I take melatonin every night and it is a tremendous help for me! My dr. approved me taking it and it doesn't interact with any of my other meds. I also have had NO side effects from it. My dr. said it is naturally occurring and not prone to have problems connected with taking it.
I tried the Ambien and it didn't work at all for me, just set the room to spinning for about 3 hrs. It was awful!
Most nites I just take the 3mg. but if I'm in a lot of pain or extra tired from overdoing it, then I take 6mg. All with my dr. approval before I started it.