Melatonin & Endometriosis Pain Management

Endometriosis has a strong association with chronic pelvic pain. Which can disturb sleep, cause reluctance to do day-to-day activities, and make life feel unbearable on a day-to-day basis. The pathophysiology of chronic pelvic pain is still unknow, but there is evidence to suggest that estrogen increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor during the estrous cycle.  Many people have turned to different pain management medication, but if the pain is extreme this can mean the regular use of pain management such as opioids or regular consumption of Tylenol which for prolonged periods of time causes other damages within the body. Melatonin may provide an alternative to pain medications.

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What is Melatonin

​Many people have heard of using melatonin to help with sleep. It’s relation to sleep has been known for much longer than any of its other properties which include, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-sympathetic nerve activation, endothelial cell preservation, neuroprotection, hepatoprotection, immunomodulation, thermoregulation, mood, and sexual behavior modulation. While melatonin is being discovered to play a great many roles within the body this blog focuses on the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties it holds.

​Melatonin is a hormone that helps in regulating the circadian rhythm. It is primarily secreted and synthesized by the pineal gland in the brain. It is activated and deactivated by light originally following the patterns of the day and the night. Artificial light at night can or lack of light during the day can disturb this pattern leading to different disturbances in the patterns within the body that depend on melatonin to function. To offset this melatonin has been synthesized and produced in an over-the-counter form so that we are able to mediate these disturbances as needed.

​Melatonin has shown to not only be related to the circadian rhythm but also has anti-inflammatory properties, is an antioxidant, and is emerging to help in reducing pain. It also has been related to sleep quality, and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which is related to neuronal survival and growth.

can Melatonin Help with Pain the Management of endometriosis? 

A study performed in 2012 did a double-blind study of 40 women between the ages 18-40 with endometriosis who experienced pain daily Half of the participants were given a dose of 10mg of melatonin at bedtime while the other half of the participants received a placebo at bedtime that was identical in visual composition. Both groups were allowed to take pain medicine as needed to reduce any pain they were in. It also suggested that melatonin has a specific pathway for pain. This further insinuates that the reduction in pain is separate from the affect it has on brain-derived neurotrophic factor. ​

​In the last year there have been studies looking into the correlation between pain reduction and melatonin. These studies have not been able to conclude that melatonin is effective in reducing pain in patients, but each study also did not find any side effects of using melatonin in adjunct with pain medicine a patient may already be using to help in reducing the dependency on those pain medications. 

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Alexandra "Lexi" Stults

Lexi Stults is studying nutrition and is currently the nutrition intern at Sacred Vessel. She has loved studying science since grade school and fell in love with nutrition after taking it as a filler credit. She gears her research towards finding ways to help people and to give her the most information to help her on her journey to becoming a Naturopathic Physician. ​