The sleep hormone melatonin helps you fall asleep quickly in the evening and recharge your batteries for the new day.
If you can't achieve a balanced melatonin level naturally, you can also take it as a dietary supplement. Below, you'll learn whether and what adverse effects an overdose can cause.
Table of contents
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1. Can melatonin cause adverse effects?
Melatonin is your sleep hormone and an important part of your sleep-wake cycle . Accordingly, it ensures that you feel tired in the evening and drift off to sleep gently.
However, certain lifestyle choices can disrupt melatonin production – for example, if you are under a lot of stress or spend too long in front of screens in the evening, which impair melatonin production with their blue light .
In such cases, you can also buy melatonin , e.g., in a pharmacy or here in our BRAINEFFECT SHOP , and supplement it as a dietary supplement.
Here you can find out whether there are any side effects when taking melatonin and how often they occur.
Can there be any side effects when taking melatonin?
Whether as capsules, tablets or spray: Melatonin is one of the most well-tolerated dietary supplements and is therefore used in a variety of dosage forms.
Numerous studies show that healthy individuals who take melatonin for a short period of about two months experience little to no adverse effects.
Interactions with other dietary supplements have also rarely been demonstrated.
If you take medication regularly, it is always worth asking your doctor or pharmacist before taking melatonin.
If, contrary to all expectations, undesirable effects occur when taking melatonin, the most common reasons are the wrong time of intake and an excessively high melatonin dosage .
Therefore, make sure you take the right amount of melatonin : you should not exceed the recommended dosage of 0.3 to a maximum of 1 - 2 mg daily .
Want to learn more about melatonin? In this video, you'll learn what melatonin is and what effect it has on your body.
2. What side effects can occur when taking melatonin?
The occasionally occurring side effects of taking melatonin supplements primarily affect your sleep-wake rhythm and your circulation. The following side effects are known:
- sleepiness
- Lack of concentration
- nervousness
- Headache
Whether melatonin supplements cause adverse effects depends not only on the active ingredient melatonin itself, but also on the other ingredients of the product taken.
BRAINEFFECT SLEEP CAPSULES combine melatonin with natural ingredients such as magnesium, black pepper, lemon balm leaf and passionflower extract.
BRAINEFFECT SLEEP SPRAY GENTLE contains 1 mg of melatonin, ashwagandha and lavender extracts, vitamin B6, and lemon and mint flavorings. All of these ingredients are well-tolerated, so you can take them with confidence. If you need a little more melatonin, SLEEP SPRAY STRONG, with 2 mg of melatonin per dose, is perfect for you.
With SLEEP GUMMIES, we want to sweeten your evening with a good-night formula made from melatonin, magnesium, and vitamin B6, all without sugar—snacking is allowed!
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3. How often do adverse effects occur when taking melatonin?
Which adverse effects occur very frequently to frequently?
There are no risks associated with taking melatonin. There are no adverse effects that occur very frequently (in more than one in ten users) or frequently (in one to ten out of 100 users).
What side effects occasionally occur?
After taking melatonin , adverse effects such as fatigue or nervousness may occasionally occur. A few people may feel slightly irritable and have difficulty concentrating after taking melatonin. Headaches can also be caused by melatonin.
Doctors consider adverse effects to be occasional if they occur in a maximum of ten out of 1,000 users . The probability of this effect occurring is between 0.1 and 1 percent .
Which side effects occur rarely to very rarely?
The probability that you will experience dizziness after taking melatonin is very low . It is between 0.01 and 0.1 percent . This means that at most 10 out of 10,000 users are affected.
4. When taking melatonin, can certain adverse effects only occur with long-term use?
Many researchers are currently investigating the effects of long-term melatonin use, but despite careful examination, they have not yet reached a definitive conclusion.
It is therefore not yet possible to say whether long-term use of melatonin has adverse effects. If you use between 0.3 and 1 mg of melatonin depending on the situation, you will definitely benefit from a shorter time to fall asleep .
Take-home message : Melatonin helps you fall asleep quickly. If you use it only when necessary, the risk of experiencing adverse effects is very low! To avoid adverse effects, you should avoid taking melatonin supplements early in the morning—unless you work shifts.
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5. Conclusion
Melatonin is a sleep hormone that your body naturally produces. By taking melatonin supplements, you can shorten the time it takes to fall asleep. Side effects that can occasionally occur with high doses include drowsiness, lack of concentration, nervousness, headaches, or dizziness.
6. Sources
[1] Eckerberg, B.; Lowden, A. et al. (2012) Chronobiology International. Melatonin Treatment Effects on Adolescent Students' Sleep Timing and Sleepiness in a Placebo-Controlled Crossover Study. Vol. 29, Issue 9, pp.1239-1248. [ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/07420528.2012.719962 ]
[2] Ferracioli-Oda, E.; Qawasmi, A. et al. (2013) PLoS One. Meta-Analysis: Melatonin for the Treatment of Primary Sleep Disorders. Vol. 8, Issue 5, pp. e63773-e63773. [ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0063773 ]
[3] Sack, R.L.; Hughes, R. J. (1997) Sleep. Promoting Effects of Melatonin: At What Dose, in Whom, Under What Conditions, and by What Mechanisms?. Vol. 20, Issue 10, pp. 908-915. [ https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/20/10/908/2726014 ]
[4] Holst Andersen, L.P.; Gögenur, I. et al. (2015) Clinical Drug Investigation. The Safety of Melatonin in Humans. Vol. 36, Issue 3, pp. 169-175. [ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40261-015-0368-5 ]
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