Melatonin Supplements for Sleep: All You Need to Know

Sleep is paramount for maintaining the overall health of a person. It involves the healing and restoration of your heart and blood vessels. People with poor sleep feel exhausted, have low productivity, and have a high risk of diabetes and heart diseases. Have you ever thought about why most of us sleep at nighttime and are awake during the daytime? Why is it difficult to sleep in daylight? Actually, we all follow a circadian rhythm or a 24-hour pattern. There is a hormone called melatonin that your brain releases. It helps with this pattern. When it's night, it notifies your body that it's time to sleep. It is also called the sleep hormone.

Some people have less melatonin hormone production, or melatonin levels start to drop as you get older, and they have trouble sleeping. How can they deal with such a situation? Is there anything that can help people? Yes, melatonin supplement can help people with lower melatonin production.

Insufficient sleep at night can negatively affect the next day, making it difficult to focus. If it continues for a long time, it can affect your life and health. But before you start taking a melatonin supplement, it is essential to know about melatonin uses, melatonin benefits, melatonin side effects, and how melatonin good for sleep. So let's explore more.

Melatonin Uses

Due to just minor side effects, researchers have used melatonin as a natural supplement in several medical conditions. Here is the list of melatonin uses.

Melatonin good for sleep 

Know the 10 reasons why good sleep is important. The natural melatonin hormones tell the body that it's sleep time. But while using melatonin sleep aid supplement for solving sleep problems, it had a different success rate. As per one study, if we compare a melatonin supplement with a placebo drug, melatonin supplement enhances sleep time and sleep quality. Not just that melatonin sleep aid supplement lessens the time you take to fall asleep.

Melatonin sleep aid supplement uses for relieving headaches

Melatonin uses cluster headaches and migraine. But which dose would be suitable for people with headaches is still unknown. However, researchers do not know which formula and dose might work most suitable for people with headaches.

Melatonin uses for cancer treatment

Experts say that if you take high doses of melatonin orally or as a shot, supervised by a medical care provider along with chemotherapy or other diseases therapies, it can assist in lessening the size of the tumor and raising the survival rate.

Melatonin uses to treat Alzheimer's disease

As you get older, melatonin levels in the body start dropping. People with Alzheimer's disease have a more apparent reduction of melatonin. The study conducted in 2013 states that melatonin uses can slow down the cognitive decline related to Alzheimer's.

Melatonin supplement uses to enhance low blood platelet counts

The oral use of melatonin supplement enhances low blood platelet counts when a person is on cancer treatment and other diseases therapies.

Melatonin Benefits

Melatonin sleep aid supplement has numerous benefits that you cannot overlook. Let's explore the list of melatonin benefits:

1. Melatonin supplement helps to manage the natural sleep cycle. It is used to fight issues like insomnia. In the US, melatonin supplement is available as an over-the-counter drug, but in other parts of the globe, you need a prescription to buy it. As per research reports, the melatonin supplement has little or no side effects compared to other sleeping drugs. 
2. Melatonin supplement helps to cope up with seasonal depression. It is due to disruption in your body's circadian rhythm caused by seasonal light changes. Melatonin benefits in such cases by managing your body's circadian 
3. Melatonin benefits include the management of cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone. If a person's natural melatonin production drops, cortisol levels can increase. The person will not get sufficient sleep and feel restless and exhausted all the time. It can boost the cortisol level in the body. Taking melatonin supplement can help to reduce the cortisol level in the body.
4. Do you know how you can improve your eyesight with ayurveda? Melatonin benefits eye health. You would be surprised to know that melatonin supplement is rich in antioxidants. It controls cell damage, aids in treating conditions like age-related macular degeneration and retinopathy, and keeps your eyes healthy.
5. Melatonin sleep aid supplement boosts the level of human growth hormone. It is crucial for cellular revitalization. Also, its high levels are linked with increased strength and muscle mass. Regular melatonin supplement intake can boost HGH levels in men, but more study is still required. In this manner, melatonin benefits men.
6. Do you know how I cured Gerd? Melatonin supplement can help to treat a condition like GERD. In this condition, stomach acid flows back into the food pipe and causes heartburn and nausea. You can call it acid reflux, also. The researchers suggest using a melatonin supplement. It intercepts stomach acid secretion and nitric oxide production. Nitric oxide soothes your lower esophageal sphincter, letting stomach acid enter your esophagus. Melatonin supplement effectively eases GERD signs when taken with medication or alone.

Melatonin Side Effects

Sleep problems are a common disorder in this busy period. Even after being tired for the whole day, people do not sleep for hours in bed, and people start taking sleeping pills. But now, people have begun taking melatonin supplements instead of sleeping drugs. It is more effective, but you can also face some melatonin side effects if you are not taking the correct dose. Let's have a look at melatonin side effects.

1. Lethargy and sleepiness: No doubt, melatonin good for sleep. But you may have to face melatonin side effects like laziness and sleepiness if you take a high amount of melatonin sleep aid supplement.
2. Headache: Inaccurate dose of melatonin can cause headaches.
3. Frequent urination: Keep a check on urination timing when taking melatonin supplement because regular urination is one of the melatonin side effects.
4. Depression, anxiety: It is crucial to check with your doctor if you have started a melatonin sleep aid supplement. A doctor will tell you about the correct melatonin dose. Otherwise, it can cause depression or anxiety.
5. Low blood pressure: Regular inadequate dose of melatonin sleep aid supplement can lower your blood pressure.

Besides these melatonin side effects, you can face dizziness, irritability, abdominal cramps, back pain, restlessness, loss of appetite, and joint pain. 

What Dosage of Melatonin Good for Sleep?

As per US Food and Drug Administration, melatonin sleep aid supplement are not fatal, but consequences have also been reported when taken in excess. As per scientific studies, the correct dosage ranges come between 0.1 mg to 10 mg. In a 2017 study, the right amount of melatonin sleep aid supplement is between 1 and 5 milligrams. It would be best to speak to your doctor once before taking it because the melatonin dosage varies for different problems. For jet lag, you can take 0.3 to 0.5 mg melatonin.

The correct dosage of melatonin good for sleep for children

Children of different ages should give different melatonin dosages. For children, 1 mg is a safe dose, while 2.5 - 3 mg is the correct dosage for children older than five years. Children should be given melatonin supplement 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime.

Precautions and Warnings

What should you know before using a melatonin supplement?

If you want to start melatonin good for sleep, you should not be allergic to anything. Apart from this, you should not have melatonin with medicines for specific problems or diseases like anti-depressant drugs, contraceptive pills, caffeine, antidiabetic drugs, anticoagulant drugs, ibuprofen, aspirin, with fish oil, With Vitamins B-12, B-6, C, and D-3. Also, would you please talk to your doctor before using it or its related supplements?

Melatonin good for sleep is not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Did you know its excessive use can also cause problems in getting pregnant? If you want to use it for children and older adults, ask the doctor once before devouring this hormone supplement. Also, you will not get melatonin supplement from the market without a prescription.

Is it safe to use a melatonin supplement for a long time?

Melatonin is good to use for a short time only But, if you use it for a long time, then many types of side effects have also been reported. 

The right time to take a melatonin supplement.

You can usually observe the effects of melatonin after one to two hours. So please take it two hours before going to bed.

Are there any other things you can do to get better sleep at night?

Some foods like milk, oats, and almonds are natural sources of melatonin. Their regular consumption can help you to get better sleep. 

Undoubtedly, melatonin is an efficacious supplement that can help deal with your sleep disorder and provide various health benefits. If you want to start melatonin good for sleep, start with the lower dose before bed. If it seems ineffective, then you can raise it a bit. Melatonin supplements are available as tablets, get, and injection forms. 

It is crucial to check with a healthcare provider first to understand if melatonin supplementation is the right choice for you or not. Sometimes melatonin supplements can make other diseases more threatening. Generally, melatonin supplements are suitable for all; however, there's a possibility of mild melatonin side effects.  So always start it while keeping its side effects in your mind.

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Authored by: Vijeta Rana

About the Author: Vijeta Rana is a Wellness and Fitness Blogger from Punjab, India.