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I've been taking melatonin every Friday to test out how it puts me to sleep and makes me feel in the morning. Works great. However a problem I've been seeing is that although I take a pretty high dosage, it wakes me up around 3-4 am. I will have gotten around 5 hrs of deep sleep under my belt already but still this is concerning.

I need to wake up around 7 am for next Saturday's Lsat.

I took melatonin for last years lsat. My advice is to use it to adjust your sleep schedule to an earlier time and to not take it before the test. Melatonin personally makes me groggy the next morning.

I would try to lower your dose if you are waking up in the middle of the night.

ativan.

I took strong sleeping pill the night before the LSAT. Got 99.9 percentile. You need to test out how sleeping works on you. If you use them right, the benefit is significant.

NEdelton1987 wrote:I took strong sleeping pill the night before the LSAT. Got 99.9 percentile. You need to test out how sleeping works on you. If you use them right, the benefit is significant.

Which sleeping pill did you take?

I take 10 mg of melatonin, wakes me up at 3 am, can't sleep again until 5 am, then wake up at 10 fully alert and refreshed. However this is far too late.

Just wake up early the day before so that you're tired by a reasonable hour.

NEdelton1987 wrote:I took strong sleeping pill the night before the LSAT. Got 99.9 percentile. You need to test out how sleeping works on you. If you use them right, the benefit is significant.

lol, cuz correlation = causation? sup 99.9th percentile. OP, if you try cocaine the morning of, you are guaranteed a 180 - it worked for me. but u need to test how it works for u beforehand.

I did a trial run of ambien before I took the LSAT.

I'm not sure if I slept or if I just hallucinated for 8 hours.

Shakawkaw wrote:

NEdelton1987 wrote:I took strong sleeping pill the night before the LSAT. Got 99.9 percentile. You need to test out how sleeping works on you. If you use them right, the benefit is significant.

lol, cuz correlation = causation? sup 99.9th percentile. OP, if you try cocaine the morning of, you are guaranteed a 180 - it worked for me. but u need to test how it works for u beforehand.

I don't think he said his 99.9 score was a result of taking the sleeping pill. His statement works perfectly fine as a correlation.
The "benefit" at the end of his last sentence could be relating to sleep.

Yours on the other hand is a correlation =/ causation fallacy.

dabigchina wrote:I took melatonin for last years lsat. My advice is to use it to adjust your sleep schedule to an earlier time and to not take it before the test. Melatonin personally makes me groggy the next morning.

I would try to lower your dose if you are waking up in the middle of the night.

This is why I'd be hesitant about taking it the night before...try to adjust your cycle as of now so by the time the LSAT rolls around you're naturally falling asleep early enough.

start changing yuor wake up cycle right now. wake up at 5-6 so you're tired by the end of the day (assuming hyou don't sleep during the day or something). thats what i do.

The Avatar wrote:

NEdelton1987 wrote:I took strong sleeping pill the night before the LSAT. Got 99.9 percentile. You need to test out how sleeping works on you. If you use them right, the benefit is significant.

Which sleeping pill did you take?

I take 10 mg of melatonin, wakes me up at 3 am, can't sleep again until 5 am, then wake up at 10 fully alert and refreshed. However this is far too late.

This dosage is FAR too high. I have no idea why US pharmacies sell such high doses of melatonin. Probably reflects a "bigger is better" mentality.

Optimal dosage of melatonin is about .5 mg. That's 20x less than what you're taking.

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Why Take Melatonin

Sleep is crucial for optimal performance. Unlike most things in your life up to this point, the LSAT demands optimal performance. If you fall asleep at 4am the night before test day, you'll have a harder time on test day.

Sleeping pills are common. But these may degrade sleep quality. Melatonin is a superior option because it's the sleep hormone your body uses normally.

How to use melatonin

1. Buy liquid melatonin at a pharmacy. Optimal dosage is 0.5 mg, but most pills are 3-10mg. Liquid melatonin allows you to control dosage.
2. Test melatonin before test day. Take it ~30 min before going to sleep.
3. If groggy the next morning, or anything else is wrong, you took too much, reduce dosage. Note: if you are groggy, you can reduce impact by going to look up at the sky near (not at) the sun for a few minutes. The grogginess is because your body thinks it's night. Daylight exposure will alert your body that it's daytime.
4. Do NOT use melatonin regularly. This may reduce your natural production.

Other ways to ensure good sleep

• Avoid blue screens before bed. This includes television. Blue light signals daytime and keeps you up.
• On your computer, install flux. https://justgetflux.com/
• If your iphone is jailbroken, do the same.
• On android, use twilight: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... .lux&hl=en
• Remove or tape over any light sources in your bedroom, such as a wireless router or other electronics.

Why this isn't silly

I lift barbells. If I don't sleep well, I notice. I can't lift what I usually can lift.

Sleep deprivation is equivalent to mild intoxication. You don't normally notice this because most tasks you do are simple enough that you can perform them adequately while mildly intoxicated.

The LSAT is not something you can do well unless you're in peak condition. This is almost unique in your life. You need to take sleep, eating, exercise more seriously than most college students do, as those factors are crucial for peak performance.

Melatonin, used correctly (~0.5 mg dose), helps guarantee a good night's sleep even under conditions of stress. Test it, use it occasionally in small doses, and use it the night before the test. You'll sleep better and do better.

LSAT Hacks (Graeme) wrote:

The Avatar wrote:

NEdelton1987 wrote:I took strong sleeping pill the night before the LSAT. Got 99.9 percentile. You need to test out how sleeping works on you. If you use them right, the benefit is significant.

Which sleeping pill did you take?

I take 10 mg of melatonin, wakes me up at 3 am, can't sleep again until 5 am, then wake up at 10 fully alert and refreshed. However this is far too late.

This dosage is FAR too high. I have no idea why US pharmacies sell such high doses of melatonin. Probably reflects a "bigger is better" mentality.

Optimal dosage of melatonin is about .5 mg. That's 20x less than what you're taking.

-----------
Why Take Melatonin

Sleep is crucial for optimal performance. Unlike most things in your life up to this point, the LSAT demands optimal performance. If you fall asleep at 4am the night before test day, you'll have a harder time on test day.

Sleeping pills are common. But these may degrade sleep quality. Melatonin is a superior option because it's the sleep hormone your body uses normally.

How to use melatonin

1. Buy liquid melatonin at a pharmacy. Optimal dosage is 0.5 mg, but most pills are 3-10mg. Liquid melatonin allows you to control dosage.
2. Test melatonin before test day. Take it ~30 min before going to sleep.
3. If groggy the next morning, or anything else is wrong, you took too much, reduce dosage. Note: if you are groggy, you can reduce impact by going to look up at the sky near (not at) the sun for a few minutes. The grogginess is because your body thinks it's night. Daylight exposure will alert your body that it's daytime.
4. Do NOT use melatonin regularly. This may reduce your natural production.

Other ways to ensure good sleep

• Avoid blue screens before bed. This includes television. Blue light signals daytime and keeps you up.
• On your computer, install flux. https://justgetflux.com/
• If your iphone is jailbroken, do the same.
• On android, use twilight: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... .lux&hl=en
• Remove or tape over any light sources in your bedroom, such as a wireless router or other electronics.

Why this isn't silly

I lift barbells. If I don't sleep well, I notice. I can't lift what I usually can lift.

Sleep deprivation is equivalent to mild intoxication. You don't normally notice this because most tasks you do are simple enough that you can perform them adequately while mildly intoxicated.

The LSAT is not something you can do well unless you're in peak condition. This is almost unique in your life. You need to take sleep, eating, exercise more seriously than most college students do, as those factors are crucial for peak performance.

Melatonin, used correctly, helps guarantee a good night's sleep even under conditions of stress. Test it, use it occasionally in small doses, and use it the night before the test. You'll sleep better and do better.

Thanks a lot for this. Yea I bombed the September test due to a lack of sleep even though my practice test average is quite high. In order to ensure I don't have the same problem again, I'm trying out different sleeping aids. Melatonin works well but for its effect in waking me up in the middle of the night. I will try the liquid and see how it works.