watery diarrhea- not solid at all. Ever try to do that? nearly impossible. Looked up melatonin symptoms on HealingWell.con on 7/17/18. Stopped taking melatonin 7/17/18. Many rubber gloves later, got a sample which was tested negative. 7/28/18, Diarrhea
stopped. Normal bowel movements for first time since about 5/28/18 (60 days) and first normal BM's since stopping Melatonin on 7/16/18(12 days to return to normal).

Melatonin REALLY should have a large warning label about diarrhea.

I'm so glad I found this! I have been taking 5-10 mgs of Melatonin for the past 5-6 weeks. In the last 2 1/2 weeks, I have had awful cramps, and diarrhea (10-12 trips a day, and URGENT). Always the worst in the morning, and tapering off later in the day. No other symptoms, other than feeling a bit tired, I'm guessing from a bit of dehydration. I thought I was losing my mind! Melatonin was the only thing in my diet/routine that had changed. Will post an update with how long it takes to resolve itself. And yes, there absolutely should be a warning on the bottle!