When Should I Take Melatonin To Help Me Sleep

How Safe Is Melatonin For Daily Uses

Melatonin is safe to take because your body produces the same hormone naturally. Moreover, you do not become addicted to it if you use it to treat your sleep disorders. It is, however, important to take some precautionary measures if you are pregnant. Children should also avoid taking it. Always talk to your doctor if melatonin does not help improve your insomnia because it could be due to other conditions, including sleep apnea.

How Much Melatonin Should I Take

Melatonin supplements are available in a wide range of dosages, from 1 milligram up to 10 milligrams, and can be taken in pill form, as dissolvable tablets, liquid drops, or even gummies. However you take it, the best time to use melatonin is about 30 minutes before bedtime.

If youve never taken melatonin before, start small and work your way up if needed. For adults, Dr. Kohli recommends beginning with a 1 to 2 milligram dose daily and increasing the dosage by another 1 to 2 milligrams at a time. For children, the AAP says the dose should remain low , capping out at no more than 3 to 6 milligrams of melatonin. The maximum dosage for healthy adults ranges from 5 to 10 milligrams. If that sounds like a wide spectrum of normal, its because the right dose of melatonin is very individualized. According to University of Missouri Health Care neurologist Pradeep Bollu, MD, while some people respond well to 3 milligrams daily, others may need more or less. If you feel like you need more than 5 milligrams, you should talk to your doctor first before trying a higher dose. The more melatonin you take the more likely you are to have side effects. Melatonin dosage is fixed according to age, and does not vary by body weight.

Is It Safe To Take More Than One Dose During The Night

You may be wondering what happens if you take a dose of melatonin and find that you still cant fall asleep. Can you take another dose?

While taking an additional dose is unlikely to cause harm, it may increase your risk for experiencing unwanted side effects.

If you find that melatonin isnt helping you fall asleep, stop using it. Your doctor may be able to suggest different medications or strategies to help you fall asleep.

There are some important things to know about melatonin, its interactions with other substances, and when its best to avoid it. Lets take a closer look.

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How Do You Pick A Reliable Brand Of Melatonin

A study found that the content of more than 70 percent of melatonin supplements varied widely from their label claims. The concentration ranged from 83 percent less than the amount listed to 478 percent more.

Dr. Kolla advised looking for a GLP or GMP label, which refers to federal regulations designed to affirm a product has the advertised quality and purity. You really dont know what youre getting, so youre trusting the manufacturer, he said. Melatonin comes in pills, gummies or liquid the choice comes down to personal preference, he added.

What Medications And Substances Does Melatonin Interact With

Melatonin may interact with several different types of medications, including:

• Blood-thinning medications. Taking melatonin with blood-thinning medication may increase your risk for bleeding.
• Epilepsy medications . Melatonin may make these medications less effective.
• Immunosuppressants. Melatonin can potentially interfere with immunosuppressive drugs.
• Diabetes medications. Melatonin use can affect blood sugar levels.
• Blood pressure medications. Blood pressure may get worse when melatonin is taken with these medications.
• Contraceptive drugs.Birth control pills may increase the risk of side effects from melatonin.

Because melatonin supplements can make you tired and drowsy, avoid mixing them with:

• other sleep aids

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Melatonin Dosage And Preparations

Melatonin is sold as an over-the-counter dietary supplement in most grocery stores and pharmacies. You can also get different types of melatonin products online.

The Food and Drug Administration does not require the same evidence of safety and effectiveness for supplements, including melatonin, as prescription and OTC medications.

Melatonin comes in several forms, including tablets, lozenges, and gummies.

There are no official dosing guidelines for melatonin. It typically comes in doses that range from 1 mg to 10 mg.

It’s best to start with the lowest dose of melatonin and slowly increase the amount you take until you find what works for you.

In research studies, 3 mg of melatonin is a commonly used dose by people who use it for sleep benefits.

Does Melatonin Work For Shift Workers

Shift work that involves night shifts may cause people to feel sleepy at work and make it difficult to sleep during the daytime after a shift ends.

According to two 2014 research reviews, studies on whether melatonin supplements help shift workers were generally small or inconclusive.

• The first review looked at 7 studies that included a total of 263 participants. The results suggested that people taking melatonin may sleep about 24 minutes longer during the daytime, but other aspects of sleep, such as time needed to fall asleep, may not change. The evidence, however, was considered to be of low quality.
• The other review looked at 8 studies , with a total of 300 participants, to see whether melatonin helped promote sleep in shift workers. Six of the studies were high quality, and they had inconclusive results. The review did not make any recommendations for melatonin use in shift workers.

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How To Use Melatonin Properly

Dr. Andrefsky offers these tips for using melatonin:

Timing is key. Dont take melatonin right before bed because it takes several hours for it to become effective.

If you are a night owl who normally stays up past midnight, but would like to nod off around 11 p.m., take melatonin at 6 p.m. Conversely, if you go to bed at 8 p.m. and rise at 4 a.m., its better to take melatonin in the late morning or early afternoon.

Dont overdo it. More isnt better. Just 0.3 mg to 1 mg is sufficient, although many over-the-counter preparations may be upwards of 5 mg each. Overusing melatonin has consequences, including:

• Losing effectiveness over time because brain receptors get desensitized to it
• Worsening insomnia

When To Steer Clear

Certain people should be more cautious about melatonin use, particularly if it triggers a negative reaction, including those with:

• Chronic insomnia. Having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep that lasts a month or more shouldn’t be managed with melatonin, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American College of Physicians. These groups recommend other more proven remedies , noting that there is not enough evidence that melatonin is safe and effective for long-term use.
• Restless Legs Syndrome . The tingling or “creepy-crawly” feeling in the legs that often keeps people awake could be worsened by melatonin. The supplement can intensify RLS symptoms because it lowers the amount of dopamine in the brain, according to the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation. If you’ve been diagnosed with RLS or suspect that you have the condition, talk to your HCP about lifestyle changes or medications that could help.
• Dementia. This progressive cognitive deterioration is often associated with insomnia, which can tax both patients and their caregivers. But melatonin may do more harm than good among those with dementia since the condition causes people to metabolize the supplement more slowly, resulting in daytime drowsiness. In people with moderate or severe dementia, melatonin supplementation may increase the risk of falls, according to 2015 guidelines from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

If you’ve been drinking alcohol, it’s also not safe to take melatonin.

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Factors Affecting How Long Melatonin Lasts

But how long does melatonin last in your system? Melatonin typically stays in your system for around four to eight hours, but this range largely depends on external factors, including:

• Age: Your metabolism slows as you age, meaning the rate at which your body can metabolize the melatonin also slows. The older you are, the longer it may take for melatonin to wear off.
• Caffeine: Research has shown that caffeine can modify melatonin production to counteract the effectiveness of the supplement.
• Light exposure: Exposure to bright light, especially the blue light emitted from technology, can send signals to your brain that its daytime, making it harder for the melatonin to take effect.
• Body size: Factors like your height and weight impact how you absorb melatonin and how it affects you.
• Tobacco use: In animal studies, nicotine has been shown to inhibit melatonins effectiveness in the body.
• Other medications: Additional medications like blood thinners, immunosuppressants, and stimulants may counteract the effectiveness of melatonin.

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What Is Melatonin Exactly What Is It Used For

Its important to understand that melatonin isnt just a sleeping pill that will work for everybody. To understand why, we need to take a closer look at what melatonin is and the way it works.

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal glanda pea-sized gland in the middle of our brain. Its purpose is to regulate our circadian rhythm, helping our body to fall in line with the natural dark/light cycles of the sun. When the sun goes down, our pineal gland gets turned on by the suprachiasmatic nucleus located in the hypothalamus. Once stimulated, melatonin levels rise quickly to make you sleepy.

However, if you are not in a dimly lit environment, the brain is tricked into thinking it is still daytime. Thats why you dont get sleepy when youre on your tablet or watching TV. The blue light emitted from electronic devices suppresses our natural production of melatonin. So even if we know we are tired and need to go to sleep, our brain is getting the opposite message from our surroundings.

Millions of people turn to supplemental melatonin to help them avoid another sleepless night, and while its known to be a natural sleep aid, melatonin may not work for everyone.

The Morning After Taking Melatonin

To avoid having your alarm clock jolt you out of sleep before reaching the light sleep stage, consider going to bed earlier and replacing a noise alarm with a light alarm. Light alarms wake you more gently by increasing the amount of light until your dark room becomes bright, which also signals to your body to reduce melatonin and help push you into light sleep. The morning after taking melatonin, you should wake up feeling rested, relaxed and invigorated. If youâve gotten a full nightâs sleep, but still feel groggy when you wake, you may be taking too large of a dose of melatonin. Reduce your dose next time to see if that helps.

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Ask Keri: Should I Take Melatonin To Help Me Sleep

Home » Sleep Deep » Ask Keri: Should I Take Melatonin to Help Me Sleep?

Keri Says: By now, most of us understand the importance of sleep, yet most of us arent getting the quality shut-eye we need. To name a few of sleeps claims to fame, proper sleep is critical for weight management, alleviates stress, and assists in making exercise more focused and efficient. How much you sleep, as well as the quality of your sleep, will affect nearly every aspect of how you function each day.

Youve tried creating anevening routineyou sip on a relaxing cup ofchamomile tea, add sleep-inducing foods to your dinner, and consistently practice meditation, but youre still tossing and turning in the sheets. Before you throw your silk pillowcase across the room , theres another option to explore.

One question Im asked all the time is whether or not to take melatonin as a sleep aid. To find out if its right for you, heres the breakdown on the supplement.

Do Melatonin Supplements Work For Sleep

Given what scientists know about melatonin and its role in managing sleep, it seems like a supplement should help you slip into dreamland no problem, right? Well, yes and no.

According to guidelines from the American College of Physicians , research on the effectiveness of melatonin is either inconclusive or not strong enough to recommend it as a treatment for chronic insomnia.

This could be due to a number of things, from the unregulated nature of the supplements industry resulting in inconsistent dosage and formulation to how quickly synthetic melatonin is released into your bloodstream.

Melatonin doesnt live that long in your blood, so ideally, youd have a slow-release melatonin pill that would release it all the time and then abruptly stop, Hille explains.

A better bet for chronic insomnia, the ACP says, is cognitive behavior therapy. You can also look at minimizing any potential environmental and behavioral factors that might be messing with your sleep hygiene, like watching TV right before bedtime and drinking coffee too late in the day .

If you just have a random sleepless night every now and again, though, it might be worth a try. Some studies noted a mild improvement for participants using melatonin. Just be sure to talk to your doctor and stop using it if you dont notice an improvement in your sleep.

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What Else Is Important To Know About Melatonin

In order for natural melatonin to be truly effective, it’s best to be in a dark setting and limit light exposure because light prevents the hormone from doing its job, according to Ju.

“The effect of light on suppressing the melatonin that people have already in their brains is very strong, meaning the effect of light is probably 10 times that of melatonin,” says Ju. “Before someone takes melatonin, I would recommend that they actually work on their light exposure in the hour or so before bed time.”

Though taking a melatonin additive every day doesn’t generally lead to adverse effects, sometimes extra melatonin isn’t needed, says Ju. Here’s what she recommends doing before reaching for a supplement:

• Limit light exposure, especially blue light exposure from the screens of electronics, an hour before bed
• Stick to a regular bed time and wake time
• Follow a peaceful bedtime routine that helps calm your senses

“I think it’s very effective when people build in time to relax, journal, meditate, stretch, whatever it is that works for each individual to help them calm down the stresses of the day, so that they’re getting into bed calm and peaceful,” says Ju.

From Outer Space To The Bedroom

The study was partly designed to simulate shifting sleep schedules in astronauts on NASA’s space shuttle. But the results may also have meaning here on Earth.

The findings may apply to jet lag, night-shift workers, and people with advanced or delayed sleep phase syndrome, write Wyatt and colleagues.

The study included 36 healthy young adults aged 18-30 who didn’t have sleeping problems. The researchers gave participants a to-do list before the study started:

• Avoid alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, illegal drugs, and prescription medicines for three weeks.
• Stick to a regular sleep schedule for at least two weeks.
• Report daily bedtime and wake times to a laboratory voicemail.

After following those rules, participants reported to a sleep lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

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Are There Side Effects

The good news: In the short term, at least, melatonin is unlikely to do any harm.

Compared to most other sleeping pills, the side-effect profile is much better, and its not going to be addictive, said Dr. Bhanu Prakash Kolla, an associate professor of psychiatry and a consultant at the Center for Sleep Medicine at the Mayo Clinic. But because melatonin can cause drowsiness, the Mayo Clinic warns that you shouldnt drive or operate machinery within five hours of taking it.

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