The following side effects have also been reported: Allergic reactions—skin rash, itching, hives, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat. Mood and behavior changes—anxiety, nervousness, confusion, hallucinations, irritability, hostility, thoughts of suicide or self-harm, worsening mood, feelings of depression.
Melatonin can make conditions like asthma or seizures worse. Other rare side effects include confusion, feeling sick, increased heart rate, and itchy skin.
Side effects that you should report to your care team as soon as possible: Allergic reactions—skin rash, itching, hives, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat.
The most common melatonin side effects include: Headache. Dizziness. Nausea.
In rare cases, it's possible to have a serious allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to melatonin.
In this sense, it has been shown that histaminergic cells are activated quickly when waking up, while during periods of relaxation or fatigue they do so more slowly. In addition, histamine levels are closely related to melatonin (also known as the “sleep hormone”), since this first one can affect its secretion.
Even at a higher concentration of activator (20 µM mastoparan) incubation with melatonin caused a ~3% decrease in histamine release in comparison to its matched negative control.
It's been used safely for up to 2 years. But it can cause some side effects including headache, sleepiness, dizziness, and nausea. Don't drive or use machinery for 4-5 hours after taking melatonin. When applied to the skin: Melatonin is likely safe for most adults when used short-term.
Less common melatonin side effects might include short-lasting feelings of depression, mild tremor, mild anxiety, abdominal cramps, irritability, reduced alertness, confusion or disorientation. Because melatonin can cause daytime drowsiness, don't drive or use machinery within five hours of taking the supplement.
Some people have experienced headaches after taking melatonin. These headaches can be triggered by a high dose, sensitivity to melatonin, or any changes to your sleep cycle. However, headaches are also a possible symptom of insomnia.
Due predominantly to its positive influence on sleep, melatonin can be used in the treatment of sleep disturbances for those with chronic allergic diseases accompanied by intensive itching (such as atopic dermatitis and chronic spontaneous urticaria).
Melatonin's indirect antioxidant effect triggers enzymes which help to repair the oxidative stress your skin has gone through during the day – think UV rays, pollution, and other environmental stressors that your skin meets on a daily basis.
The current clinical consensus is that daily melatonin consumption is considered safe. However, according to a 2020 article published in Antioxidants, more research is needed to determine the correct dose and time and understand potential long-term effects.
Having an itchy scalp is a frustrating condition that can impair sleep and lead to additional health issues if left untreated. Common causes include dandruff, eczema, psoriasis, and lice. It's important to contact your healthcare provider to get a proper diagnosis and treatments.
Typically, we only focus on androgenic hormones like DHT when talking about hair loss. But, having high levels of estrogen can also lead to an often-overlooked cause of hair loss: intense scalp itch. Estrogen dominance is frequently an underlying factor responsible for increasing the intensity of itchy scalp at night.
If you've been drinking alcohol, it's also not safe to take melatonin. Melatonin is also not for you if you're pregnant or breastfeeding. Researchers simply don't have enough data to know if it's safe for fetuses or breastfed babies.
As with many hormones in our bodies, having too much or too little melatonin in your system long term can cause health concerns. The problem when taking a melatonin supplement is that since it's not a drug, there's no oversight or regulation by the FDA.
How Long Does Melatonin Stay in Your System? The half-life of melatonin is between 20 and 50 minutes, meaning half of the initial dosage in the body is eliminated after that amount of time. In total, melatonin stays in your system for about four to five hours.
However, in the UK, Melatonin is not authorised to be sold without a prescription. This means that it's illegal to sell it in health food shops as Melatonin supplements, like Melatonin gummies. Any sale of Melatonin without a doctor's prescription is illegal in the UK because it's a prescription-only medicine.
On average, melatonin takes effect within 30–60 minutes. OTC melatonin can stay in the body for 4–10 hours, depending on the dose and formulation. People should avoid taking melatonin at or after their intended bedtime. Doing so can shift their sleep-wake cycle and lead to daytime sleepiness.
I have found that histamine intolerance is often caused by a gut health issue, particularly Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). In fact, SIBO was the culprit of my histamine intolerance. Other common contributors include Candida overgrowth, Leaky Gut, and gluten intolerance.
You can block nighttime histamine release and get a better night's sleep by taking 0.25 -1 mg of ketotifen or zaditen at night.