There’s a reason you start to get sleepy when it’s dark at night, and that reason is Melatonin. Also known as the sleep hormone, Melatonin helps with the regulation of your circadian rhythm, or the internal clock that signals to your brain when it’s time to go to sleep and when it’s time to be awake. But if you’ve ever reached for Melatonin supplements to help you fall asleep faster, you might have noticed some unwanted side effects like weird or stressful dreams or heavy drowsiness the next day.

Determining the proper dosage of supplemental Melatonin can be challenging. So how much Melatonin can you take, or how much Melatonin should you take to help reset your circadian rhythm for restful sleep? We’re about to cover the optimal serving size, along with the potential risks of overdoing it with Melatonin supplementation.

How Much Melatonin Can Adults Take?

Because the FDA considers it a dietary supplement, there’s no official dosage recommendation in the United States for taking Melatonin. With most Melatonin supplements, you’ll find a serving size of 1 to 5 milligrams. While this is generally accepted to be a safe and effective range to regulate your sleep schedule, it may be much more than you actually need — and this amount can come with a downside.

The body needs low levels of Melatonin to regulate circadian rhythm. Higher-dose supplements with 1-5mg put you out of the natural range, flooding brain receptors and creating up to 100x more Melatonin in your blood. That’s what causes the familiar Melatonin hangover.

If you’re wondering, how many mg of Melatonin should I take? It’s always best to start small and see how it affects your sleep cycle. Unlike higher-dose Melatonin that can leave you feeling foggy the morning after, Sleepy Magnesi-Om® is a Magnesium and Melatonin supplement with a microdose of 0.3mg plant-based Melatonin to keep you in the natural range, supporting sleep without the grogginess.*

For sleep every night

There are varying opinions on the safety of taking Melatonin nightly. Ideally, the body should be producing enough natural Melatonin to keep things on an even level, and supplementing can be done situationally or just for specific periods of time, such as jet lag, postpartum, perimenopause, or nights when you’re having extra trouble sleeping.

Aside from these specific situations, taking Magnesium nightly can be supportive to help you wind down and improve your sleep quality. Every cell in the body needs Magnesium to function, and over 50% of us are deficient.

Studies show that those who are showing signs of a Magnesium deficiency may also suffer from decreased Melatonin. That’s because Magnesium regulates our production of Melatonin, and a study from 2019 suggests that this relationship between the mineral Magnesium and the hormone Melatonin is vital to our cellular sleep-wake cycles.

For nightly use, incorporate Magnesi-Om® into your bedtime routine. This Magnesium powder contains 3 bioavailable types of Magnesium and L-Theanine to help restore cellular balance for rest and relaxation.* Drink it every night or when you need to chill.

For fixing your circadian rhythm

In times of disjointed sleep, gentle supplementation before bedtime helps signal to the body that it’s time for sleep. Whether you're a traveler, a shift worker, perimenopausal, postpartum, or have trouble falling asleep, Melatonin can be a valuable tool for helping reset your circadian rhythm.

Sleepy Magnesi-Om® contains a microdose of plant-based Melatonin to decrease the duration of falling asleep.* It also features Magnesium Bisglycinate and Gluconate to support the body’s stress response and relaxation and L-Theanine to support sleep quality.* Drink before bed as needed.

Melatonin Dosage for Children

Further research needs to be done before the effects and safety of Melatonin for children can be fully understood. Typically, serving sizes usually start at 1 to 2 milligrams of Melatonin for children. However, parents should consult their pediatrician for dosage recommendations and start with the lowest possible dosage to see how they react. Sleepy Magnesi-Om® is a low dose of 0.3mg plant-based Melatonin, friendly as a situational supplement for adults and kids 9 or older.*

Medical professionals may recommend a low dose of the supplement for children who have sleep conditions like pediatric insomnia or ADHD. But because Melatonin is a hormone, there may be a chance that taking supplemental Melatonin could affect other aspects of hormonal development in children. However, there haven’t been enough studies in children for experts to find any long-term risks associated with Melatonin use.

Reported side effects from Melatonin usage in children can include:

• Dizziness
• Drowsiness
• Headaches
• Agitation
• Bedwetting

Melatonin shouldn’t be administered to children under 5 years of age. Parents should talk to their child’s doctor for medical advice and to appropriately evaluate their sleep issues.

Research suggests that for half of the cases in which Melatonin was used to treat insomnia in children, good sleep hygiene was equally as effective for relieving sleep problems. So, if your child is having sleep issues, you’ll want to first talk to their doctor and explore alternative sleep aid options.

How Much Melatonin Is Too Much?

There is such a thing as too much Melatonin, and symptoms of a Melatonin overdose include dizziness, headaches, nausea, changes in blood pressure, and weird or vivid dreams and nightmares.

While it’s generally considered safe up to 5 milligrams, people can have different sensitivities to Melatonin, so it’s always best to start with the lowest possible dose and adjust as needed to suit your body weight, age, and personal sensitivity. A microdose will help you avoid unwanted side effects like grogginess and headache.

Melatonin usually comes in doses that are stronger than your body needs. Over-the-counter products typically present you with 1-milligram, 3 milligram, or 5 milligram serving sizes, and it’s important to note that splitting Melatonin pills can result in an uneven dose.

In addition, studies have shown that some Melatonin supplements can contain almost 5 times the amount as claimed on their label or way less. Because of this inconsistency, it’s important to find a source of Melatonin that you trust. Extracted from organically grown Alfalfa and Chlorella in France and Australia, the Melatonin in Sleepy Magnesi-Om® is bioidentical to human Melatonin for optimal absorption. Unlike the synthetic forms made with toxic solvents or animal Melatonin sourced from the pineal glands of cows and sheep, Phytomelatonin is plant-based.

People who may be more sensitive to Melatonin

It’s important to note that Melatonin levels naturally decline over time. For this reason, older adults might have an increased sensitivity to Melatonin supplements. In a meta-analysis of several studies of different dosages administered to older adults aged 55 to 77, the Melatonin levels lingered compared to younger adults, meaning increased grogginess in the daytime in all studies.

It’s not considered safe to mix Melatonin with alcohol, a depressant, and it’s not recommended to mix Melatonin with caffeine, a stimulant. Both substances can already disrupt your sleep quality, sleep cycle, and natural Melatonin levels.

The following people should avoid taking Melatonin without getting the okay from their doctor:

• People with dementia
• People who are pregnant or breastfeeding
• People with epilepsy
• People with depression
• Children

Anyone taking medications like birth control, blood pressure medications, blood thinners, corticosteroids, or immunosuppressants should also talk to their healthcare provider before trying Melatonin.

Takeaways 

The research into Melatonin and its potential effects is still evolving. Because there’s no official or standard recommendation for Melatonin supplementation, serving sizes will vary between brands, so start slow. While many brands suggest between 1 and 5 milligrams of Melatonin, a gentler dose does the trick while sparing you the grogginess.

Instead of taking Melatonin every night, try to incorporate it when you need help resetting your circadian rhythm during times of travel or a disjointed sleep schedule. Once your sleep schedule is back to normal, try a Magnesium supplement like Magnesi-Om® nightly to encourage rest and relaxation.

Taken strategically, Melatonin is a helpful supplement for decreasing the amount of time it takes to fall asleep and helping reset proper sleep-wake cycles. You don’t need to take a lot or take it often for optimal use to experience the benefits of this sleepytime tonic. Before you try a supplement, you can start small by introducing some Melatonin-rich foods into your diet before bedtime.