Can You Overdose on Melatonin?

Tossing and turning night after night without any productive sleep can really take a toll on your body and mental health. Many people who experience this reach for prescribed sleep pills, over-the-counter sleep pills, or natural supplements that promote healthy sleep, like melatonin.

Melatonin is a hormone that helps to regulate our sleep-wake cycle. This means that it helps tell your body when it's time to be awake and switched on, and when it's time to sleep.

But many things can alter this regulation, including your sleep environment, health state, stress, relationships, lifestyle, and other medications. In the winter you may produce melatonin early in the day than in the summer due to the time the earlier sunsets.

Melatonin supplements are generally considered safe when used as prescribed. We’ve discussed "Is Melatonin Addictive?" before, and the answer to that question is no, it's not addictive, because it doesn’t have the same addictive properties as definitive addictive substances like drugs and alcohol.

But the question we're answering today is: can you overdose on melatonin?

Overdoing means taking an excessive or dangerous dose of a drug or substance, resulting in serious, harmful symptoms, or even death. You can't typically overdose on most supplements, but they can reach a toxic level if you take too much. Melatonin is one of these supplements.

How Much Melatonin is Safe?

The amount of melatonin that is safe differs from person to person, but the general guideline is to take as little of a dose as possible while still reaping the benefits.

For most people, this means a dosage ranging from 0.10-10 mg.¹ Your age, weight, health status, melatonin history, and other medications and supplements you take can all play a role in your ideal dosage.²

Work with your doctor to find a dosage that is right for you rather, as trial-and-error dosages may lead to taking too much melatonin since "less is more" when it comes to sleep supplements.

Different brands also play a role as they may contain different things. For example, some melatonin is combined with other vitamins and minerals, and others may be full-strength melatonin. In this case, you wouldn’t take the same dosage of the multivitamin + melatonin as you would the full-strength melatonin.

You also must be wary of what the label says on the melatonin supplement you are taking. Vitamins aren’t regulated by the FDA, so they can put whatever they want on the label as far as the dosage and what exactly is in the supplement.

Research has shown that the labels of melatonin can incorrectly dose the melatonin amount by less than 80% to nearly 500% more.³

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It's recommended to take melatonin in the proper dosage prescribed to you 30 minutes before you plan to go to bed. This allows your body to process the supplement and gives you time to complete your pre-sleep activities before you get tired and drowsy.

It's important to take it only when you know you are going to bed soon so that you don't put yourself in a dangerous situation, like operating a vehicle after taking a melatonin supplement.

However, everyone processes melatonin differently, so it may take you some time to find your ideal dose and timing while remaining safe.

Side Effects of Melatonin 

There aren’t any major side effects related to melatonin intake. Common ones include nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, headaches, and stomachaches, but this usually only occurs in the instance of inappropriate usage and dosing.¹

Long-term usage hasn’t been studied enough to decipher if there are any long-term side effects that melatonin users need to be wary of, aside from the ones listed above.

Can You Overdose on Melatonin?

Like long-term side effects, currently, there aren’t many studies that look at melatonin toxicity or overdose. One study gave participants 1000 mg of melatonin daily for one month. No toxic effects were seen, no side effects were reported, and only minor changes in pituitary hormones were observed.³

In these cases, minor side effects were the only things experienced. No cases of death from solely taking a melatonin supplement have been reported.

Despite the lack of research and clinical examples of melatonin toxicity or overdose, it doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. Symptoms of toxicity for melatonin include headache, low or high blood pressure, drowsiness, and vomiting.

Those with cardiovascular, dermatological, and central nervous disorders are more at risk for these side effects when taking melatonin.²

There is also evidence that shows that melatonin can induce depression in those who already have depression. Since melatonin helps your body regulate its sleep-wake cycle by promoting sleep, those who are depressed and already have higher rates of sleep may experience longer sleep periods.

If you have naturally low melatonin levels, you may be at risk of experiencing side effects as your body adapts to increased melatonin through supplementation.

Because of this, people with lower levels should start with a lower dose, working their way up to a higher dose if necessary.

What If You Take Too Much Melatonin?

Melatonin doesn’t stick around in the body for too long. This means that if you are experiencing any negative side effects from melatonin, you can likely just wait it out till your body completely processes it.

If you have nausea or an upset stomach, eat some plain bread or crackers, and drink some water to help calm it. However, if you think the side effects are lasting too long, or start to get worse, seek professional help by calling your doctor, or if you're very concerned, your nearest emergency room.

Sleep Hygiene Principles

The best way to re-regulate your sleep-wake cycle is to practice healthy sleep hygiene. These principles include:

• Exercise in the day to get rid of any excess energy you have, which can help you fall asleep quicker at night. Though don’t do any intense exercise right before bed, as this can make you feel more awake.
• Avoid caffeine after 2 pm. Though different people process caffeine at different speeds, so those who take longer can still have a 3 pm coffee in their system by the time they want to go to bed. Switch to decaf in the afternoon if you still want to keep your afternoon coffee date without disrupting your sleep.
• Expose yourself to natural light upon waking up by opening curtains and shades, or using natural light alarm clocks.
• Be consistent with your sleep patterns by falling asleep at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning.
• Make sure your sleep environment is calm, dark, and quiet by using blackout curtains, sleep masks, and earplugs. Use any sleep aids you may need like white noise machines or fans to help promote better sleep.
• Put away your laptops, iPad, cell phones, and TVs well before bedtime. The blue light from these devices can disturb your sleep-wake cycle and make falling asleep harder.

Conclusion

Overall, overdosing on melatonin isn’t possible. You can experience negative side effects, but most of them are temporary and aren’t dangerous for your body.

Though, you must take melatonin as prescribed and avoid high dosages. High doses of melatonin can actually harm your sleeping patterns, which is counterproductive to what you'd be trying to achieve by taking it.

Try to practice good sleep hygiene while taking a low dose of melatonin to help improve your sleep quality.

If you are practicing good sleep habits and taking a melatonin supplement but don’t see any changes in your sleep, talk to your doctor about seeing a sleep specialist and find out if any underlying factors are causing it.

If you do decide to take a melatonin supplement, our top pick is Performance Lab Sleep, containing natural melatonin from tart cherries, alongside magnesium, that helps to relax muscles, settle nerves, and soothe aches.

Just take 2-4 capsules 30 minutes before bedtime to help you fall asleep better with no groggy side effects in the morning. If you want better sleep, try Performance Lab Sleep to promote and stabilize your circadian rhythm.