How many melatonin can you take

Melatonin can reduce the effectiveness of some prescription drugs, triggering possibly serious complications. Melatonin can increase the risk of bleeding. Melatonin may also increase blood pressure in people who take medication to control their hypertension.

Autoimmune diseases are the result of an overactive immune system, and inflammation is a classic symptom on these diseases. Melatonin can stimulate immune system activity, increasing inflammation and exacerbating an existing disease. These symptoms may improve once you stop taking the supplement or reduce the amount you take each night. In the case of a severe overdose or side effect — like an abnormally low blood pressure — see a doctor right away.

You should also get medical help if you feel that the supplement interacts with your prescription medication. For example, you might take your diabetes medication as scheduled to control your blood sugar, yet your blood sugar still remains elevated. Medical treatment will focus on stabilizing your health. So if too much melatonin causes low blood pressure, your doctor will work to get your blood pressure back to a healthy level. To avoid complications, talk to your doctor to see whether melatonin is safe for you.

If so, get dosing recommendations from your doctor to avoid problems in the future. Even so, an overdose can cause unpleasant side effects. Keep your dose to no more than 1 to 3 mg per night. The hormone melatonin comes from a small gland in the brain called the pineal gland, whose primary job is melatonin production. This is why you generally feel sleepy around the same time every night. Normally, melatonin levels increase at night. The reasons why are varied; some people struggle to sleep well when they have certain medical or mental health conditions, like anxiety or depression , while others can trace their sleeplessness to situational or environmental causes.

Not making enough melatonin can lead to the occasional sleepless night, but it can also cause primary sleep disorders like insomnia, sleep apnea, circadian rhythm sleep disorder, and restless leg syndrome. Sign up for Melatonin price alerts and find out when the price changes! Get Price Alerts. Melatonin may be used to improve sleep onset, sleep time, or sleep quality. There are several scenarios where you might benefit from taking melatonin for sleep, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health NIH.

These include:. Some healthcare professionals also recommend that children who experience difficulty sleeping due to other health conditions, like autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, take melatonin—although experts are still unsure about the overall safety and effectiveness of this approach. Melatonin supplements are available in a wide range of dosages, from 1 milligram up to 10 milligrams, and can be taken as pills, dissolvable tablets, liquid drops, or even gummies.

However you take it, the best time to use melatonin is about 30 minutes before bedtime. Melatonin is considered safe in low doses for short-term use , but there is little data available on its long-term effects and more research is needed to determine overall safety. If you find you are relying on melatonin in order to fall asleep every night, Avena recommends lowering your dosage slowly. You may experience a few nights of less than great sleep as your body adjusts.

Relaxation techniques like meditation or breathing exercises can help you fall asleep without the help of a melatonin supplement. Melatonin is not addictive, but taking it every night can cause you to rely on it as part of your bedtime routine. People start associating substances and behaviors as part of the bedtime routine," Dimitriu says.

It is impossible to become physically dependent on melatonin like you could with other substances, like alcohol, Avena says, but you can come to rely on it as a sleep association. If you find you are needing to take melatonin every night to sleep, you may have another health condition, like anxiety or a sleep disorder that is affecting your ability to sleep, Dimitriu says.

In small doses, melatonin supplements are a safe and effective way to help you fall asleep, but more research is needed to determine the long-term effects of taking melatonin regularly. There is no known lethal dosage of melatonin, but taking more than 10 mg can cause side effects, like daytime drowsiness and headaches.

If you are relying on melatonin to sleep, talk with your doctor about ways to improve your sleep hygiene. Have questions about addiction? Call us at to speak with a recovery specialist. Generally, an adult dose is thought to be between 1 and 10 mg.

Doses near the 30 mg mark are usually considered to be harmful. Taking too much melatonin for you can lead to unpleasant side effects. These may include:. Young children can experience even more serious side effects, and melatonin overdose occurs more quickly. For example, a dose as small as 1 to 5 mg could cause seizures. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers more information.

Need to talk to someone today? Taking melatonin in any amount can be dangerous if you are also taking certain other medications. Unfortunately, this includes medications that can also make it difficult to sleep.