How Much Melatonin Should I Take? The Appropriate Dosage

In the beginning, I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of taking any pills or supplements, so, I said to myself “okay if I’m going to take something to help me sleep, it better be something natural.”

I talked to medical professionals, researched, asked around, and I found the reasonable solution – melatonin.

Here’s the deal: Today, I’ll be answering all of these questions for you, and you will learn the proper way to manage your melatonin supplementation.

BUT: I need you to do something for me first.

If you are diagnosed with any sleep disorder, or you can recognize the symptoms of one of the following:

• Insomnia
• Sleep apnea
• Restless leg syndrome
• Narcolepsy

Talk to your doctor first.

They are the ones who should determine the course of your therapy. In some of these situations, melatonin might not be the right or the best treatment for you (e.g., in case of sleep apnea).

You should be aware that it is a sleeping aid, but it is not the cure.

Follow the same advice if your sleeping problems are a secondary symptom of some other health problem. In this case, melatonin can still be helpful, but make sure you treat the underlying health condition first.

It might also interact with the other medicaments you are taking, so, don’t forget to check with a medical professional if it is okay for you to use it.

Emily’s Take:

If your doctor decided to offer you melatonin supplements as a part of your therapy for your health problems, they’d give you a detailed explanation on how to use it.
My article is going to help you navigate your melatonin intake, but your doctor’s orders should be your priority.

Now, that this is clear, we can proceed to the fun part!

When the sun comes down and the evening starts, your brain increases the production of melatonin. Darkness triggers this clever mechanism, which tells you its time to sleep.

On the other hand, when morning comes, the concentration of this hormone in your brain significantly drops. Therefore, exposure to light affects melatonin production and signals that it’s time to wake up.

As you can see, your body and your brain are a well-organized system. The melatonin release is their way of communicating an important message – when it’s time to sleep and when it’s time to be awake.

Studies suggest that a significant percentage of people who struggle with falling and staying asleep might have a problem with melatonin deficiency.

That is why I recommend melatonin supplements as an aid for the regulation of natural sleep and wake cycle.

Even though they might help you achieve better sleep, melatonin supplements should be used in recommended amounts, at the appropriate time of day.

Emily’s Take:

When I first started taking melatonin, it was late autumn, early winter. The season of the colds. Surprisingly, I didn’t get sick, not even once, which was really weird in my case at the time.

After I’ve done some reading, I realized melatonin might have helped strengthen my immune system. I was thrilled when I learned about this benefit!

However, if you decide to go with a long-term melatonin consumption (up to two years, by mouth), you will still most likely be safe, but with certain side effects. These side effects include headaches, daytime sleepiness, irritability, short-term depression-like symptoms, dizziness and stomach cramps.

As melatonin affects your sleep and wake cycle, it is recommended that you avoid driving or using machinery for four or five hours after taking your daily dosage.

Special warnings you should have in mind

• If you are pregnant or breastfeeding,  it is best to stay away from melatonin. Studies suggest it is possibly unsafe when taken orally or injected during pregnancy. On the other hand, there is not enough evidence to draw definitive conclusions about the safety of melatonin supplementation during breastfeeding, which is why you should avoid it during this period.
• If you are trying to get pregnant,  you should stop using melatonin as well because it might interfere with ovulation and make the whole process more difficult for you.
• Think twice before giving melatonin to your children. It is only possibly safe when given orally, as a single dose. On the other hand, it is potentially unsafe when administered by mouth or injected, in multiple doses, even in the short-term. You should avoid giving or taking melatonin during adolescence as well, because of its interaction with other hormones and possible interference with child’s development.
• If you have any bleeding disorder,  you should be aware that melatonin might make bleeding worse, so consider other options.
• If you’ve struggled with depression during your life,  melatonin supplementation might not be such a good idea for you. The relation between sleep and depression is rather complicated, and studies have shown that melatonin might make your symptoms worse.
• In patients with diabetes, melatonin has a potential to increase blood sugar. This is why, if you decide to go with melatonin supplements as a sleep aid, you’ll need to monitor your blood sugar very carefully.
• Similarly, melatonin can raise your blood pressure if you are taking meds to control your hypertension. It is best that you avoid using it.
• If you are diagnosed with any seizing disorder,  you should be aware that melatonin could increase the risk of seizure.
• If you had a transplant surgery,  which means you received an organ, melatonin might interfere with immunosuppressive therapy you are taking. Melatonin supplements can increase immune function, which is excellent in general, but in this situation, it is counterproductive.

1Drugs melatonin can interact with

• Anticoagulants and antiplatelet medicines, supplements, and herbs;&nbsp – They are used for the reduction of blood clotting. If you combine them with melatonin, you are increasing the risk of bleeding.
• Anticonvulsants  – If you have a child with neurological problems, melatonin may inhibit the effects of these drugs.
• Blood pressure drugs  – Melatonin can potentially worsen your blood pressure in this combination.
• Contraceptive drugs  – Contraceptive pills might increase both melatonin’s effects and side effects.
• CNS depressants – Melatonin can cause an additive sedative effect when used in combination with CNS depressants.
• Cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) and cytochrome P450 2C19 (CPY2C19) substrates  – If you are taking drugs such as diazepam (Valium), melatonin might cause additional sleepiness and drowsiness.
• Diabetes medications  – In this case, melatonin might increase your sugar levels.
• Fluvoxamine (Luvox)  – When combined with melatonin, fluvoxamine can cause unwanted excessive drowsiness.
• Immunosuppressants  – Melatonin can boost your immune function and therefore, interfere with your immunosuppressive therapy.
• Seizure threshold lowering medications  – In this situation, melatonin might increase the risk of seizures.

3Why is staying away from alcohol crucial?

Take a look at this paradox:

Alcohol is a sedative, and it probably makes you sleepy after you had a few drinks. However, it reduces the amount of melatonin your body creates.

This can interrupt your already broken sleep cycle. Because of that interaction, combining alcohol and melatonin have adverse effects on your health.

This combination can increase melatonin’s potential side effects, such as:

• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Increased anxiety

At the same time, combining alcohol and melatonin can impair your liver’s ability to produce specific enzymes. This may result in following complications:

• Abnormally fast heartbeat
• Feeling unusually cold or shivering
• Flushing in your upper body and face
• Passing out
• Swelling in your ankles and feet
• Trouble breathing
• Trouble thinking clearly and focusing

The conclusion is, stay away from alcohol while you are taking melatonin. Hopefully, you won’t be taking it for a long time, so you’ll be able to get back to your glass of wine that you love so much sooner than you expect.

Emily’s Take:

The conclusion is, stay away from alcohol while you are taking melatonin. Hopefully, you won’t be taking it for a long time, so you’ll be able to get back to your glass of wine that you love so much sooner than you expect.

Here’s the detailed guide on how much melatonin you should take if you are an adult, consuming the supplement orally:

• If you have trouble falling asleep, you should take 0.3 to 5 mg of melatonin, each day. Make sure to limit the duration of your therapy to nine months max.
• If you are dealing with insomnia, 2 to 3 mg of melatonin will be sufficient. Take it before bedtime and try to keep your therapy short-term. However, you can use it for up to twenty-nine weeks.
  High doses of up to 12 mg daily can also be efficient, but only if you use them for shorter durations (up to four weeks).
• If you have sleeping problems caused by sleep-wake cycle disturbances, your doctor will recommend 2-12 mg of melatonin taken daily, at bedtime for up to four weeks.
• If you are a blind person who struggles with sleep disorders, 0.5 mg to 5 mg of melatonin, once a day, before bedtime is what’s recommended. You can continue this therapy for up to six years.
  If you are about to use higher doses, such as 10 mg an hour before bedtime, you should use it only for up to nine weeks.
• If you travel a lot and jet lag is a part of your everyday life, you can use 0.5-8 mg of melatonin at bedtime, on the arrival day at your destination.
  You should continue with this therapy for 2 to 5 days. If you want to avoid the hypnotic properties of high doses, you should stay with 0.5-3 mg.
• Melatonin supplements can also be used for the treatment of endometriosis, high blood pressure, jaw pain, to reduce anxiety before surgery or combined with conventional therapy as a treatment for solid tumors or as a treatment and prevention of lowered clot-forming cells associated with cancer chemotherapy.
  If you are interested to find out more about the right dosage for each of these problems, follow this link.
• As I already mentioned, melatonin can be used as a gel, applied to the skin. However, in this form, it won’t help your sleeping problems, but you can use it as a sunburn reliever.
  Usually, a gel contains 0.05% to 2.5% melatonin, and you should apply it 15 minutes before sun exposure or up to 4 hours after.

Remember, symptoms of melatonin overdose vary from one person to another, which means identifying them correctly might be a bit tricky. However, this is the list of symptoms that might appear in case you take more than 20-50mg:

• Confusion
• Depression
• Disorientation
• Drowsiness
• Headaches
• Eye issues
• Joint pain
• Lethargy
• Liver issues
• Nausea
• Psychotic thought patterns
• Seizures
• Speech impediment
• Stomach irritation
• Tremor
• Vomiting
• Weakness

Except for the symptoms on this list, melatonin overdose may also cause your blood pressure to drop beyond normal. If you have high blood pressure, nerve or liver disorders, it is best to get pre-screened before including melatonin supplementation in your daily routine.

Emily’s Take:

Before I was introduced to melatonin and the way it works, my primary concern was its lethal dosage. What I wanted to know was if there is a dosage of this supplement that could kill me so I could stay far, far, far away from it.

What I learned is that every single medicine on the market has its own “LD 50”. LD 50 is the lethal dose of the substance, an amount that kills at least 50% of the experimental animals (rat or mouse) it was tested on.

Melatonin is relatively safe, and your life wouldn’t be seriously endangered even if you took 100 times higher dose than recommended, as such high doses weren’t enough to cause death in a single mouse.

Remember, your body naturally produces more melatonin during the evening and night, when it’s dark outside. If you take your supplementation too early, before the sun starts to set or before your bedtime, you are putting yourself at risk of making the same mistake I made. You should never go against the natural sleep-wake cycle of your body.

So, make sure to take your melatonin before bedtime, as I stated in the guidelines above.

Emily’s Take:

The interesting thing you should know is that the first person who suggested melatonin as a solution to my sleep problems was my grandma!

She was taking them too at the time, and when your granny gives you advice, it must be good, right? Soon, I found out that as you age, your brain starts to release less and less melatonin.

So, when the elderly struggle with falling and staying asleep during the night, decreased melatonin production may be a significant part of the problem.

However, if you have seniors who are taking melatonin in your family, make sure they stay under close doctor’s supervision because their other health conditions and prescribed medications might have a complicated interaction with the supplementation.