Stop Taking Melatonin Every Night (Why I Stopped Cold-Turkey)
If you are taking melatonin every night, you need to read this. A natural, non-habit forming pill that helps you fall asleep sounds great in theory, but at what cost?
This post is not directed toward you if you only take melatonin every once and a while. But, if you are taking it every single night (or nearly every night), STOP TAKING IT NOW!
Sorry to yell at you. I just care too much to let you make the same mistakes that I did.
I don’t usually get riled up about things, but sleep is something I’m pretty passionate and this is a post from my very unpleasant personal experience.
I Was Taking Melatonin Every Day
I have taken a very low dose of melatonin (3 mg) almost every night since college.
It worked great for me!
Over that decade, I slowly increased my dose from 3 mg to 5mg.
I popped a pill about an hour before bedtime and it would get my just drowsy enough to fall asleep at the same time every night without giving me any lingering grogginess the next day.
BUT (and this is a very big but)…I have basically spent the last decade messing up my body’s natural sleep cycle.
And about a month ago, the unthinkable happened…
the melatonin just stopped working.
When Melatonin Stops Working
Overnight, it went from doing its normal job to not even spurring a hint of drowsiness.
I tried doubling the dose…nothing.
I tried tripling the dose…it didn’t help me fall asleep one bit, but I did feel groggy the next day.
I tried taking Tylenol PM for a few nights to get myself back on my normal sleep schedule (because I keep myself on a very strict sleep routine to stay as healthy and high functioning as possible).
It worked for a day or two and then that stopped working, too.
I am doing everything else right.
- I go to bed at the same time every night.
- I have a calming bedtime routine with lavender scented bed spray, chamomile tea, a few stretches, my gratitude journal, a guided relaxation recording, and lots of prayer.
- I’m using a sleep mask in a cool, dark bedroom.
- I’m not drinking any caffeine and I don’t eat chocolate after noon.
- I’m exercising and eating well.
So, basically, my body is now revolting against sleep altogether.
After years of taking melatonin (which I justified because it was such a low dose and it was all natural), I destroyed my body’s ability to fall asleep naturally.
It suppresses your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, which can be great for adjusting to a new time zone while you are traveling, but not great on a daily basis.
Breaking the Dependence
It’s interesting that I let it go on for so long because I only let myself drink coffee once or twice a week because I never wanted to become reliant on the caffeine regularly to get me through the day.
Instead, I became dependent on melatonin, the natural, non-habit forming sleep aid.
It’s not the worst thing in the world for you, but it is also (really, really) not the best.
Consumer Reports actually just came out with an article about the serious safety concerns associated with melatonin (dizziness, nausea, vivid dreaming, and sleepiness) and this article from Huffington Post mentions some pretty serious side effects (kidney and liver issues, amplifying insomnia, impeding normal hormone development), as well.
I know how tempting it is to reach for things that will seemingly make our lives easier. Popping a melatonin is far easier than keeping our stress in check and making it a priority to relax at bedtime.
But at what cost?
At some point, all of the caffeine and melatonin overtake our natural signals so that our body can’t even tell us what we actually need anymore.
What Happens When You Stop Taking Melatonin?
The good news is, your body can reset its natural sleep-wake cycles. The bad news is, it doesn’t happen overnight (think more like 2-3 weeks).
I have slept 7-8 hours a night with melatonin for about a decade.
I stopped taking it altogether two weeks ago and was only sleeping 4-5 restless hours a night (more a product of exhaustion than a time of refreshment).
Then, something wonderful started to happen.
For the last three nights, I was actually able to fall asleep in under an hour and stay asleep all night long!
- I get tired at bedtime.
- I’ve been waking up a few minutes before my alarm clock in the morning.
- And I actually feel rested, something I am not taking for granted!
I am absolutely convinced that taking melatonin for a few days every once and a while to help your body reset (like with jetlag) is a great thing, but taking it every single night, relying on a fabricated form on melatonin instead of your body’s natural sleep cycle is a terrible mistake.
How To Stop Taking Melatonin
I’m not a doctor and I don’t have a magic solution for you.
I almost never recommend going cold-turkey on anything (this is coming from someone who lost 100 pounds one small change at a time).
It just so happened that in my situation, stopping melatonin suddenly and completely made sense since it wasn’t helping at all anyway at that point.
If melatonin is still working for you, I recommend back off gradually.
There isn’t a specific schedule for how to wean off of melatonin.
- Start slowly taking less than you are taking now.
- You could try cutting the pill in half, or even fourths if you wanted to.
- Take the new dose for a few days (maybe even a week), then cut it down again until you’re not taking any at all.
Use the sleep tips in this article to start working on ways that will help your quality of sleep in the long run while you are cutting down on your dose.
It’s not necessarily going to be easy and there will most likely be some sleepless nights in the process, but it’s all working toward the goal of giving you a lifetime of better sleep.
An Update Two Years Later
Two years later, I am still falling asleep naturally and without melatonin!
I cannot say enough good things about this magnesium sleep lotion. I started using it when I was pregnant and struggling hard with insomnia and it was miraculously helpful during and, surprisingly, long after my pregnancy. I truly can’t recommend it highly enough!
I still take melatonin every once and a while (usually when I’m traveling and trying to sleep in an unfamiliar bed).
When I do take it, I take a 3mg dose and I never take it for more than two nights in a row.
Instead of depending on melatonin, now I use earplugs, a sleep mask, and a weighted blanket every single night and I sleep like a champ!
I’m falling asleep in about 15 minutes on most nights, which is a record for me!
I never used to have trouble sleeping until my finances seemed overwhelming, I’d wake up and doom sets in, thinking how hopeless things are. I started taking melatonin. I heard it was safe, non toxic and non addictive.
First, two under the tongue when I thought that I’d be in bed soon, then, if I got delayed, another two, then one when I actually laid down. Then one every time I woke up, unless it was within a couple of hours prior to planned wake time. Sometimes I wake up to go to the bathroom 2-3 times a night. I was afraid of laying awake with my own thoughts. I even have “old time radio shows” playing in the background to keep my own thoughts away. I’ve probably gone through a years supply in about the last few months.
Then, mysteriously, I’ve developed diarrhea, since this last month.
Since then I’ve read that GI disturbances are one of the leading side effects. I’m scheduled for an upper and lower GI series, but am experimenting with no melatonin, cold turkey, so to speak, just to see if that has any coincidence of diarrhea cessation.
We’ll see.
I’ve started taking melatonin just today and it worked great, I slept 8 hours in a row and fell asleep quite fast, 20 minutes or so… so now after I read your article, I know how to use Melatonin in a safer way.
Also, I’ve recommended my friend who stopped taking melatonin because she got pregnant about the sleep lotion.
Thanks for sharing this valuable information!
Very helpful and encouraging article.
I have been using 3-5mg melatonin for 2 months every night (and once in a while before when needed) and am currently trying to wean off of it. This week I started splitting the pills into halves or even quarters so that a lesser amount would be consumed as our brain only requires a very small amount to initiate the desire to sleep.
Currently, I am not able to sleep without taking it which makes me extremely worried given my work requires very high mental clarity and focus and I am also fairly active.
I am planning to wake up at the same time every morning regardless of how little I sleep to let my body accustom to a normal routine without melatonin. I hope I can stop relying on it as soon as possible.
So maybe the melatonin is what is making me wake up every hour or two.
I have sleep apnea, chronic pain, fibromyalgia and anxiety goes with all of that. I started taking it a few years ago. It used to put me to sleep and I was not waking up at all.
In the mornings I would pop up and feel good.
I should have known it was too good to be true.
Thank you for educating me about this topic. I will start weaning myself off of melatonin this week.
After reading an article from CNN which I cannot stand as a news source about melatonin causing dementia I decided I’m done with it after taking 3mg per nite for the last 10 years.
In its place I am going to start taking the amino acid tryptophan. Supposedly this supplement has no Pineal gland side effects unlike melatonin. Tryptophan is supposed to naturally increase your bodies melatonin levels. Just want to make sure you’re not taking any medications that increase serotonin.
I do most of the same (spray, relax, usually a walk, oil diffuser, lavendar, stretch).
I had to stop using melatonin due to the hangover I had from it. I was up to 25mg – some crappy brand that made me feel dizzy, nauseated, not at all relaxing – Additionally, I was extremely reliant on wine for sleep (red – 1 1/2 glasses to get to sleep in a noisy, chaotic situation ((women’s shelter)) chugged with melatonin) for a LONG time. I worked 7 days a week and was there for my safety and to save my money. After I had depression and an alcohol binge that changed my life, I had to part with all alcohol (and I was formerly an “ok” social drinker). I had to part with melatonin because it was making me feel drugged.
I still have lemon balm tea on hand and don’t want to rely on that either, so I’m using peppermint and lemon balm (bag lasts 2 nights), when necessary. I’ve found that Moon Valley Organics – Melissa Tea is a gift from whomever and I LOVE IT. It is so soothing with some rice milk and bee-friendly honey.
I also find that this works: (naturopath MD taught me this trick! – works well for edema and pain in your legs)
***Lie on your back and put your legs up against the wall so that your body is shaped like an “L”. Wear an eye mask. Take Calcium / Magnesium to relax. Wait to feel yourself asleep with your legs against the wall.***
Passion flower is working for me. It’s not giving me a hangover and I’m taking 1/2 the recommended amount= in a liquid form.
15 drops 🙂
Thanks for this post! Literally everything you wrote is EXACTLY how I have been feeling/have done (even the pillow spray). I’ve been taking melatonin for roughly 4 years, but the past 2 years I have been taking it religiously at night 5-10 mg. which I now realize is too much! I need at least 7 hours of sleep in order to work well and be pleasant. For the past month or so I have been falling asleep at 1 AM because of racing thoughts and heartbeat. Thanks for telling us your story, I hope I can return to a normal sleep schedule soon!!
Gabby, I’m so sorry you’ve been struggling! I am so hoping your body bounces back quickly!
I stopped taking Melatonin (3 mg. a night) a few days ago after taking it every night since sometime in 2015 – so about 6 years. For two mornings I didn’t feel fully awake until hours after I got up – though I had slept soundly. This morning (the third) I felt fine from when I got up.
I had started taking it back when I lived in Brooklyn, and living there and commuting was stressful, but I really think that it (Melatonin) was more of a safety blanket than a real sleep aid. Taking it did not stop the occasional bout of insomnia, but feeling that by taking it, I was doing everything that would help me sleep WAS a help.
Anyway, don’t miss it, and I have thrown the rest of the bottle out.
Thank you for your comment, I’ve been taking melatonin for approx 5 years, now I understand why I feel so groggy and cannot concentrate, also my anxiety has increased including feelings of depression. I thought I needed medication to help with depression, however after stopping melatonin I am feeling so much better in every way. Im sleeping much better, what has helped me sleep is mindfulness breathing (deep belly breath) and focusing on breathing. My mind at times does go crazy but Im aware of it and allow myself to let go of any thoughts that may interfere with sleep. It’s taken time but it’s made a big difference. Thanks again for sharing
Thank you for this article. I started doubling my Melatonin from 5 mg to 10 mg nightly. The impact was that my Blood Sugar ( I’m Diabetic) started to increase out of control. I looked it up and Melatonin is the culprit. I hope in the next week or so that I can start sleeping soundly.
My story is way too long to write here but suffice it to say melatonin has helped my insomnia for over 10 years. When I hit menopause my struggle with sleep worsened. I finally saw a sleep specialist who recommended that I condense my sleeping time. I go to sleep between 11:30 and midnight. I’m up at 5:30 or 6:00. Since I sleep a short time my body has adjusted. I fall asleep within 5 minutes, have minimal uptimes during the early morning hours and I’m done sleeping in the early hours. It has worked for me. I feel more rested and my morning headaches are gone. I’m still on melatonin but I’m starting to wean off of it. As you get older your natural melatonin levels lessen and you are more prone to insomnia. I’m hoping to help the situation by learning how many hours of sleep I truly need. 5-6 hours is spot on.
PS for people noticing that effectiveness of melatonin has worn off, slow release tablets are an excellent help for that. It continues to be in your system longer so you will get more sleep.
I think most experts agree that 3mg melatonin is far too high a dose to begin with. It’s unclear why all the melatonin supplements come in 3-5mg doses when experts recommend more like 0.5mg dose. Larger doses of melatonin than the minimum you need do not make it work better, either.
I have suffered from anxiety and stress at sleep for 3 years, so much so that I began having sleep paralysis every single night – often multiple times a night even. It got really bad so I started to even fear sleeping. I would take 3-10 mg of melatonin and still be so scared to sleep that I would stay up til 4 AM every night.
Thank you for this post! I have definitely been abusing melatonin as of recently. So much so I swear I’ve been taking more than 8 pills a night. Definitely unhealthy!! I don’t suffer from sleep paralysis anymore (at least not as often – once every couple months if I’m really stressed in life), and I’ve been able to minimize that. I have a feeling that the melatonin is what is making me anxious, hyperaware, and making my thoughts buzz at night. I’m going to try and cutting cold turkey. I’ve been having headaches at night (again probably from the sleeping pills) so I think tomorrow night I will try to take just a Benedryl (I also have eczema so I get itchy) to aid me and hopefully help my splitting headache situation. But melatonin no more! I am really tired of not getting sleep! Tonight I literally woke up at 3:30 AM and I’ve been up ever since (it’s 6:30 AM now – and I have an 8 AM class rip me!). Luckily I have a doctor appointment this coming week – I always keep this a secret cause it feels a bit embarrassing – like why can’t I sleep like a normal person?! But I think it’s time to finally discuss my problem because it is inhibiting me from doing class projects well.
Thank you for this post and advice!!
I have been relying on Melatonin for about 7 months now. I started at 10mg which is what my dr suggested. Overtime I have increased the dosage to 30 mg a night. I have really, really bad restless leg syndrome and admit I will do almost ANYTHING to stop the pain. Even with these copious amounts of melatonin I am awake till 3-4 AM every night. I am a 77 year old female who underwent detox in August of 2018 for a dependency on oxy following a devastating life altering injury. I had to do the detox on my own as doctors told me ” NO treatment facilities for someone your age” Almost killed me. Needless to say, I can’t take medications for pain or sleep. I am at a loss for what to do.
Oh Joanne, I am so sorry! I remember how helpless and hopeless I felt when the melatonin stopped working for me. It sounds like such useless advice right now, but it sounds like focusing on the things you can control (having a regular bedtime, setting up a wind-down routine, etc) is all you can really do while your body tries to reset it’s own melatonin cycles.
I so hope it kicks back to normal soon so that you can get some restful sleep!
Just as a caution. If you’re over 50 years old and taking Benadryl, there may be long-term effects on memory that increase the risk of dementia.
My problem is not going to sleep, but waking up between around 3-4am and staying awake for hours, and sleeping again when it’s time to get up. I’ve been taking 3 different sets of sleep aids, all with melatonin, and rotating them.
The first night I take 5mg of melatonin and a St John’s Wort; the next night I take a “Webber Naturals” “Super sleep”; the third night it’s a sleep aid capsule from “Evlution Nutrition” calle “Sleep Mode”. Tonight I begin the cold turkey exit from all of these to see if I can sleep without waking up so early. I’m male 71 years young.
I tapered off two decades use of Ambien so my doctor prescribed Melatonin 2mg to ease the transition. The rebound insomnia is something terrible. The Melatonin is synthetic as the doctor said that natural melatonin can contain a virus. Anyways, the dreams are weird, almost to the point that I call them synthetic dreams. I absolutely hate it. It’s clear to me why we should stay away from synthetic medication, your body doesn’t know what to do with it. I think I’m stopping cold turkey even if I don’t sleep for a few days but this weird unnatural dreams turning to nonsensical nightmares has got to stop.
I not only took 3 mg of Melatonin every night for the last two years since getting serious about vitamins but I was also taking 5HTP and Vitamin B6 along with it. I just could not get the rest I was needing. I slept four and a half to five hours and then my eyes opened like a robot and I had no choice but to get up. One night I went to bed forgetting to take my bedtime vitamins and slept for nine hours. I tried that the next night and slept nine hours again. I quit cold turkey and finally wake up refreshed in the morning.
I’m so thrilled that you’re waking up refreshed now!
I was taking 3mg a night, thought I needed it for the past 6-7 months. Stopped taking it cold turkey a couple of days ago, I sleep OK at night but in the mornings, I feel nauseous then a headache sets in. I am 64 so I am not pregnant. Could this be withdrawl from the melatonin?
Hi Gail! Oh yuck! Nausea and headaches sound miserable! I didn’t have that experience myself. I’m not sure!
It may be low blood sugar. Try starting out immediately with some salted orange juice. Sip one cup slowly and then go have breakfast.
I have really bad insomnia and you know how the docs treat that…with really really strong pills that are addictive.
So i told myself that I am not gonna get one of those drugs and went with insomnia tea…well did not work.
So I went to drink 2 different teas for sleeping before bed, with my sleep mask, ear plug, no caffeilne, same time every night…and nothing.
Melatonin is the only thing that at least most of the time allows me to function.
I am never taking it every night a week,but I do take it 5 times, to be able to sleep before work.
My insonia is very psychological, i get anxiety from the idea of sleeping, coz since I was a child it always meant hours upon hours of trying and failing to fall assleep. So gradually I became terrified of night time…and of not being able to sleep and then having to function…
Coz you know, you do not wanna run over an inocent bystander just coz you went to sleep at 10pm , but its 8am and you slept nothing.
I honestly feel like Melatonin is purely placebo for me(coz during rly bad anxiet it truly does not help at all), but I dunno how to find some other placebo that actually will be as effective.
But I will at least try to put it from 5 to 4 pills per week and see where that leads me.
Hi. 🙂 I’m male, 26 and have been taking melatonin (0.5mg) for trouble falling asleep on ketogenic diet. I did the diet for health reasons, some neurological issues.
I think the same thing is starting to happen to me. It worked really well for a couple of weeks maybe and I had already accepted the fact that I’ll be using it for as long as it takes, but now it doesn’t seem to make me fall asleep any faster and my sleep is s**t again. I’m waking up with my head foggy and without energy, and it’s really bad, I feel like I’m even worse than before in some ways.
It’s interesting that I still do get that melatonin induced ‘sleepy feeling’ after I take it, but nevertheless I can’t fall asleep so basically it’s just making me feel like I’m sleepy with no real sleepines behind it.
So the point is that melatonin may be making me feel even worse without me actually realizing it because I’ve taken it for a long time and now can’t tell the difference. A point to consider.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I’m so sorry you’re feeling sleepy but not able to actually fall asleep. That’s not fun at all.
Hoping you feel some improvement and SOON! Missing out on sleep is such a big deal.
Hey, I too had a problem with melatonin. I took 10 mg for over a year to help with falling asleep after quitting drinking. People say it’s natural, well poisonous mushrooms are natural too! I realized something was off with me (no energy, groggy, cold) and finally figured out it was the melatonin. Since quitting all symptoms have resolved except now I have trouble falling asleep! Luckily it’s only been about a month, so I know it will get better especially after reading these comments. Knowing it’s monitored in other countries is very interesting. Thanks for writing this article, and I wish anyone who is reading this luck in their healing journey from quitting meletonin.
*melatonin
I am so glad my experience helped! You’re so welcome!
Thanks so much for sharing your story, too. It’s powerful when we feel like we’re alone in our struggles and discover someone else who experienced the same thing. I’m so glad all of your other symptoms resolved so quickly! Definitely hoping the falling asleep will resolve itself once your natural melatonin resets.
Thanks Becky I swear after taking melatonin for two months every night my sleep cycle got worse and worse so I decided tonight I’m quitting and going back to natural alternatives thank you
Hi Becky, Were you taking sublingual melatonin or the kind you swallow? Which one is safer to take?
How many years were you taking it for?
If taking melatonin desensitizes your receptors, is it ever a case where your receptors will be permanently damaged or will they always rebound and return to normal function?
Do you know if taking melatonin will affect any of your other hormones?
Hi Sherri! I am not a doctor or a sleep expert, so it’s just my own experience I’m speaking from. I used both the kind that dissolves on your tongue and the kind you swallow at different times, but I used the pills you swallow most frequently.
I took it for about 9 years.
I’ve never heard of a case where the receptors didn’t rebound, but I suppose it’s possible!
I don’t know if taking melatonin affects other hormones, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it does!
Thanks Becky, did you take it every night for 9 yrs? What dose?
I took it almost every night for that entire time. My dose varied a bit. I started by taking 3 mg and slowly increased that to 5 mg.
Thank you for this article! I have been taking 10mg (a lot, I know) doses of melatonin since January (just under 4 months) because of its potential benefits for endometriosis. However, without a laproscopy, it’s almost impossible to tell if the melatonin is actually breaking up the endometrial tissues that cause me pain. Melatonin has been recommended for its anti-inflammatory effects, but I recently found out it can cause mild depression in some users. I stopped taking it cold-turkey this week and already feel less dread when I go to work in the mornings. Melatonin is marketed as a supplement, but _it is a hormone_. A hormone that your body should regulate naturally. And apparently, according to nutritionfacts.org, a handful of pistachios at night has the same melatonin content as a high-dose pill, but obviously is a more natural answer.
Thanks for the reassurance that my sudden 6 hours of sleep per night is temporary (I was sleeping 7.5 to 9 hours a night no problem with 10mg of melatonin), and that there is hope for my system to return to normal!
I’d never heard that about pistachios! Interesting!
And YES! The first few weeks after you stop taking melatonin is rough (really rough), but it will get better!
Hi Becky, I’m interested if while you were taking melatonin, did you experience any hair loss?
Thanks
Paula
Hi Paula!
You know, if I did experience hair loss while I was still taking melatonin, it must not have been significant because I never noticed it!
For years, I’ve been combining my prescription Seroquel (an atypical antipsychotic drug that forces your brains to release more melatonin and in high doses this drug can create frightening hallucinations. Thankfully so far I haven’t overdosed on this drug yet or else it would be scary!) with Melatonin (plus Valerian and Magnesium and Passionflower extracts) to sleep. I’m very surprised, when I tried to stop Melatonin I wasn’t able to sleep as well even as I tried to increase (slightly) the dosage of my Seroquel. So even with the help of such powerful prescription medication for sleep (Seroquel) I could still get addicted to Melatonin! I’ll keep trying because in my opinion Melatonin sucks anyway it is weak when taken by itself it only works when you combine it with more powerful prescription medications.
Melatonin is part of the reason why I never really needed to increase my dosage of Seroquel all these years and still be able to sleep as well in most nights. But once I tried to stop taking it (Melatonin) I realized it could fireback at you.
Wow, Mike. That is insane that even the Seroquel couldn’t overcome the damage of the Melatonin! I hope you’re able to find a way to get rid of the Melatonin and still get full nights of restful sleep!
I know this is old, but I had the same problem, seroquel, melatonin mix. How did you resolve? Both instantly stopped working for me. Now in other meds and waiting to see if they work.
In my case, I talk about in the post how I went off of melatonin cold turkey (because it had completely stopped working anyway). It took time, but eventually my natural melatonin “reset” and, after weeks of not being able to sleep at all, I was finally able to fall asleep naturally again.
I’m so glad I found this article! I just ran out of melatonin and rather than going to buy another bottle I’ve decided to stop taking it all together. I’ve been taking it every niggt for about 7 years and I’ve been thinking about stopping it for a while. Once in a while I will use Benadryl or Zzzquil and I hope to stop using that as well. Thanks for the info!
You are so welcome, Erin! Good luck on quitting! Wishing you restful nights of sleep soon!
Thank you for this information! I too have been taking it for the last 10 years, and decided I should just stop. This reaffirms my decision God bless you!
You are so welcome! I hope my experience can help you as you try to get off of the melatonin, too. Praying that it goes smoothly for you, Catherine!
I too was on the melatonin treadmill – I got up to a ridiculous 15 mg per night over the years. Then I went on a camping vacation for two weeks and forgot it. By the end of the second week I noticed three things: the chronic ankle pain I always had was all but gone.
My sex drive came back. (I’m 59)
I was sleeping much better.
So I didn’t take it anymore. But……..now, five months into the no melatonin experiment, I’m losing my hair really fast. I’ve lost half of what I had, and it looks like typical female pattern baldness.
Oh my goodness, Tanya! Thank you so much for sharing your experience! It sure makes me wonder what else the melatonin was affecting in me all those years. I’m so sorry to hear that you’re losing your hair, but I am so glad the other two issues subsided for you!
You should only be taking 0.3-1.0 mg of melatonin. That’s why it stopped working for you. 3mg is much too high.
Hi Tom. It’s possible that it was related to the dose I was taking, but I very strongly believe it was my long-term use of the melatonin, not the dosage, that caused it to stop working. Here is a quote from an article on Healthline that I have heard and read from many other sources, as well. “In general, a dose between 0.2 and 5 mg is considered a safe starting dose. A safe dose will depend on your body weight, age, and sensitivity to the supplement.” (https://www.healthline.com/health/melatonin-overdose#recommended-doses)
Hm. No, Starting dose is 3mg. Though for me it had little effect if any, under 6 mg.
No, Jen, that’s a very old recommendation that has been revised since. I’ve been reading for about 10 years now that “less is more” with melatonin, and that even one milligram may be ten times too high a dose.
Anyway, I am averse to using it. I have bought 1 mg melatonin pills from one of the most reputable companies around, and discovered that even half a pill, 0,5 mg, makes me feel nauseous and unwell the next day, not to mention depressed.
Becky I love your blog. Do you have a FB that you post to ? I am unlikely to follow an online blog… much more likely to keep up through FB?
Hi June! Sorry for the delay in responding. I got married this month, so everything was a bit of a blur! I DO have a FB page that I post to. You can find it here – http://facebook.com/soveryblessedblog
Worth a try. I seem, after a few months of success with Melatonin to be going backwards also. I’ll stop tonight.
I hope you’re sleeping better soon!
Thank you for sharing your article. I too was a victim of melatonin. I started taking it after a hysterectomy left me with terrible insomnia. I started melatonin because the Dr. Oz show said it was safe and natural. That was a out 8 years ago. When I took melatonin I always woke up every two hours. I thought this was just from my hot flashes but after getting off of melatonin I realized it was from the melatonin. When I finally got off of it, life was a nightmare. I felt like my life was upside down. Awake at night, never having a deep sleep, tired all day, memory issues, light sensitivity, migraines, weakness, inability to exercise and depression and anxiety. It’s too bad they didn’t put more research out there before tauting this as safe. Now I have read medical journals that state that melatonin acts like an antidepressant and can cause mania. It also has a big affect on adrenal glands and sugar levels. In other words it can crash your adrenals while in use. It also causes memory loss and amnesia! They say it stops our nighttime memory which we need to be able to function and remember! Terrible side effects! I had to wean off of it very, very slowly breaking little pieces off every week. Now that I’m off of it, I have deeper sleeping and am starting to feel more normal. But it has been about 6 months now. If I have any trouble sleeping I take 1/3 of a dose of Nyquil. I try to take the smallest amount to do the trick. I never had problems sleeping before all this started and I feel like I had to retrain my body back to a normal sleep pattern. Now I sleep around 5-6 hours. Wish I could get to 7 again, but it beats the heck out of 2-4 hours of light disruptive sleep. Thanks for posting your story. I hope my experience can help someone else also.
,
Yes, sometimes “natural” things can be so dangerous. I thought my experience coming off of melatonin was bad, but yours sounds downright miserable! Yikes. I hadn’t read those particular studies, but thank you for bringing them up! I am so glad you are sleeping better these days, but I’m so hoping it keeps improving for you. Thanks for sharing your experience, as well!
Your experience helped me! Thank you!
Hi Becky. Ive been struggling to sleep deeply since August 2017 because I irresponsibly looked at the North American solar eclipse without protective eyeware. As a result, I now suffer from dry eyes syndrome and my eyes do not produce natural lubrication. Unfortunately it has affected my sleep. My eye doctor and pcp arent really helpful so im deciding to try melatonin soon. I hope i can go back to 7-8 hours sleep instead of the meager 4-5 hours which has caused my high blood pressure and heart rate. Do you think melatonin pills will help my body reset after using it for a week or so?
Hi Stephanie. Oh no! I am so sorry to hear about your eye struggles after the eclipse and especially that you have only been able to get 4-5 hours of sleep a night. I’m sure you are completely exhausted. In this situation, I have no idea how your body will respond to the melatonin. I have only used melatonin for help with falling asleep, not staying asleep, so I can’t share any personal experience there. It’s certainly worth a try, as long as you are only using it short-term. I’m sure you’ve already done it, but I would also try to create the most ideal sleep environment you can for yourself – a relaxing bedtime routine with dim lights in the evening, a completely dark, cool, quiet bedroom, etc to help stimulate your body’s natural melatonin as much as possible.
Becky, I am hoping you can give me some hope…I had been taking 3mg melatonin (for fertility, not for sleep – my sleep has always been ok) for about 4 months and the same thing happened to me. I quit cold turkey and I am in agony! Some nights I don’t sleep at all, the best nights have been about 4 hours. My body is desperate for sleep. How long untill you felt 100%? Should I go back on a really small dose and slowly go off it? I took one benadryl (my husband’s suggestion) one night and it made no difference. My adrenals are getting used up fast and my whole body is suffering. Thank you for any insight…
Hi Kara, I’m so sorry you’re going through this right now, especially after only taking it for a few months! I can only speak from my own experience here so always do what you think is best for you, but I would say powering through this phase without any melatonin would be best. I just know that when I was going off of the melatonin, taking it wasn’t helping me fall asleep anyways. Weaning off of it would seem to make sense to help your body adjust slowly, but this is one area where it seemed like it was all or nothing to get my body’s sleep cycle to reset. It’s hard to say what “100%” was for me, but it took around 16 days for me to be able to fall asleep in less than an hour and sleep restfully throughout the night. From that night on, it’s been pretty normal! The hope that I can give you is that I firmly believe that your body WILL reset. This part of the process is horrible, miserable, and so so tiring, but it’s temporary. It will end and life will get back to normal again.
Our sixteen year old son has cerebral palsy and began having difficulty sleeping at night about two years ago. One of his doctors prescribed Diazepam (Valium) as a sleep aid. It did help him fall asleep, but it made him too sleepy during daylight hours as well. Another doctor told us about Melatonin and, for almost two years, it worked very well. In the past few months we have seen a big change. He is awake most of the night now, and can’t seem to sleep longer than an hour or two at a time. After researching articles on the subject and speaking with his doctor, we have decided to remove melatonin from his nighttime routine.
Thank you for sharing your experience as it has given us a glimpse of what we might expect in the next few weeks.
Hi Rachel, how has your son been responding so far without the melatonin? I always hope that everyone else’s bodies will “reboot” quickly to get back to a normal sleep cycle!
Thank you so much Becky!
I just quit cold turkey nine days ago and have been in sleep hell since then.
And not knowing when or if there would be light at the end of the tunnel.
No I have hope, and will continue to gut it out.
Oh Tom, I feel your pain! That period after getting off of them was so miserable and exhausting, but keep it going! It WILL get better! I wish I could tell you exactly how many days it will take, but you can do it and your body & sleep will be so much better for it!
Tom & Becky, I quit melatonin cold turkey 14 days ago and am still sleeping maybe 4 hours a night. Did your sleep improve? What was your experience? Will my sleep eventually be ok? I am terrified!
Kara, I know it feels like forever. It took my body over two weeks to start adjusting and in that time, I was more exhausted than words can describe. It felt like it would never end and I was just so grumpy and tired. Don’t be terrified! Your body WILL reset. Your sleeping WILL improve. I wrote this post a year ago and, though it still takes me a little while to settle down and fall asleep, I can still fall asleep without melatonin and restfully sleep through the night.
Hi Kara. Ive been sleeping 4 hours a night for thebpast 8 months since developing dry eyes. Consequently, i now have high blood pressure and high heart rate from sleep deprivation. Im also terrified but am planning to take melatonin soon. Did you also experience high blood pressure? Are you sleeping more hours regularly now?
Hi Becky. Thank you very much for that warning. I have been taking 5 mg melatonin almost every day for about 2 weeks to fall a sleep because I was told that it didn’t do any harm to the body. It also works great but I will never take it on the cost of my body’s natural cyclus. I’m glad to hear that you are out of it and now can get some sleep without it and I will find some other solutions to my sleeping problems than melatonin.
The best from here.
– Kenneth
Hi Kenneth, thanks for your comment! Yes, melatonin works great and I’m sure it’s side effects aren’t as serious as some other sleep aids, but I sure am glad I learned this lesson sooner rather than later! I think melatonin is a great solution for occasional insomnia, as long as it isn’t taken regularly. I think the problems start when our bodies start relying on the pill more than our body’s own production of melatonin. I hope you’ve found something that works for you!
Becky, I’m so very glad that you shared this post. I have been taking about 5 mg of melatonin for about a year. At first it really helped me to sleep. A couple of times recently it has not worked all that well. Last night I went without it. I think I was out for about 1-and-a-half hours. My blood pressure went way up. But, I am going to try to tough it out. I’m hoping that things will re-set. I have just been concerned that I have done some permanent damage to my sleep cycle. You gave me some hope that there will light at the end of the tunnel. Kraig.
I am so glad you’re toughing it out because I am sure that your body will re-set! It’s frustrating to lose sleep, but it was SO worth putting in the time and patience to wean myself off of taking the meds daily. I will still take 3mg on occasion, but not very often. Stay strong, Kraig! This is the not fun at all part, but I promise, it will get better!
Thank you sooo much for sharing. I could not figure out what was wrong. I was dizzy, spacey, floaty all the time. Today I got it!!!! Never will I take that again! Esther hicks utube has an interesting video entitled Can’t Sleep. You would love it. Just took some ibuprofen. I feel so sick
Hi Marcia, oh man, those side effects sound terrible! I’m going to look up the YouTube video you recommended. Thanks for the suggestion! I sure hope you’re feeling better.
I have been taking it for a few months now. It does help me sleep but i don’t feel rested in the morning. Nothing else helped me to sleep. I asked my doctor if its safe to take every night and he said yes. Ive been suffering from insomnia for a year now. Help. What else can i do?
I wish I had the answer for you, Allan! I’ve heard many doctors say it’s safe to take every night, which is why I did exactly that for so many years. I’ve always had difficulty falling asleep, but I’ve never suffered from insomnia for such a long time. Your situation is a bit different than mine because the insomnia I was experiencing was caused by the melatonin messing up my sleep cycle. If melatonin is the only thing that can help you sleep, then it still might be your best option. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help! I know it feels terrible to be so exhausted and I really hope you are able to find something that will help!
I have been on melatonin for over 10 years. Started low and have gradually increased it. One day I saw 19 mg tabs on sale so I bought them. Now 5 months on it I have experienced extreme dizziness and vertigo when getting up ( orthostasis). The dizziness has caused reduced blood flow to to my kidneys and worsening my kidney function to only 24 percent. I read a research article about astronauts taking melatonin in space to regulate sleep and them having profound dizziness when getting out of the space craft. That being said I will cut it down to 5 and taper off in 1 week I am retired so I hope to adjust my natural sleep cycle with as needed Benadryl. This blog has been very helpful. Phillip
PS I am an MD so we can all stand to learn something new. Many thanks
Oh, wow! I am so glad that, even with all of your formal training and experience, you found some value in my story! I’m so sorry you are experiencing so many adverse side effects, though.
HI !
I have been taking .5mg of melatonin every night for about 5 years. I just got accustomed to it, similar to how you are describing. I am so focused on health, but have become dependent on melatonin, because I have feared not being able to sleep.
I am ready to STOP. Today. How difficult was it for you to get off? Do you have further advice? Thank you!
Hi, Nathalie! Honestly? It was difficult. Every body probably responds differently, but mine just revolted against sleep for about 2 weeks. It was pretty miserable and during that time, even other sleep aids weren’t working for some reason. I have to tell you though, it was SO worth it for me to break my dependence on it! I still take it every once and a while (maybe once a month), but my body certainly isn’t dependent on it anymore. I guess my best advice for you is just to brace yourself for a rough couple of weeks and then rip off the Band-Aid, so to speak! And hopefully your body bounces back faster than mine. While your body is readjusting, try to come up with a wind-down bedtime routine. Brush your teeth, do a few stretches, light a lavender candle, read a book…things like that. All of those things seemed to help me adjust. Good luck!
Thanks for this post and warning, Becky! My husband works shift-work, and just recently resorted to taking Melatonin every night to help him sleep. So I will share this info with him.
You are so welcome, Jenn! Melatonin is great for a few days at a time to help adjust to his new sleep schedule, just don’t let him become dependent on it like I was!
Hi Becky. HELP, Im 66 years old. I have been taking Melatonin 6mg for 6 months. I reduced my dose a week ago to 3 mg and I got tinnitus. I reduced my dose to 1.5mg and got bad insomnia. So I went back to 3MG for an additional week. 15 years ago I withdrew from valium and that was hell. How long will this last? what is a good taper schedule? Once a week cut 1mg or a % of dose?
Thanks Jim
Hi Jim, I’m definitely not a doctor, so I can only speak from my own experience. I chose not to taper off of melatonin myself because no dose was helping me to sleep anyways at that point. After I went off of melatonin completely, the insomnia lasted about 16 days before I could actually fall asleep and get a full night of rest. It was an exhausting and miserable 16 days, but my normal sleep cycle DID come back and it was worth it. I’m hoping it will be better for you than when you stopped taking valium!