Is melatonin safe, and can it affect your dreams?

As many as one in three U.S. adults aren’t getting the seven to eight hours of sleep they need. Whether it’s a bombardment of stressful headlines, endless scrolling on a blue-light screen, or working into (or through) the night, our circadian rhythms are easily thrown off by modern life.

To fall and stay asleep, over six million American adults are turning to melatonin supplements, sold over the counter at pharmacies and grocery stores across the country.

Many of these users report side effects like nightmares. What’s causing them? And what’s in the melatonin tablets, liquids, and sprays we’re taking? 

Melatonin and vivid dreams?

Usually, side effects of melatonin include drowsiness and headaches, but experiencing vivid dreams and nightmares is certainly not uncommon, says Dr. Suzie Bertisch, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and clinical director of behavioral sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Kin Yuen, a sleep medicine specialist at the University of California San Francisco, says higher doses of melatonin make dreams (and nightmares) more vivid and make us more likely to remember them after waking. 

(How COVID-19 can affect your sleep.)

One theory is that because melatonin increases time spent in REM cycles (when we dream), nightmares have a higher chance of appearing. Taking melatonin to help sleep when you’re experiencing emotional distress also presents a conundrum: are resulting nightmares a product of the melatonin, or the distress that caused poor sleep in the first place?

Currently, the reason many melatonin users experience nightmares remains unconfirmed. However, the fact that melatonin is widely available and doesn’t require a prescription in the U.S. and Canada—though it’s regulated in Australia, New Zealand, and most of Europe—may hold a partial answer.

Unpredictable product

Because melatonin is sold as a supplement, like vitamins, and not a medication, its regulation is limited. As a result, the amount of melatonin in a supplement can vary wildly, and may contain dangerous contaminants.

A landmark study that looked at 31 different melatonin supplements found melatonin content often varied greatly from the listed amount. One supplement had 478 percent more melatonin than what was listed on the label, another supplement had 83 percent less.

(How our body clock rules our lives.)

Almost one in three supplements tested also contained significant levels of serotonin, which can act in opposition to the supplement’s intended effect. Serotonin is associated with wakefulness and inhibition of REM sleep.

Serotonin is also strictly regulated and cannot be purchased over the counter. If someone taking another medication like an SSRI antidepressant took serotonin-contaminated melatonin, it could lead to serotonin overdose. Researchers urged manufacturers to identify where the serotonin was being introduced to their product—the origin of these contaminations are still unknown.

Medical-grade melatonin can be prescribed by a doctor and may help patients take a more pure, predictable dose.

How to use melatonin safely

Because the contents of melatonin supplements vary, Bertisch says there’s little data on the real world use of melatonin supplements over time. She says it’s generally safe for short term use in adults, like for getting over jet lag.

But kids’ use of melatonin supplements concern both Bertisch and Yuen. Bertisch says many parents are administering melatonin to their kids, but data on how this active hormone affects minors is very limited, especially over time. One theory is that melatonin supplements could affect fertility, though again, research is minimal at this point.

Melatonin is secreted naturally in people of all ages to signal us to wind down for bed, so changing habits like limiting screen time at night could be safer and more helpful than taking melatonin supplements.

(What is sundowning?)

Between 2012 and 2021, reports to U. S. poison control centers of children ingesting melatonin increased 530 percent, and melatonin became the most frequently ingested substance among children in 2020. Over 4,000 of the reported ingestions led to hospitalizations.

In September, The American Academy of Sleep Medicine urged parents to beware of melatonin gummies and chewable tablets on the market that can be easily administered to kids. They said this could lead to a melatonin overdose, which can manifest as headaches, dizziness and irritability.

Experts agree parents should check with a doctor before administering melatonin to kids. Also, given the lack of research on extended use, be careful about using melatonin long term, even if you’re an adult.

Melatonin Nightmares – Sleep Advisor

Disclaimer – Nothing on this website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment… Read More Here.

Melatonin is a hormone that our bodies naturally produce to regulate our circadian rhythms, or in other words, get us to sleep. For those who have trouble sleeping, melatonin supplements could be a lifesaver. They may help people not only fall asleep but stay asleep longer.

For some people, though, this longer sleep also comes with an unwanted, and often intolerable, side effect: nightmares. Here, we’ll talk about the science behind melatonin and nightmares, how to navigate and lessen this side effect, and any other common melatonin side effects you should be aware of, so hopefully, you can sleep – and dream – easily.

Navigation

Does melatonin cause nightmares?

Melatonin Nightmares vs. Melatonin Dreams

Navigating Melatonin Side Effects

Conclusion

NavigationDoes melatonin cause nightmares?

Melatonin Nightmares vs. Melatonin Dreams

Navigating Melatonin Side Effects

Conclusion

Before you read on, can you help us gather some data on the topic of melatonin nightmares?

Does Melatonin Cause Nightmares?

Yes, melatonin can cause nightmares in some people but not in everyone.

There’s no clear-cut answer as to why some people experience nightmares due to melatonin and others don’t, but this particular side effect does seem to be more common in children. This may be because when we are children, a higher percentage of our sleep¹ is spent in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. As we get older, we spend less and less time in REM sleep.

This makes sense when you consider children naturally produce more melatonin² than adults, and a 2004 clinical trial³ found that melatonin increases the amount of time spent in REM sleep. REM sleep is one of the two phases of sleep we naturally cycle through throughout the night, the other being non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep.

Non-REM sleep happens first and includes three stages. The last stage of Non-REM sleep is when you sleep deeply, and it can be hard to wake up from this stage.

Then comes REM sleep. This happens about an hour and a half after falling asleep and at first, lasts about 10 minutes, but each REM stage that follows throughout the night gets longer and longer. During this type of sleep, our brain activity increases again, becoming just as active as it is during waking hours. This is the sleep stage where we’ll have vivid or intense dreams and it is pivotal for storing and erasing memories.

Scientists⁴ believe if you are spending more time in the sleep stage when vivid dreams are most likely to occur, due to additional melatonin, it may naturally lead to an increase in vivid or bad dreams. For children, who spend a higher percentage of their sleep in REM and are already having vivid dreams – including more nightmares than adults – supplemented melatonin might cause more nightmares.

Another study⁵ helps explain this further. The study found that when you’re in REM sleep, melatonin releases a substance called vasotocin. Vasotocin plays an important role in memory– or rather, forgetting. Vasotocin seems to help the brain erase recent memories, specifically while you are dreaming.

This means taking supplemental melatonin can boost the amount of vasotocin in your brain, leading to longer periods of memory-erasing sleep that leave you with intense dreams.

“Longer periods of memory-erasing sleep” might sound as scary as a nightmare, but before you start thinking that melatonin will go and erase all your memories, it’s actually the opposite. A recent study⁶ found that after melatonin broke down in the body, one of the resulting molecules helped improve long-term memory.

Melatonin Nightmares vs. Melatonin Dreams

While some people experience nightmares from melatonin, others experience more vivid, memorable, and even lucid dreams. After all, if melatonin increases the amount of REM sleep you are getting, it makes sense that you would have more vivid dreams.

Why, though, do some people have nightmares versus just more vivid dreams on melatonin? What exactly is the difference?

According to Mayo Clinic, a nightmare is “a disturbing dream associated with negative feelings, such as anxiety or fear that awakens you.” A vivid dream, on the other hand, might still be intense or memorable the next day, but won’t likely cause you to wake up in fear, panic, sweat, or with a racing heart.

A 2019 review⁷ theorizes that nightmares are caused by a combination of hyperarousal and the brain’s inability to remove or process fearful thoughts. You’re more likely to have nightmares if you are dealing with trauma, anxiety, PTSD, obstructive sleep apnea, or insomnia.

Therefore, the difference between those who have nightmares from melatonin and those who merely have vivid dreams may have to do with things like trauma, anxiety, and other preexisting conditions or life circumstances.

A 2019 study⁸ found that side effects like nightmares and vivid dreams either resolved spontaneously after a few days with no adjustment in dosage or immediately upon stopping melatonin. This same study notes that this particular side effect is rare on melatonin, though doesn’t give an exact number.

Conversely, another study⁹ points to melatonin’s ability to help people who experience nocturnal visual hallucinations, or night terrors. The researchers looked at the cases of several people who were having frightening visions and hearing things that disappeared when the lights came on. The researchers found that taking 5 milligrams of melatonin helped stop these hallucinations almost immediately and taking 5 milligrams of delayed-release melatonin helped reduce the number of times people experienced these hallucinations.

How Do I Stop Nightmares from Melatonin?

If you’re experiencing nightmares from melatonin, there are ways to minimize this side effect.

First of all, you might try lowering the dose. Cleveland Clinic¹⁰ recommends taking just 1 to 3 milligrams to avoid side effects like nightmares. The timing of when you take melatonin may also be important. A study¹¹ found that taking melatonin 2-4 hours before bed helped participants sleep more deeply and soundly than taking it closer to bedtime. This could also help with any next-day side effects, like sleepiness, you might experience.

You also need to make sure you are taking a high-quality melatonin supplement from a reputable company. Since the FDA doesn’t regulate supplements like melatonin, it means the actual concentration of melatonin in your supplement may not be what it says on the label. In fact, one study¹² analyzed 31 melatonin supplements and found that the actual melatonin content ranged from -83 percent to +478 percent of the labeled content.

One way to ensure you’re getting what it says on the label is to make sure your melatonin supplement is approved by the US Pharmacopeia. Check the label for the phrase “USP verified.”

You’ll need to rule out other possible causes of nightmares as well.

Do you eat certain foods that might cause nightmares late at night? One study¹³ shows that dairy and sugar eaten late at night are more likely to cause nightmares.

Are you taking a supplement that has melatonin plus other ingredients? Some natural sleep aids that are often bundled with melatonin in various sleep supplements are notorious for causing nightmares. Valerian root¹⁴, for example, has been shown to cause vivid dreams, which could also mean more nightmares.

Remember to consult your healthcare practitioner when adding any new supplements to your routine. We often think that just because something is sold over-the-counter or is natural it is safe, but that’s not always the case, especially if you’re taking other medications or have specific health conditions.

Navigating Melatonin Side Effects

If you’ve ruled out any other nightmare-causing sleep aids, foods, or drinks, you’ve lowered the dose and started taking it earlier in the evening, and melatonin is still giving you nightmares, ask yourself first: Is it helping you otherwise? If not, you can simply stop taking it. There is no need to wean off of it.

If it is helping you sleep, though, and you want to keep taking it, there are some things you can do to navigate this side effect. As mentioned before, you should first try lowering the dose and taking it further out from bedtime.

You can also make some lifestyle changes to help avoid nightmares in general.

Since a major cause of nightmares is stress or anxiety, one way to curb nightmares is to establish a calming bedtime routine. This could be something like journaling, making some calming tea, or meditating; just something that will allow your brain to wind down after the day before you go to bed.

You might also want to have support if you are having nightmares. This could be a partner, friend, or family member who you can talk to about your dreams and who can remind you that you’re okay. If your nightmares are persistent or impacting your life, talking to a doctor or therapist can be helpful.

You can also cuddle up or sleep next to somebody, as research¹⁵ shows cuddling releases hormones that can improve your mood and help you feel more relaxed. If you don’t sleep well next to somebody or don’t have that option, sleeping with something like a stuffed animal or pillow can also provide some comfort.

You can also try a nightlight. Although these are usually marketed for kids’ rooms, if you wake up from a nightmare, it can be comforting to turn on a dim light to help you calm down and get back to sleep. Try a light that emits a red glow rather than a blue or white light so that it won’t disrupt your sleep.

Other Melatonin Side Effects

Nightmares due to melatonin are relatively uncommon, though there are some other melatonin side effects¹⁶ that are more likely:

• Headache
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Drowsiness

Daytime drowsiness is the most commonly reported side effect and can easily be mitigated by lowering the dose, taking melatonin earlier in the evening, and making sure to take a single-release dose rather than a controlled- or time-release dose.

Other less common side effects can include:

• Depression
• Mild Tremor
• Mild Anxiety
• Abdominal Cramps
• Irritability
• Reduced Alertness
• Confusion
• Low blood pressure

If you experience persistent side effects from taking melatonin even after lowering the dose and taking it earlier, you can safely stop taking it without weaning off.

Additional reading: How to Use Melatonin Safely

Conclusion

Melatonin is generally considered to be a safe, non-habit-forming, natural, and relatively side-effect-free sleep aid compared to other, heavier-duty sleep aids on the market.

If you have difficulty sleeping, melatonin could be a game-changer. Unfortunately, it can come with the side effect of more vivid dreams or nightmares for some people, though there are things you can do to mitigate these dreams. Start with good sleeping habits, and then try changing the dose or taking melatonin earlier in the evening. If melatonin doesn’t work for you, you can simply stop taking it.

References:

1. El Shakankiry HM. “Sleep physiology and sleep disorders in childhood”. National Library of Medicine. 2011.
2. Wurtman, Richard. “Age-Related Decreases in Melatonin Secretion—Clinical Consequences”. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2000.
3. Kunz D, Mahlberg R, Müller C, Tilmann A, Bes F. “Melatonin in patients with reduced REM sleep duration: two randomized controlled trials”. National Library of Medicine. 2004.
4. “Nightmare Disorder”. Mayo Clinic. Last modified June 5, 2021.
5. Maurizi CP. “The function of dreams (REM sleep): roles for the hippocampus, melatonin, monoamines, and vasotocin”. National Library of Medicine. 1987.
6. Tokyo Medical and Dental University. “Melatonin: finally, a supplement that actually boosts memory”. Journal of Pineal Research. 2020.
7. Gieselmann A, Ait Aoudia M, Carr M, Germain A, Gorzka R, Holzinger B, Kleim B, Krakow B, Kunze AE, Lancee J, Nadorff MR, Nielsen T, Riemann D, Sandahl H, Schlarb AA, Schmid C, Schredl M, Spoormaker VI, Steil R, van Schagen AM, Wittmann L, Zschoche M, Pietrowsky R. “Aetiology and treatment of nightmare disorder: State of the art and future perspectives”. National Library of Medicine. 2019.
8. Besag, Frank M C., Vasey, Michael J., Lao , Kim S J., Wong, Ian C K. “Adverse Events Associated with Melatonin for the Treatment of Primary or Secondary Sleep Disorders: A Systematic Review”. National Library of Medicine. 2019.
9. Lysenko MD, Liudmila., Bhat MD, Sushanth. “Melatonin-Responsive Complex Nocturnal Visual Hallucinations”. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2018.
10. “Can Melatonin Cause Bad Dreams? What Experts Say”. Cleveland Clinic. 2021.
11. Zhdanova IV, Wurtman RJ, Morabito C, Piotrovska VR, Lynch HJ. “Effects of low oral doses of melatonin, given 2-4 hours before habitual bedtime, on sleep in normal young humans”. National Library of Medicine. 1996.
12. Savage, Rosemary A., Zafar, Nowera., Yohannan, Sandesh., Miller, John-Mark M. “Melatonin”. National Library of Medicine. Last modified August 8, 2023. 2023.
13. Nielsen T, Powell RA. “Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: food and diet as instigators of bizarre and disturbing dreams”. National Library of Medicine. 2015.

Natalie G.

Natalie is a content writer for Sleep Advisor with a deep passion for all things health and a fascination with the mysterious activity that is sleep. Outside of writing about sleep, she is a bestselling author, improviser, and creative writing teacher based out of Austin.

When she’s doing none of these things, you will most likely find her outdoors, at the gym, or… asleep.

Can melatonin make dreams more vivid? Side effects of melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone produced naturally in the human body. The small pineal gland, which is shaped like a ball and located in the center of the brain, is responsible for its production. In addition, it is responsible for the use of serotonin, which is also necessary for the regulation of sleep cycles. Melatonin is a key hormone responsible for the circadian rhythm – the period of falling asleep and waking up. Therefore, this substance is often advertised as a dietary supplement that can improve the quality of sleep and speed up the process of falling asleep.

Due to the fact that the human body is able to generate this substance on its own, research on whether supplemental melatonin improves sleep quality is not entirely conclusive. But other experiments report an interesting side effect that melatonin provides, which is strange or more vivid dreams that cannot be experienced without increasing melatonin levels.

Let’s take a look at what the research says about the effects of melatonin on dreams. Let’s see if this substance can cause nightmares, and what processes take place in the brain with side effects from taking melatonin.

Melatonin and dreams

Before we get into the side effects of melatonin, it’s worth discussing a study that suggests the exact opposite. It reports that melatonin can treat people who experience agonizing hallucinations at night.

Hallucinations

In 2018, Trusted Source Laboratories conducted a series of studies in which they studied cases when people saw frightening objects or events at night and heard strange sounds that disappeared when the lights were turned on. As a result of the experiments, it was found that taking 5 milligrams of melatonin with a delayed release helps to reduce the number of cases of hallucinations. However, taking less than 5 milligrams of the substance had no effect. The result of this study showed that taking the indicated dose of melatonin can get rid of nightmares.

Vivid dreams

Some studies have shown that melatonin may have the opposite effect. Taking this supplement may reduce the likelihood of vivid dreams. However, can he make dreams more vivid?

Memory processing

In 1987, Trusted Source Laboratories studied the involvement of melatonin in the brain’s ability to store and erase recent memories. Research has shown that during deep sleep, melatonin promotes the release of a substance called vasotocin, which helps the brain erase memories of real-life events. At the same time, it is in this sleep cycle that a person has the most vivid dreams, which are best remembered.

Melatonin supplementation can increase the production of vasotocin, which is released in your brain. This leads to an increase in the duration of the deep phase of sleep, erasing memory, increasing the brightness and duration of dreams.

Trusted Source research in 1998 found the effect of melatonin tablets on the quality of sleep of people suffering from schizophrenia, whose brain constantly has trouble remembering information. The average person’s brain erases the memory of dreams as soon as you wake up. Therefore, people are able to tell the difference between dreams and real memories. But in the brain of a person with schizophrenia, vasotocin is not always properly released by melatonin. This means that dream memories are not erased upon awakening, which weakens the brain’s ability to distinguish them from reality. Thus, melatonin is used by the body as a mechanism for storing, erasing, and making sense of memories. This means that any change in melatonin levels affects the brightness and perception of dreams.

Sleep quality

Other studies support the notion that melatonin leads to more episodes in the sleep cycle when a person has the ability to have vivid dreams.

During a major study conducted in 2013, Trusted Source conducted 19 different experiments involving 1683 people. In them, the laboratory studied the effect of melatonin on the quality of sleep in ordinary people and those suffering from insomnia. The results showed that melatonin improved sleep quality, increased sleep duration, and reduced the time it took to fall asleep.

A 2012 Trusted Source study showed that melatonin can improve jet lag by synchronizing the internal clock with the new time zone. People who frequently move from one time zone to another often report that they do not remember dreams due to impaired REM sleep. However, melatonin supplementation may enable people to fall into deep sleep and have vivid dreams.

The effect of melatonin on people with various diseases

A 2018 Trusted Source study found the effect of melatonin on the sleep of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other health conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, insomnia and high blood pressure. According to his results, a decrease in the level of melatonin released at night in people with Alzheimer’s and other diseases negatively affects the sleep cycle. This exacerbates symptoms and has a devastating effect on the condition of people, which significantly impairs their quality of life.

However, supplementation with melatonin may relieve some symptoms by supporting brain fitness and sleep cycles. But more research is needed to confirm these results.

Melatonin and nightmares

There is much less research to suggest how melatonin might affect nightmares. A 2015 report from a research center found a possible link between melatonin and nightmare episodes. However, there is no guarantee that the hormone melatonin was the source of the nightmares.

This report looked at the case of a person with insomnia who started taking a drug called ramelteon, which interacts directly with receptors in the brain, allowing melatonin to stimulate the person’s natural sleep cycle. After a certain period of taking ramelteon, the person reported that he was having nightmares. At the same time, the nightmares stopped almost immediately after the doctor told the patient to stop taking the medication.

This case suggests that melatonin is directly involved in the processes that control visions and nightmares during sleep. The study also points out that the exact reason for this effect is not clear. Therefore, in order to more accurately understand what is happening, it is necessary to conduct additional experiments.

Why this happens

It is still not entirely clear why the level of melatonin in your body directly affects the vividness and richness of dreams.

Vasotocin

Vasotocin production during sleep may be one of the key factors affecting sleep. This substance is directly involved in the regulation of sleep, and increasing the amount of melatonin can affect how much vasotocin is generated in the body. Therefore, melatonin supplements can affect the duration of sleep and the vividness of dreams.

Memory processing

Dreams themselves are the result of melatonin and vasotocin. These substances help the brain make sense of your memories. The more melatonin in your body, the more impact it can have on memory and remembering events that occur in a dream. Including melatonin supplements in your diet will increase the vividness and number of your dreams, as well as help your brain distinguish between reality and dreams.

Side effects of melatonin supplements

There is not much evidence that taking melatonin, even at high levels, causes any harmful, dangerous, or long-term side effects. But some side effects have been documented. One of the most common side effects of taking melatonin is feeling sleepy during the work day.

In fact, increased sleepiness is not a side effect of melatonin in the truest sense of the word. This effect means that the additive is doing its job. Melatonin may improve the quality of sleep at night, but supplementing with it may cause drowsiness during the day.

Before taking melatonin for sleep, you should be familiar with its other side effects. These include:

headaches;

dizziness;

nausea;

depression;

trembling in hands;

anxiety;

disruption of the gastrointestinal tract;

increased irritability;

decrease in the level of attention;

disorientation;

lowering of blood pressure;

moderate decrease in body temperature.

Melatonin can also interact with other drugs. Thus, the use of this supplement in combination with sleeping pills can adversely affect memory and muscle reaction speed. Therefore, when using melatonin, it is strongly not recommended to drive a car.

The supplement may also thin the blood and enhance the effects of similar drugs, especially warfarin.

Conclusion

There is no conclusive evidence that melatonin supplementation affects the vividness of dreams. However, scientists have proven a close relationship between melatonin and vasotocin, which is released during sleep, which allows you to dream and separate them from real memories. Therefore, changes in dreams after taking melatonin or any drugs that affect the production of this substance are not accidental.

Sources

• Ferracioli-Oda, E, et al. (2013). Meta-Analysis: Melatonin for the Treatment of Primary Sleep Disorders.
  ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3656905/
• Kelly P.H. (1998). Defective inhibition of dream event memory formation: A hypothesized mechanism in the onset and progression of symptoms of schizophrenia.
  ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9667811
• Lysenko L, et al. (2018). Melatonin-responsive complex nocturnal visual hallucinations. DOI:
  10.5664/jcsm.7074

how it works in the body, how it works in tablets, is it possible to drink without prescription

Medicine and health

11/14/22

Daniil Davydov

medical journalist

Author profile

The short answer is that it depends on the dosage.

But you need to keep in mind that melatonin is in principle contraindicated for some people.

Go see a doctor

Our articles are written with love for evidence-based medicine. We refer to authoritative sources and go to doctors with a good reputation for comments. But remember: the responsibility for your health lies with you and your doctor. We don’t write prescriptions, we give recommendations. Relying on our point of view or not is up to you.

What is melatonin

Melatonin belongs to the class of neurohormones — this is the name of all hormones that are synthesized in the brain. Based on available data, melatonin has many biological functions, from fighting inflammation to lowering blood pressure.

What is melatonin – an international textbook for medical students StatPearls

But the main task of melatonin is to maintain the daily rhythms of the body. Simply put, melatonin is responsible for the regulation of our biological clock: it moves it from the “sleep” to the “wake” position, and vice versa.

Why do we need melatonin – an international directory of medicines Drugs.com

This is necessary to separate different physiological processes in time: to make sure that the mechanisms responsible for digestion and, for example, learning, turn on during the day. And at night, during rest, it is more convenient to do other things – for example, the restoration of cells damaged during the day and the formation of a long-term memory that stores the knowledge gained during daylight hours. As a result, the body really starts to work like a clock: it does everything on time, so that different processes do not interfere with each other.

The biological clock, which ensures the smooth functioning of the body, consists of three elements:

1. The retina of the eye, which captures light.
2. The suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, or SCN, is an area of ​​the brain that is sensitive to the change of day and night.
3. The pineal gland is a part of the brain where melatonin is synthesized.

The eyes tell the SCN the time of day and it decides if it’s time for the pineal gland to stimulate melatonin

If no light hits the retina, it relays the information to the suprachiasmatic nucleus so that the pituitary gland tells the pineal gland to begin melatonin synthesis. Melatonin is the message “night has come” encrypted in the chemical.

When this neurohormone enters the bloodstream, the brain and internal organs understand that it is time to do night activities. As a result, we begin to feel sleepy. And the more melatonin in the blood, the more you want to sleep.

The effect of light on circadian rhythms, sleep and mood of people – the journal “Somnology”

The peak of melatonin synthesis falls on the period from 23:00 to 03:00 – at this time, the concentration of melatonin in the blood reaches 200 pg / ml, and sleep in healthy people is the strongest.

If even a little light hits the retina, it sends another signal to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, and the hypothalamus tells the pineal gland to stop melatonin synthesis. As a result, the body decides that morning is coming, and gradually begins to wake up, that is, it turns off the night processes and turns on the day ones.

The more light, the less melatonin: during the day, the concentration of this hormone in the blood drops 10 times to 20 pg/ml. That is why it is not recommended to use a smartphone and other devices with luminous screens at night: blue light from gadgets suppresses melatonin synthesis and it becomes more difficult to fall asleep.

6 things for healthy sleep

How melatonin drugs and supplements work

People have created melatonin drugs to manually reset their body clock. The body does not care where melatonin enters the bloodstream – from the pineal gland or from a pill.

How melatonin drugs work – an international guide for doctors Uptodate

And if so, then theoretically such drugs can help with insomnia and other conditions in the regulation of which melatonin is involved. For example, with the jet lag syndrome that occurs due to long-haul flights – jet lag. People suffering from jet lag complain of fatigue, insomnia, headache and loss of appetite.

However, medicines and preparations in which melatonin is the active substance have not been fully studied, and their effect is still relatively modest. The strongest evidence for the effectiveness of melatonin is associated with sleep disturbances in blind people, as well as in those who have trouble falling asleep and disturbed sleep-wake cycles. Some authors add jetlag to the list.

Melatonin is only effective for sleep problems – International Drug Directory RxList

Melatonin may be effective for jet lag MSD

Sleep disorders. Results from 19 clinical trials involving more than 1,500 children and adults showed that people who took melatonin for 2-5 weeks fell asleep 7 minutes earlier and slept about 8 minutes longer than those who received placebo. True, it was not possible to prove that in the end they slept better. The dosages of melatonin taken by the participants varied, ranging from 0.5 to 5 mg on average.

Jetlag. Four studies involving 232 people showed that people who took 3-6 mg of melatonin tablets for 5 days before and after a flight rated the severity of jet lag symptoms on a 100-point scale of 27 points. Those who took the placebo rated the severity of their symptoms on the same scale at 45 points.

Melatonin may well be effective for endometriosis, high blood pressure, anxiety before surgery, jaw pain, low platelet counts, as an adjunct to chemotherapy for certain tumors, or as sunscreen. But to say for sure, more research is needed to clearly show its effectiveness.

Why participate in cancer clinical trials and how to find them

Likely melatonin does not help with drug withdrawal, does not alleviate dementia, does not help correct sleep patterns in shift workers, does not improve performance in the gym, does not cure infertility and depression.

At the same time, most researchers note that melatonin is a rather promising substance. To finally admit it to the world of big medicine, several large clinical trials will be required. Without this, it is difficult to figure out which diseases benefit from melatonin the most and in what dosages it works best.

Until such studies appear, the attitude towards melatonin in the world is ambiguous. In the USA, for example, there are no medicines with melatonin, but only nutritional supplements that can be bought in any dosage without a doctor’s prescription. Both OTC medicines and melatonin supplements are available in our country.

Preparation with melatonin. Price: 150 R. Source: “Asna” Additive with him. Price: 990 R. Source: “Vitaminonline.ru”

But in the UK, the European Union, Japan, Australia and Canada, melatonin is available only in the form of a prescription drug.

Why melatonin is only sold in the European Union in drug form – Bulletin of the European Medical Agency

The sale of melatonin supplements in these countries is in principle prohibited, and this ban has serious justifications.

What happens if you take melatonin without consulting your doctor

It depends on the concentration of melatonin in the supplement or medication. Studies show that the effect depends on the dosage.

At a daily dose of 0.3-0.5 mg melatonin levels in the blood do not exceed the natural nocturnal peak. As a result, the effect of it is the same as that of “natural” melatonin, that is, a person falls asleep faster and more soundly. Melatonin in such dosages does not harm health.

At a daily dose of 1-10 mg of , the level of melatonin in the blood increases by 3-60 times. Although melatonin itself is not poisonous, at such concentrations it has an overly powerful biological effect on the body. A person who has taken a supplement or medication may experience severe daytime sleepiness, reduced performance, and a drop in body temperature that will feel like an unpleasant chill.

Melatonin 0.3-0.5 mg is considered safe and can be taken without discomfort by most people.

Side effects of melatonin – Drugs.com International Drug Directory

However, it can still cause side effects in some people:

1. Daytime sleepiness.
2. Depressed mood, feeling of irritability.
3. Headache or dizziness.
4. Abdominal pain.

Pregnant women, children under 18, and people with medical conditions should always consult their doctor before purchasing melatonin products. In pregnant women and children, melatonin sometimes behaves unpredictably. And in people with diseases, the consequences can be very severe.

Melatonin supplements and medicines do not work well with certain medicines. For example, caffeine and the antidepressant fluvoxamine can increase plasma melatonin concentrations, increasing the risk of side effects from taking this drug.

Melatonin: 7 things you need to know – International Medicines Guide Drugs.com

Melatonin can lower the concentration of nifedipine. This is quite dangerous, because nifedipine is a drug for high blood pressure. If such a medicine does not work or is not effective enough, it is life-threatening.

Melatonin supplements and medications cause severe side effects in some patients. For example, they can cause bleeding in people with bleeding disorders, increase blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, provoke convulsions in people with seizure disorders, and increase depression symptoms in people with depression. And melatonin can lead to transplant rejection – this is true for people who have recently undergone an organ transplant.