Alex Bartle: Sleepwell Clinic Director on Melatonin being approved for over the counter sale

A sleep-expert assures Melatonin is safe, but is still urging people to take caution.  

Medsafe has given approval for the sleep drug to be available over the counter at pharmacies.

It is commonly used to treat insomnia or jet lag.  

Sleepwell Clinic Director Alex Bartle says potential side-effects are fairly minor, and long-term effects aren't fully understood. 

However, he doesn’t believe it’s as valuable as it’s made out to be.  

Bartle told Mike Hosking behavioural treatments are much more effective. 

He says a 2017 study shows a person's total sleep time after taking the medication didn't improve, and says he doesn't prescribe Melatonin at all. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Another of these common sense moves yesterday from the government.
Along with the dumping of the census and getting monthly
inflation numbers, were also decided. You can buy melotonin over
the counter, sort of like you can all over the
rest of the world. Doctor Alex Bartels with the Sleep
Well Clinic, and as with us, Alex morning.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
How widely used as melotonin versus anything else? Do you know?

Speaker 2 (00:19):
It is pretty widely used now, partly because it's perceived
to be a pretty safe product. Long term studies haven't
really been done a lot. It's certainly over the country
in America. There are other countries where it's only on prescription,
so we're not alone in that as to date. But
of course, and even now, there's going to be some

(00:39):
restrictions on it. I think not for young teenagers or youngsters.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yeah, if I come to you and I go Alex,
are not sleeping, well, how long before you hit the
old melotonin with me?

Speaker 2 (00:49):
I don't prescribe melatonin at all. I'm very keen on
making sure that patients, clients can actually start to learn
to sleep themselves without any adjective.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
So do you have do you see now? Sort of
a more competition in the field. In other words, you go, look,
here's what I can do for you, versus I go, well, look,
I'm just going down to get a pill.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Well, it's different. So if you go to a GP,
they can give you pills, of course, and I'm a GP,
so I could be doing that, but in the end
I always prefer And the studies are very clear that
behavioral study behavioral treatments are much more effective than anything
like melotonin. Melotonin, you know study in two thousand and seventeen,

(01:31):
for example, show there was a six minute increase in
sleep time and time to go to sleep, but the
total sleep time was not improved, so it's not really
that valuable.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Does it vary widely within the product of the melotonins
and melotonins or not.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
It's a very good point because a bit like the
recent vaping, you know, the melotonin actually in these tablets,
it can be quite variable, especially if it becomes a
dietary supplement, which of course is what it will become
if anyone that not really well, only if people feel
it gives them a bit of sleep and they will
want to use it rather than looking for other ways

(02:08):
of doing it. Behavioral ways of doing it right. I
might add that the one that is more secure is
the two mdigram's slow release product, which is we know
is exactly two mini grams. It's half officially made and
it's shown to be regionally effective for elderly population. So
over fifty five.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
OK, good on you, Elex nice and so I appreciate
it very much. Doctor Alex Bartell. Remember going to Singapore.
Can't remember of Singapore or Hong Kong, probably both. We're
in the pharmacy. We always go to the pharmacy first
in Cadises. When we land at the airports, it let's
head to the pharmacy. And I don't I've never worked
out why that is, but anyway, we get lots of
bags of stuff. Anyway, So she goes, look at the
look at the melotone incredible the meloton And I said, well,
dold you only get one packet of day. She goes, oh, no,

(02:47):
we fifty peckets. I mean she didn't really, well she
might have, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
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