Melatonin is generally safe for short-term use. Unlike with many sleep medications, with melatonin you are unlikely to become dependent on it, have less response to it after repeated use or experience a hangover effect. The most common melatonin side effects include: Headache.
Taking an unknown dose of serotonin for a long time can affect your heart, blood vessels, and brain. People taking medication for a mood disorder should be especially careful, as these medications already boost serotonin so an extra dose of serotonin can particularly impact them.
If melatonin does seem to help, it's safe for most people to take nightly for one to two months. “After that, stop and see how your sleep is,” he suggests. “Be sure you're also relaxing before bed, keeping the lights low and sleeping in a cool, dark, comfortable bedroom for optimal results.”
Melatonin is possibly safe when taken long-term. It's been used safely for up to 2 years. But it can cause some side effects including headache, sleepiness, dizziness, and nausea. Don't drive or use machinery for 4-5 hours after taking melatonin.
In the UK and most of Europe, it's classed as a medicine, not a health supplement and as such, requires a prescription. This is because melatonin is considered “medical by function” which means that it requires a drug licence.
Furthermore melatonin has been shown to have valuable effects on cardiovascular health, blood pressure, and endothelial function and it might benefit patients with heart failure.
Stopping the use of melatonin
You should not get any harmful discontinuation or withdrawal effects if you stop taking melatonin. However, you may get your old symptoms back. If you are on a high dose, then the doctor may wish to reduce the dose slowly before stopping it completely.
Less common melatonin side effects might include short-lasting feelings of depression, mild tremor, mild anxiety, abdominal cramps, irritability, reduced alertness, confusion or disorientation. Because melatonin can cause daytime drowsiness, don't drive or use machinery within five hours of taking the supplement.
If you've been drinking alcohol, it's also not safe to take melatonin. Melatonin is also not for you if you're pregnant or breastfeeding. Researchers simply don't have enough data to know if it's safe for fetuses or breastfed babies.
The research findings suggest that melatonin has a beneficial effect on body composition and fat oxidation (burning). Supplementing with melatonin for 12 months could help reduce body fat, increase lean mass, and increase levels of adiponectin (which improves fat burning).
In several clinical trials, melatonin was found to be well tolerated and not associated with serum enzyme elevations or evidence of liver injury. Despite wide scale use, melatonin has not been convincingly linked to instances of clinically apparent liver injury.
Most people overdo it with melatonin by taking upward of 10 milligrams or more prior to bed and then claim it doesn't work. Taking too much melatonin can actually cause rebound insomnia —either rendering the supplement ineffective or worse, exacerbating your already sleepless nights further.
Melatonin is generally safe for short-term use. Unlike with many sleep medications, with melatonin you are unlikely to become dependent on it, have less response to it after repeated use or experience a hangover effect.
You cannot build up a tolerance to melatonin. This means that the same dosage of melatonin taken every day will not build up in the body, and you won't need a higher dosage over time to experience the same effect.
There is no evidence that you can become physically dependent on the supplement, and you typically won't develop withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it. But if you've become convinced that taking melatonin is crucial for sleep, experts say, you still may struggle to kick the habit.
The usual dosage of oral melatonin is 0.1 mg to 5 mg before bedtime (Savage, 2021). In a meta-analysis of clinical studies, the dose of melatonin given to ease pre-surgery anxiety ranged from 3 mg to 14 mg and was taken about one to two hours before surgery (Madsen, 2015).
Long-term use. Melatonin is safe for short-term use, up to 6 months. But some researchers believe that using melatonin for extended periods of time may cause changes to your hormone levels. That being said, there has been no clinical indication of long-term changes to hormone levels so far.
Do relaxing activities before bed, such as meditation or listening to soft, peaceful music. Don't consume caffeine in the late afternoon or evening. Don't go to bed unless you feel sleepy. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day.
Melatonin's target sites are both central and peripheral. Binding sites have been found in many areas of the brain, including the pars tuberalis and hypothalamus, but also in the cells of the immune system, gonads, kidney, and the cardiovascular system (39, 40).
For these individuals, the potential safety risks of melatonin likely outweigh the possible benefits. People experiencing depression: Melatonin may cause symptoms of depression or make existing symptoms worse in some people. People with immune issues: Melatonin can activate certain parts of the immune system.
If you're experiencing symptoms of an allergic reaction, shortness of breath, chest pain, or a rise in blood pressure after taking melatonin, you should seek emergency health services immediately.