“Melatonin is not a sleeping pill”
That’s what Dr. Michael Breus, “The Sleep Doctor,” tells patents who inquire about this popular supplement. Like me and many other practitioners who have researched this supplement, Dr. Breus believes melatonin is a bad answer to insomnia.
Dr. Breus, who was featured on the Dr. Oz show to discuss the problems with melatonin, explains,
This is the really important thing you should understand about melatonin: Melatonin is a sleep and body clock regulator – NOT a sleep initiator. Melatonin works with your biological clock by telling your brain when it is time to sleep. Melatonin does not increase your sleep drive or need for sleep. (Read more)
Why melatonin is bad for you?
“If it’s all natural, why is melatonin bad for you?” my mom asked, when I expressed my concern with this supplement after learning that she takes it on-and-off for her insomnia. “Boy, have I got a blog post for you!” I replied.
In short, melatonin is a hormone that correlates with sleep cycles and plays beneficial roles in numerous physiological functions. But melatonin supplements are neither a safe, natural nor effective solution to insomnia.
1. Melatonin supplements are hormone therapy
Are you taking melatonin? Then you are using hormone therapy. Hormone therapy is a very complicated topic rife with detrimental health consequences when used carelessly. Often, hormone therapy is the “easy answer” to hormone imbalance and so the layperson, under the guidance of a practitioner or not, will reach for this answer. One common example of hormone therapy is progesterone cream. Melatonin is another.
The popularity of melatonin greatly worries me because hormone therapy should be approached with due caution, wisdom and knowledge. The practitioners whom I most respect use hormone therapy with the most extreme reservation, always preferring to use diet/lifestyle/supplement changes before using hormone therapy only when necessary as a last resort. Why? More often than not, including the case of melatonin, hormone therapy can do more harm than good.
This is the analogy I use when explaining the potential consequences of hormone therapy:
Most of the hormones in the body are governed by negative feedback, which works like your household thermostat. Say you set your thermostat to 72 degrees and the room temperature is 69 degrees. The heater kicks in to warm the room up. When the temperature reaches 72 degrees, the heat shuts off until the temperature drops again.
Administering hormones can actually shut off our body’s hormonal negative feedback loop. It’s like heating a room by a space heater and the furnace shuts off because it isn’t needed.
In this case, the “furnace shutting off” translates to the hypothalamus-pituitary connection becoming dysfunctional. When communication between the hypothalamus and pituitary – the master hormone-regulation center in the body – becomes compromised, it leads to many other hormone imbalances.
2. Melatonin is not a “sleep hormone”
While healthy levels of melatonin are key for optimal health, more melatonin doesn’t necessarily translate to better sleep. Why?
Insomnia is not caused by melatonin deficiency, and melatonin is not a sleep hormone. Actually, melatonin has very little to do with falling asleep. Melatonin is produced in the presence of darkness and it just happens to correlate with sleep cycles.
Emily from Butter Believer has done her research on melatonin and here’s what she found:
In spite of all the hype, very little scientific research has been done on melatonin supplements. And in fact, the limited evidence to support it as a sleep aid has indicated that it may only be useful in remedying jet lag and may help to induce sleep in the elderly—and again, these studies are often biased and paid for by the industry itself. They also were found to have used healthy sleepers as subjects, not people who have insomnia. And the results were very inconsistent.
There simple is no solid scientific evidence to support melatonin’s effectiveness for treating insomnia in young and middle-aged adults. NONE! And there have been several studies which actually concluded that melatonin definitively does not significantly improve total sleep time, nor reduce the time it takes to fall asleep. It has therefore been proven completely ineffective in treating insomnia. (Read more)
This makes sense, since melatonin is not a sleep hormone. It is a hormone with a wide range of physiological functions. Like I said, by playing a role in regulating our circadian rhythm, melatonin does tie into sleep patterns. But it does not induce sleep.
“But melatonin makes me sleepy!” many people say. Melatonin does induce a drowsy stupor because it is a stress hormone. This is misinterpreted as sleepiness. Remember, stress hormones are necessary and beneficial in the body in proper amounts (think cortisol), but excess stress hormones stress out the body .
3. More melatonin is not better
Too little melatonin is bad for you. And too much melatonin is a bad for you. Popping a melatonin pill (or two) is the easiest way to overload your body with this hormone.
Research is now revealing that our production of melatonin not only governs our circadian rhythms, but plays a role in scavenging free radicals and supporting the immune system. We know that melatonin is crucial to health, but flooding your system with melatonin doesn’t automatically mean less free radicals and a better immune system. It’s all about melatonin balance.
Side effects of melatonin supplementation are relatively common and highly problematic. According to Dr. Breus, melatonin side effects include:
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Next-day grogginess
- Hormone fluctuations
- Vivid dreams and nightmares (Source)
Is jet leg an exception?
While I do not recommend ever taking melatonin to induce sleep, I think using a melatonin supplement for jet lag is a grey area. Jet lag is an extremely stressful situation from a physiological perspective, and should be minimized or avoided whenever possible. Taking a melatonin supplement the first night of your arrival in a new time zone might help your body shift its circadian rhythms. However, I would never personally take melatonin for jet lag due to the problematic aspects discussed here.
There are better ways to solve insomnia!
Many people try melatonin because they feel desperate for a good nights sleep. Skip the melatonin and try these truly natural and effective solutions for insomnia:
- Keep a strict sleep routine. Set a regular bedtime and wake-up time and stick to it, even on weekends. The time period between 10pm and 12pm is a key period for the body’s repair processes according to many naturopaths and Chinese medicine practitioners, so aim to be in bed before 10.
- Get exposure to sunlight – natural or artificial – immediately upon waking. In the morning as soon as you get out of bed, open your drapes and soak in the sunlight for a few moments. This immediately drops your melatonin levels, which will balance your circadian rhythm. If you don’t have access to bright natural light in the morning, something to consider is using a Wakeup Light, which I use and highly recommend. Here’s my experience with a wakeup light.
- Minimize blue light exposure after sunset. Blue light is emitted from screens (your phone, tablet, laptop, TV, etc.) and tricks your body into thinking that it is daytime. The body interprets blue light as daylight, and constant exposure after sunset is physiologically stressful. Install F.lux, a free program that eliminates the blue light from your phone/computer after sunset. Also, use orange-tinted glasses (these ones) to filter out blue light if you watch TV before bed.
- Balance your blood sugar. Balanced blood sugar is absolutely vital to falling asleep and staying asleep. It’s too complex to discuss in a few sentences, so please read my post 10 Ways to Balance Blood Sugar Naturally.
- Invest in a better mattress. You will spend 1/3 of your life on your mattress, so a proper mattress is an extremely important investment in your whole health. Conventional mattresses are drenched in chemical flame retardants that are linked to serious health issues. Further, a mattress that properly supports your back alignment and re-distributes your weight can drastically improve sleep quality. I found IntelliBED, a unique mattress company whose products improve sleep quality and are also free of toxic flame retardants. After my research, I switched to IntelliBED and highly recommend it. You can learn more about toxic mattresses and IntelliBED in my post here.
- Use a standing desk. Do you sit at a desk for much of the day? You probably haven’t heard this tip before, but transitioning to a standing desk can drastically improve your insomnia. This has been my experience, so I began recommending it to my friends and family members with insomnia and they reported fantastic results. You can purchase a standing desk or make your own very affordable version, just google, “DIY Standing Desk.”
How to balance melatonin naturally
As a followup to this post, I wrote 7 Ways to Balance Melatonin Naturally. These simple steps support your body’s production and regulation of melatonin, and also encourage overall wellbeing.
Have you used melatonin supplements? (Don’t forget to share this post using the buttons below with your friends and family members who use this supplement!)
CBD oil 4-5 drops twice a day; you won’t believe the difference in your life!
Yes too true
Saying that melatonin is not a sleeping pill or that it does not help with sleep is a load of hogwash . I am 75 year old male and have used melatonin for years and I am never groggy never have bad dreams and never wake up bad or off balance from it .
I do not know why you write blogs like this because I read stuff like this all of the time . Maybe melatonin does not work for you and you cannot get a experts advice simply because there is no such thing as a expert in my books . I have lived in 12 different and worked in 12 different ones. I do not believe in pills for anything but I believe in natural supplements. Martin
As a Vegan, It’s distracting and more to realize these most Melatonin is made from rotting cow brains…
Which CBD oil?
CBD oil lowers deep sleep, so it decreases sleep quality. Just like Melatonin, it simply helps falling asleep at the right time by inducing drowsiness, or “stupor” as this article calls it.
It all depends on the quality of the CBD oil and where you buy it , also it works for some and not for more . Again there are no experts for sleep or in fact anxiety. For me tryptophan half a tsp and 5 mg of melatonin works fairly well for me . A bad nervous system is a pain and this is a problem for many people .
Unless you are ADD, ADHD, bipolar or any any type of autistic spectrum, then ANY cannabis other than sativa will throw the ADD, ADHD, bipolor or autistic leaning person into a kind of PANIC attack. Educated cannibus companies (particuarlay those who make the canna oils) KNOW this (but don’t care to publicize it). People who use indica who claim to be ADD and relaxed by it are either 1.) not ADD or 2). using a sativa strain unaware. Sativa (the typically energizing strain, it CALMING to these particular individuals). Just thought it was important to share these little know facts. People on those spectrums generally experience uppers as downer and vice versa. NORMALLY CBD is calming but not so much for certain types of people.
I don’t understand this comment. Are you saying that indica is not for relaxing/ sleep but Sativa is? But this depends on personality type?
The OP gave no actual evidence for anything. No sources were cited. The ADD/ADHD related info supplied is directly countered by a rather huge number of people who use specific *hybrid* (indaia/sativa crosses) to help control their ADD/ADHD I would take their world with a grain of salt the size of Africa.
https://www.leafly.com/strains/lists/condition/add-adhd
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I’m currently on melatonin … 3 weeks in due to see my GP next week & it’s stopped working, my lucid dreaming is worse & it was supposed to be an alternative way of instead of using other medications – sleeping tablets/anti-psychotics but your absolutely right! The migraines after when “yes it does at first help with sleep” GOD! Now it having no effect & making me intensely moody…. I think your on the dot. Xox
Hypnotherapy is what I’d highly recommend! Please reach out to me if you need support!
I have been on sleeping pills for a year and I needed to get off them. I knew that sleeping pills are not a healthy way to leave your life. I went on google to check for a more natural way to come off sleeping pills.I saw and read about Melatonin. I went to the health shop and bought them.I must say I stopped taking sleeping pills completely. The only thing I experience is very mild dizziness for not longer than an hour and not every day. Since I started taking Melatonin I sleep well and I wake up refreshed than when I was taking sleeping pills. Should I carry on taking Melatonin?
I had been on Ambien rx. & then found it is very bad for you.
I needed help badly & got quite a bit of melatonin (& lemon balm).
I still need quite a bit of melatonin before bed, as well as GABA &
“cramp defense” to raise magnesium. I will get more magnesium.
(it used to help). I am 73 & have had trouble sleeping for awhile.
The statement that “melatonin is not effective for treating insomnia” is just not true.Im 58 years old and have used it off and on for 20 years and have found it to be very effective.
Have used M for years out of desperation to get my kids to sleep. I’m scared to not give it to them! I am going to try some of the methods you suggest. Curious if there are any supplements that are safer to use if we continue to struggle. Thanks!
What about MSM? That works for me in a lotion form. Also a weighted blanket. Sometimes I also use magnesium in a lotion form if I need to get to sleep earlier, like when I have to wake up earlier than normal.
I agree, Dana. I’ve used melatonin for at least 25 years, on an as-needed basis. As a former shiftworker, I’ve struggled with insomnia for years. Melatonin was a life saver for me. I’ve never noticed any side effects from it, and I never wake up groggy or feeling hung over. I get natural, very restful sleep on a 1 mg. tablet. Sometimes my dreams are more vivid as a result, but not always, and they usually aren’t unpleasant. Kristie, melatonin is widely considered safe for adults. I wouldn’t give it to children.
The statement that “melatonin is not effective for treating insomnia” is just not true.Im 58 years old and have used it off and on for 20 years and have found it to be very effective.
“Melatonin doesn’t initiate sleep”
It does for me. No recommendations for getting to bed earlier have worked for me. I’ve tried the recommendations in this post and so many others but it never works. So I take melatonin (a bit of a crutch, yes) rarely and in small amounts which should be alright. I haven’t actually seen any data showing it’s detrimental, just some discussion online.
I would take it (Melatonin mega dose 10mg) at most once a month. More than that, it has negative effects. They develop very quickly…Sleep rhythm, sexual drive, headaches…
It kinda helps within 1 hour window, after taking it. I am definitely foggy and weak next morning.
CBD (vaporized) makes me all mellow and relaxed. Like a 30 min. hot shower. Contrary to published studies, i have a high quality sleep on it. It might work differently on someone else, but for me it is fairly effective.
The winner for me is plain old Cannabis (vaporized). It makes me work-out/run/lift like crazy, for the 1st hour or so. After that it makes me very sleepy. Even after only 3-5h of sleep on cannabis+sport+light food, i feel much more refreshed. Way better than than 7-8h ordinary sleep.
I hake-up happy, stress-free and without coffee cravings. Opposed to the published studies…I guess for me works differently. So i take all studies with fair amount of skepticism. Again, works differently for different people…
Greetings from Switzerland
CBD products are fairly expensive in the US, whereas melatonin is dirt-cheap and readily available at most drugstores.
Ten milligrams of melatonin is too much for most people, which is probably why you were getting side effects. If I take more than 3 mg. it makes me feel like I want to jump out of my skin. For me, an average-size female, 1 to 1-1/2 mg. is perfect. Sometimes less is more.
Unfortunately, most of the information about melatonin which you posted here is outdated and incorrect. I urge you to read one of the world’s expert researchers on Melatonin (Russell Reiter, PhD) and then please consider editing your content. BTW, according to Frank Shallenberger, MD, HMD, unlike other hormones, there is no negative feedback system on melatonin. You can take 100mg of highly purified melatonin before bed and if your body is still producing it (it falters drastically after age 40) you will still produce more. Good luck.
I do not know the matter personally, but a quick google search of Frank Shallenberger, MD showed malpractice at least 3 times, if it’s the same guy.
Melatonin, Benadryl and Ashwaghanda actually had similar, awful effects on me personally. I got super moody and irritable. MSM is my favorite thing to help me sleep, it has so many other benefits as well.
I’ve tried Melotonin many times in the last 30 years or so, at a low doses of 1.5 mg or much less. The effect is always the same and I suspect they are hormonal effects… Mild depression and anxiety. Every single time I take it. It gets much worse if I try it for a week. Then I get even more side effects. Chills, evevated heart rate, feeling generally ill. While it does help with sleep a little, the side effects for the sensitive are awful. I had to smile when I saw in the article what I’ve told people many times; melotonin ( like vitaman D) is a hormone. You see it stated almost if not absolutely NO WHERE online. I personally think it’s crazy to casually play with hormone levels when you have no idea of the consequences. Melotonin information online is mostly about money and capturing the unfortunate who can’t sleep like me.
What other drugs do you take? What food do you eat?