To be serious for a moment, I'm wondering if the side-effect of powerful dreams after taking melatonin is due to the fact that the patient hasn't had much good REM sleep for a long time. Once the melatonin induces proper sleep, maybe the dreams are a sort of backlog where the brain catches up on its sorting process. (I believe dreams are necessary to the healthy functioning of the brain.) As I said in another thread, I sleep like a log and then some, but I have terrifying nightmares and scream like a stuck pig. My poor husband nearly has heart failure! I don't have these dreams during my afternoon nap, just at night.