The Paradox of Sleep Aid Melatonin Dosage for Adults: Why More Might Mean Less

Story-at-a-Glance

• Most commercial melatonin supplements contain 3-10mg per dose, yet pioneering MIT research found that just 0.3mg—roughly one-tenth of typical products—is the physiological dose that restores sleep in adults
• High doses of melatonin can cause receptor desensitization, making the supplement progressively less effective with continued use as your brain’s melatonin receptors become overwhelmed and shut down
• A 2024 systematic review found that melatonin’s sleep-promoting effects peak at 4mg daily, with timing being crucial—taking melatonin three hours before bedtime appears more effective than the common 30-minute window
• Recent research challenges the conventional wisdom: melatonin functions primarily as a “sleep timer” that signals when sleep should occur, rather than a sedative that generates sleep itself
• The booming $3 billion melatonin market has spawned safety concerns, including 11,000 pediatric emergency room visits between 2019-2022 and emerging questions about long-term cardiovascular effects
• Individual factors including age, existing sleep disorders, and the type of sleep problem dramatically influence the optimal sleep aid melatonin dosage for adults

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Picture this: You’re standing in the supplement aisle, staring at bottles of melatonin ranging from 1mg to 10mg, wondering which dose will finally grant you a decent night’s sleep. The label on the 10mg bottle promises “maximum strength,” while the 3mg version claims to be “clinically studied.” You reach for the higher dose, naturally—more must be better, right?

If only sleep were that simple.

Here’s what most people don’t realize: that “maximum strength” melatonin you just grabbed might be sabotaging your sleep rather than improving it. The story behind the sleep aid melatonin dosage for adults is a fascinating tale of scientific discovery, market forces, and a counterintuitive truth that challenges everything the supplement industry wants you to believe.

The MIT Discovery That Changed Everything (And Then Got Ignored)

In the early 2000s, Dr. Richard Wurtman at MIT made a discovery that should have revolutionized how we think about melatonin supplementation. Through careful research at MIT’s Clinical Research Center, his team determined the physiological dose of melatonin. This amount—what actually mimics what your body naturally produces—is approximately 0.3 milligrams. Not 3mg. Not 10mg. Three-tenths of a single milligram.

The research was elegant in its simplicity. Wurtman and his colleagues, including researcher Irina Zhdanova, found that this tiny dose helped people fall asleep. It also addressed a problem that plagues many adults: those frustrating middle-of-the-night awakenings. Adults who normally woke during the second and third thirds of the night had better results. They were able to sleep through when taking the physiological dose.

But here’s where the story takes an unfortunate turn. When MIT patented the use of melatonin for sleep at dosages up to 1mg, something unexpected happened. The FDA classified melatonin as a dietary supplement rather than a drug. This seemingly bureaucratic decision had profound consequences. Manufacturers became free to sell melatonin in much higher dosages. They didn’t need approval or have to pay royalties to MIT’s patent. Within years, the market flooded with products containing ten to thirty times the effective dose.

“When the melatonin receptors in the brain are exposed to too much of the hormone, they become unresponsive,” Wurtman explained. “As a result of these inadvertent overdoses, many people don’t think melatonin works at all.” The very product people were taking to improve their sleep was, paradoxically, preventing it from working.

How Your Brain’s Melatonin Receptors Actually Work

To understand why the sleep aid melatonin dosage for adults matters so much, we need to peek inside your brain. You have two types of melatonin receptors—creatively named MT1 and MT2—scattered throughout your suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the master clock that governs your circadian rhythm.

Think of these receptors as tiny satellite dishes on your brain cells, constantly scanning for melatonin’s signal. When darkness falls and your pineal gland begins secreting melatonin, these receptors pick up the signal. They relay the message: “Time to prepare for sleep.”

But here’s the catch: these receptors can become desensitized. When you flood your system with supraphysiological doses of melatonin—amounts far beyond what your body naturally produces—the receptors essentially say “enough already” and start shutting down. The MT2 receptors are particularly vulnerable to this effect. They undergo internalization (essentially disappearing from the cell surface) when exposed to high melatonin levels.

Research published in the FASEB Journal demonstrated something remarkable. After exposure to physiological melatonin concentrations (300 pM) for eight hours (mimicking a normal night’s secretion), MT2 receptors showed significant desensitization. But recovery was possible within eight hours. However, when researchers used 10 nM melatonin (roughly 30 times higher), full recovery wasn’t achieved even after 24 hours.

This explains why so many people report that melatonin “stopped working” after a few days of use. It’s not that melatonin itself failed—it’s that you’ve overwhelmed your receptors to the point where they can’t respond anymore.

The Dose-Response Puzzle: When Recent Research Complicates the Picture

If only the story ended there. But science rarely offers such tidy conclusions, and recent research has added intriguing complexity to our understanding of the sleep aid melatonin dosage for adults.

In 2024, a comprehensive systematic review published in the Journal of Pineal Research analyzed randomized controlled trials. The findings showed that melatonin’s sleep-promoting effects appear to peak at around 4mg per day. This dose reduced sleep onset latency (how long it takes to fall asleep) and increased total sleep time more effectively than lower or higher amounts.

Even more intriguingly, a 2022 study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital challenged the conventional wisdom about low doses. Researchers led by Dr. Jeanne Duffy and Dr. Charles Czeisler found that in healthy older adults (ages 55-78), a 5mg dose significantly increased total sleep time compared to both placebo and a 0.3mg dose. The higher dose added more than 15 minutes to nighttime sleep. It also added half an hour to daytime sleep sessions.

How do we reconcile these findings with Wurtman’s discovery? The answer appears to lie in individual variation and the specific sleep problem being addressed. Age matters tremendously—older adults produce less melatonin naturally, which may mean they need higher supplemental doses to achieve the same receptor activation. The type of sleep disruption matters too. Someone struggling with delayed sleep phase disorder may respond differently than someone dealing with frequent nighttime awakenings.

Dr. Czeisler serves as Chief of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is also the Frank Baldino Jr. Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He emphasized an important caveat: “Before taking a dietary supplement, it’s important for people to talk to their primary care physician and get a referral to a sleep specialist to rule out an undiagnosed sleep disorder.”

The Timing Factor: When You Take It Matters as Much as How Much

Here’s something that might surprise you: the sleep aid melatonin dosage for adults isn’t just about quantity—it’s deeply intertwined with timing.

Most supplement bottles recommend taking melatonin 30 minutes before bedtime. But that 2024 meta-analysis revealed something different: taking melatonin three hours before your desired bedtime appears to optimize its sleep-promoting effects. The researchers found that the time between melatonin administration and the sleep episode was a significant predictor of how well it worked.

Why? Because melatonin functions primarily as what sleep scientists call a “chronobiotic”—a substance that influences the timing of biological rhythms. Dr. Matthew Walker, Director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at UC Berkeley and author of Why We Sleep, puts it bluntly: “Melatonin simply times when sleep is going to occur, not the generation of sleep itself.”

Think of melatonin as a dinner bell rather than the meal. It signals that it’s time to eat, but it doesn’t provide the sustenance. This is why Walker notes that melatonin is particularly useful for jet lag—when your body clock is out of sync with your environment—but may be less helpful for general insomnia.

This timing principle also explains why taking melatonin during your natural melatonin secretion window (typically 9 PM to 7 AM for most people) can actually interfere with your body’s own production. It’s like showing up to a conversation already in progress and trying to talk over the person who was already speaking.

The Sobering Case Studies: When Dosage Goes Wrong

Sometimes the best way to understand the importance of proper dosing is to look at what happens when things go catastrophically wrong.

In 2024, doctors published a case report in the European Journal of Medical Case Reports about a 16-year-old who intentionally overdosed on 900mg of melatonin—180 tablets. Admitted to the emergency department, he was extremely drowsy with a Glasgow coma scale score of 8/15. While he eventually recovered after 32 hours, the case underscores something crucial: even though melatonin has a remarkably safe toxicity profile (researchers haven’t established an LD50 even at doses of 800mg/kg in animals), functional impairment at high doses is real and concerning.

More troubling is the epidemic of unintentional pediatric exposures. Between 2019 and 2022, approximately 11,000 children were seen in emergency rooms after ingesting melatonin while unsupervised, with nearly 5,000 cases involving melatonin gummies. This crisis prompted the Council for Responsible Nutrition to implement voluntary guidelines in 2024, recommending child-deterrent packaging and improved labeling.

But it’s not just about accidental overdoses. The real concern is the long-term effect of chronic high-dose supplementation on receptor function. While we don’t have longitudinal human studies tracking this over decades, the mechanistic research on receptor desensitization suggests that people regularly taking 5-10mg of melatonin may be fundamentally altering how their brains respond to this crucial hormone.

What the Market Boom Reveals About Our Sleep Crisis

Step back for a moment and consider the bigger picture. The global melatonin market is projected to reach $3 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 15%. In the United States alone, more than 3 million adults regularly take melatonin.

This isn’t just a supplement trend—it’s a societal symptom. We’re a sleep-deprived culture desperately seeking pharmaceutical salvation for a problem that often has behavioral roots. The irony is that many of us reach for melatonin while simultaneously scrolling through our phones late at night, exposing ourselves to blue light that suppresses our natural melatonin production far more effectively than any supplement can enhance it.

The market has responded to this demand with innovation—some helpful, some questionable. There are now extended-release formulations designed to prevent middle-of-the-night awakenings, liquid drops for faster absorption, and even tomato-derived “natural” melatonin marketed as somehow superior to synthetic versions (despite being molecularly identical).

Yet amid this explosion of products, the fundamental question about the sleep aid melatonin dosage for adults remains frustratingly unanswered for many individuals: What dose will actually work for me?

The Emerging Safety Concerns That Should Give Us Pause

For years, melatonin enjoyed a reputation as one of the safest supplements available. And in many ways, it deserves that reputation—acute toxicity is extremely low, and short-term use appears remarkably safe for most people.

But “safe” is a moving target, and our understanding continues to evolve. In November 2024, researchers presented data at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions that raised eyebrows throughout the sleep medicine community. Their observational study of over 130,000 adults with insomnia found concerning patterns. Those who had been prescribed melatonin and used it for at least a year showed consistent increases in serious cardiovascular outcomes. These increases were significant compared to matched controls.

Dr. Ekenedilichukwu Nnadi, the study’s lead author, noted: “Melatonin supplements may not be as harmless as commonly assumed. If our study is confirmed, this could affect how doctors counsel patients about sleep aids.”

The supplement industry pushed back hard, noting the study’s limitations—it couldn’t distinguish between people taking melatonin by prescription (in countries where it requires one) versus over-the-counter, and everyone using it as an OTC supplement in the US would have been in the “non-melatonin” control group. Still, the findings warrant attention.

Meanwhile, June 2024 brought more positive news: research published in JAMA Ophthalmology found that regular melatonin consumption was associated with reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in adults over 50. The study of 200,000 patients suggested that melatonin’s antioxidant properties might protect the retina from degeneration.

These contradictory findings highlight a crucial point: we’re still learning about melatonin’s effects beyond sleep, and the sleep aid melatonin dosage for adults that’s optimal for sleep might have entirely different implications for cardiovascular or eye health.

How Individual Factors Shape Your Ideal Dose

Let’s address the elephant in the room: if you’re looking for a simple, one-size-fits-all answer about the sleep aid melatonin dosage for adults, you’re going to be disappointed. The truth is more nuanced and requires considering your individual circumstances.

Age is perhaps the most critical factor. As we age, our natural melatonin production declines—both in terms of peak levels and the robustness of our circadian rhythm. This may explain why older adults in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital study responded better to 5mg than to 0.3mg, while younger adults in earlier studies found lower doses sufficient.

The nature of your sleep problem matters enormously. Are you having trouble falling asleep initially? Experiencing middle-of-the-night awakenings? Or dealing with a circadian rhythm disorder like delayed sleep phase syndrome? Each scenario may benefit from different dosing strategies and timing.

Existing medications and health conditions can dramatically influence melatonin’s effectiveness and safety. Melatonin is metabolized primarily by the liver enzyme CYP1A2. This means drugs that affect this enzyme can alter melatonin levels in your body. These include some antibiotics, antidepressants, and blood pressure medications.

Your exposure to light at night—especially blue light from screens—can suppress melatonin production by up to 50%. No amount of supplemental melatonin can fully compensate if you’re simultaneously sending your brain strong “stay awake” signals through light exposure.

What Does a Top Sleep Researcher Actually Recommend?

Given all this complexity, what do the world’s leading sleep scientists actually suggest?

Dr. Matthew Walker tends to be more skeptical of melatonin for routine sleep issues. In his view, melatonin is most appropriately used for circadian timing problems—jet lag, shift work, or helping blind individuals who can’t entrain to light-dark cycles—rather than as a general sleep aid. He notes that the placebo effect with melatonin is particularly strong, and if someone feels it helps them, they shouldn’t necessarily discontinue it based purely on the mechanism of action.

The late Dr. Richard Wurtman, whose MIT research pioneered our understanding of melatonin dosing, consistently advocated for the lowest effective dose. Before his death in 2022, he advised patients who couldn’t find 0.3mg preparations to take half of a 1mg pill at bedtime, and the other half if they awakened at 3 or 4 AM.

Dr. Charles Czeisler, whose research spans four decades of sleep and circadian science, emphasizes the importance of ruling out underlying sleep disorders before turning to supplements. Conditions like sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, or anxiety-driven insomnia won’t respond appropriately to melatonin and may worsen if the real problem goes undiagnosed.

The emerging consensus seems to be this: start low, use strategically, and don’t expect miracles. For most adults dealing with occasional sleep disruption, 0.5-1mg taken 2-3 hours before bedtime is a reasonable starting point. Older adults may need to titrate up to 3-5mg if lower doses prove insufficient. But anyone using melatonin nightly for more than a few weeks should consult a healthcare provider to address the underlying causes of their sleep disruption.

The Bioavailability Question That Changes Everything

Here’s something most people never consider: the amount of melatonin listed on the label isn’t necessarily what your body can actually use. This brings us to a critical concept in supplement science: bioavailability.

Standard melatonin tablets face the same absorption challenges as many oral supplements. They must survive the acidic environment of your stomach and navigate the digestive process. Then they must pass through your liver’s first-pass metabolism before reaching your bloodstream. Studies suggest that the actual bioavailability of oral melatonin can be as low as 15%, with significant individual variation.

This might explain some of the confusion about optimal dosing. A person taking 3mg of standard melatonin might only be absorbing 0.45mg—close to Wurtman’s physiological dose. But another person with more efficient absorption might be getting nearly 2mg, potentially overwhelming their receptors.

Pharmaceutical companies have experimented with various delivery methods to address this: sublingual tablets that dissolve under the tongue (bypassing first-pass metabolism), liquid formulations for faster absorption, and extended-release versions that maintain steady levels throughout the night. Each approach alters the effective dose and timing of melatonin exposure, adding another layer of complexity to determining the optimal sleep aid melatonin dosage for adults.

A More Thoughtful Approach to Sleep

As our conversation draws to a close, let’s circle back to you standing in that supplement aisle, bottle of melatonin in hand. Armed with what you now know, what should you do?

First, recognize that reaching for melatonin shouldn’t be your first response to poor sleep. Before any supplement enters the picture, ask yourself: Are you maintaining consistent sleep and wake times? Is your bedroom dark, cool, and quiet? Are you avoiding screens for the hour before bed? Are you limiting caffeine after noon and alcohol in the evening?

These behavioral factors—collectively known as sleep hygiene—have stronger evidence for improving sleep than any supplement, including melatonin. They work with your body’s natural systems rather than trying to override them.

But if you’ve optimized your sleep environment and habits and still struggle, and you decide to try melatonin, here’s a thoughtful approach:

Start with the lowest dose available—ideally 0.5mg or less. Take it 2-3 hours before your desired bedtime, not 30 minutes. Give it at least a week to assess effectiveness, as melatonin works cumulatively on your circadian rhythm rather than providing immediate sedation like a sleeping pill.

If that dose doesn’t help after a week, gradually increase—perhaps to 1mg, then 2mg—rather than immediately jumping to “maximum strength” formulations. Pay attention to how you feel in the morning. Grogginess or daytime sleepiness might indicate you’re taking too much, or that you’re taking it too late in the evening.

And perhaps most importantly: if you find yourself relying on melatonin nightly for more than a few weeks, that’s your signal to consult a healthcare provider. Chronic sleep problems usually have underlying causes that supplements can’t address, and continuing to mask symptoms prevents you from finding real solutions.

The Questions We Should All Be Asking

As the melatonin market continues its explosive growth and new research reshapes our understanding, several critical questions remain unanswered:

What are the long-term effects of nightly high-dose melatonin use on our bodies’ natural production? If our pineal glands detect consistently high exogenous melatonin levels, what happens? Will they down-regulate their own synthesis, creating a dependency cycle?

How do different genetic variants in melatonin receptors and metabolizing enzymes influence optimal dosing? Could pharmacogenomic testing eventually allow us to personalize melatonin therapy?

And perhaps most fundamentally: Why are so many of us struggling to sleep in the first place? What aspects of modern life—from our 24/7 work culture to our light-saturated environments—are disrupting the sleep systems that evolved over millions of years?

The story of the sleep aid melatonin dosage for adults is ultimately a story about how we relate to our bodies and our biology. It’s about whether we trust million-year-old systems more than we trust the supplement industry. It’s about whether we’re willing to make difficult lifestyle changes or prefer the seeming simplicity of a pill.

Your Turn to Weigh In

What’s been your experience with melatonin? Have you found a dose that works consistently, or have you experienced the “it stopped working” phenomenon? Have you tried adjusting the timing of your dose, or experimented with different formulations?

More broadly, how do you think about supplements versus lifestyle changes for health issues? Are there sleep strategies beyond melatonin that have transformed your nights?

The conversation about sleep—and the role of melatonin in achieving it—is far from over. As research continues to evolve and as more of us grapple with chronic sleep disruption, we need a nuanced, evidence-based discussion that goes beyond marketing hype.

So tell us: What questions about melatonin and sleep do you wish someone would answer? What aspects of your sleep struggle feel most frustrating? Your experiences and questions might just spark the next important research direction.

After all, if millions of us are lying awake at night wondering about the same things, perhaps it’s time we started talking about them in the light of day.

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FAQ

Q: What is melatonin and how does it work?

A: Melatonin is a hormone naturally produced by your pineal gland in response to darkness. It’s often called the “hormone of darkness” or “vampire hormone” because it’s only secreted at night. Melatonin works primarily as a circadian regulator. It signals to your body that it’s time for sleep by interacting with MT1 and MT2 receptors in your brain’s suprachiasmatic nucleus (your master biological clock). However, melatonin itself doesn’t generate sleep. It functions more like a timing signal that tells your body when sleep should occur, rather than a sedative that causes sleep directly.

Q: What does “supraphysiological dose” mean?

A: A supraphysiological dose means an amount higher than what your body would naturally produce. For melatonin, physiological levels in your bloodstream at night are typically around 60-70 pg/mL. The 0.3mg dose identified in MIT research produces levels close to this natural amount. In contrast, a 3mg dose (ten times higher) produces supraphysiological levels. Your body would never naturally create these levels, potentially leading to receptor desensitization.

Q: What is receptor desensitization?

A: Receptor desensitization is when cellular receptors become less responsive after being exposed to high levels of their signaling molecule. Think of it like becoming desensitized to a loud noise. The first exposure gets your attention, but continuous exposure makes you notice it less. With melatonin receptors, exposure to high doses causes them to internalize (move inside the cell). They become less sensitive, which means subsequent doses become less effective. This is why many people report that melatonin “stops working” after several days of use.

Q: What are MT1 and MT2 receptors?

A: MT1 and MT2 are the two types of melatonin receptors in your brain. Both are G-protein coupled receptors located primarily in your suprachiasmatic nucleus. MT1 receptors are primarily involved in sleep promotion and inhibiting wakefulness signals. MT2 receptors are more involved in phase-shifting your circadian rhythm—essentially helping to adjust your biological clock. Research has shown that MT2 receptors are particularly vulnerable to desensitization when exposed to high melatonin levels. This may explain why high-dose supplementation becomes less effective over time.

Q: Why do most supplements contain doses much higher than the physiological dose?

A: The answer is partly regulatory and partly economic. When the FDA classified melatonin as a dietary supplement rather than a drug, manufacturers gained freedom. They could sell it at any dosage without needing approval or paying royalties on MIT’s patent for low-dose use. Higher-dose products also have better profit margins and may seem more appealing to consumers who assume “more is better.” Unfortunately, this market dynamic has made truly low-dose melatonin (0.3-0.5mg) difficult to find. Research shows these doses may be most effective for many people.

Q: What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)?

A: The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is a tiny region in your hypothalamus that serves as your body’s master biological clock. It contains about 20,000 neurons that generate your circadian rhythm. This is the roughly 24-hour cycle that regulates sleep-wake patterns, hormone release, body temperature, and many other physiological processes. Your SCN receives light information from specialized cells in your retina and uses this information, along with melatonin signals, to keep your body synchronized with the day-night cycle. When people talk about “resetting your body clock,” they’re essentially talking about influencing your SCN.

Q: What is a meta-analysis?

A: A meta-analysis is a research method that combines data from multiple independent studies to reach broader conclusions. Rather than conducting a new experiment, researchers use a different approach. They use statistical techniques to analyze the pooled results of many previous studies on the same question. This approach can provide stronger evidence than any single study. It includes more total participants and can detect patterns that might not be clear in individual studies. When Dr. Wurtman’s team conducted a meta-analysis of 17 melatonin studies, they were essentially asking “When we look at all the research together, does melatonin work?”—and the answer was a definitive yes.

Q: Should I use extended-release or immediate-release melatonin?

A: This depends on your specific sleep problem. Immediate-release melatonin reaches peak blood levels within 30-60 minutes. It is better suited for people who have trouble falling asleep initially. Extended-release formulations maintain more stable melatonin levels over 6-8 hours. They may be more appropriate for people who fall asleep easily but wake frequently during the night. However, the research on whether extended-release formulations are actually more effective is mixed. Some sleep specialists suggest that if you’re waking during the night, keeping a low dose (0.3-0.5mg) by your bedside to take if you wake at 3-4 AM might be more effective than a single extended-release dose.

Q: Can I become dependent on melatonin?

A: Melatonin doesn’t cause the kind of physical dependence associated with prescription sleep medications like benzodiazepines. You won’t experience withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it. However, there’s concern about two other types of dependence. First, psychological dependence—believing you can’t sleep without it, even though the effect may be partially placebo. Second, there’s emerging research suggesting that chronic high-dose supplementation might suppress your body’s natural melatonin production, though this hasn’t been definitively proven in humans. The bigger concern is that relying on melatonin may prevent you from addressing the underlying causes of your sleep problems.

Q: How does melatonin interact with medications?

A: Melatonin can interact with several types of medications. It’s primarily metabolized by the liver enzyme CYP1A2, so drugs that inhibit or induce this enzyme can affect melatonin levels. Blood thinners like warfarin may be affected because melatonin has mild anticoagulant properties. Immunosuppressants, diabetes medications, blood pressure medications, and CNS depressants can all potentially interact with melatonin. Additionally, birth control pills can increase melatonin levels in your body because they inhibit CYP1A2. This is why consulting with a healthcare provider before starting melatonin is particularly important if you take any regular medications.

Q: What about melatonin for children?

A: Melatonin use in children is a contentious topic among pediatric sleep specialists. While some physicians prescribe it for children with ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, or other conditions that interfere with sleep, there are concerns. The long-term effects on developing brains and hormone systems remain largely unknown. The recent epidemic of pediatric emergency room visits (11,000 children between 2019-2022) highlights serious safety concerns around unsupervised access. Most pediatric sleep specialists recommend exhausting behavioral interventions before considering melatonin. When used, it should be at the lowest effective dose and only under medical supervision. The concern is particularly acute because melatonin plays roles in development beyond just sleep, including effects on puberty timing.

Q: Will melatonin help with my specific sleep disorder?

A: Melatonin’s effectiveness varies dramatically depending on the underlying cause of sleep disruption. It works best for circadian rhythm disorders like delayed sleep phase syndrome, jet lag, and shift work disorder. It also helps older adults whose natural melatonin production has declined. It’s less effective for insomnia caused by anxiety, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, or chronic pain. In these cases, melatonin might provide mild improvement but won’t address the root cause. This is why sleep specialists emphasize getting a proper diagnosis before starting any sleep supplement. Treating the wrong problem with melatonin can delay effective treatment. It can also allow serious conditions like sleep apnea to go undiagnosed and untreated.

Q: Is “natural” melatonin better than synthetic?

A: Despite marketing claims, there’s no meaningful difference between the types. “Natural” melatonin (derived from animal pineal glands or plants like tomatoes) and synthetic melatonin produced in laboratories are molecularly identical. Your body can’t distinguish between them. Synthetic melatonin actually has some advantages: it’s more consistent in purity and dosage. It doesn’t carry any risk of contamination from animal sources, and it’s more sustainably produced. The “natural” label is primarily a marketing strategy that capitalizes on the perception that natural products are superior, but in this case, the chemistry tells a different story.

Q: Why do I feel groggy after taking melatonin?

A: Morning grogginess after melatonin usually indicates one of several issues. You might be taking too high a dose. You could be taking it too late in the evening, so melatonin levels are still high when you wake. Or you may be particularly sensitive to melatonin’s effects. Remember that melatonin has a half-life of about 40-60 minutes in your body. However, the effects on your sleep-wake system can last longer. If you’re experiencing persistent morning grogginess, try a few adjustments. Reduce your dose, perhaps cutting it in half. Take it earlier in the evening (3 hours before bed rather than 30 minutes). Or switch to an immediate-release formulation if you’re using extended-release. If grogginess persists even at low doses taken early, melatonin may not be the right sleep aid for you.

Q: Can melatonin help with jet lag?

A: Jet lag is actually one of the best-supported uses for melatonin. It’s the application that sleep scientists like Matthew Walker are most comfortable recommending. When you travel across time zones, your circadian rhythm is out of sync with your new environment. Your body thinks it’s 3 AM when it’s actually noon. Melatonin can help reset your clock more quickly. The key is strategic timing: take melatonin in the evening in your new time zone, even if your body doesn’t feel ready for sleep. The dose can be slightly higher than for regular sleep (1-3mg) since you’re trying to actively shift your rhythm rather than just support it. However, melatonin won’t help with the fatigue from travel itself—only with the circadian misalignment component of jet lag.

Q: What does the research say about melatonin’s other health benefits?

A: Beyond sleep, melatonin has been studied for various other effects, with varying levels of evidence. It has antioxidant properties. This may explain the June 2024 finding linking regular melatonin use to reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration. Some research suggests potential benefits for migraine prevention and endometriosis symptoms. It has also been studied as an adjunct therapy in certain cancers due to its antioxidant effects. However, most of these applications need much more research before drawing firm conclusions. The November 2024 observational study suggesting possible cardiovascular concerns with long-term use reminds us that we’re still learning about melatonin’s broader effects on health. Any use of melatonin for purposes beyond sleep should be discussed with a healthcare provider.