On my obsessive quest for the ever-evasive Fountain of Youth, I began taking melatonin supplements.  A natural compound created in the human body, the hormone adjusts sleep-wake cycles, aids sleep, and most importantly, detoxifies the body from harmful free radicals.  A great side-effect is it’s supposed anti-aging properties.

However, while saying auf wiedersehen to wrinkles and icky toxins, I’ve experienced one curious side effect: vivid dreams.  For the past three days of taking the supplement (it’s a sublingual by Source Naturals, so I just let the orange-flavored pill dissolve under my tongue at bedtime), weird and, I must admit, violent dreams occur while in deep slumber.

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I won’t go into the details since they’re a bit intense and gruesome, but let’s can say that each dream involved knives and murders.  For someone who rarely remembers a dream and practically never possesses violent thoughts, melatonin seems to have more control over my body than expected.

That being said, I’ve decided to take the supplement 1-2 times a week rather than each night.  It’s antioxidant properties and ability to reverse aging attract me too much to dump the pills in the john, but I cannot deal with freaky dreams every single night of the week.

Each person reacts differently to the supplement, so if you want to experience melatonin’s healthy properties, go ahead and purchase some! They’re available in most drugstores.  I got mine at Whole Foods in downtown Austin.  Who knows, maybe I’m the only one to experience murderous dreams; after all, my friends say their dreams become more vivid when using the supplement, sans knives and other peculiarities.