Do not use melatonin if you are pregnant or breastfeeding or have an autoimmune disorder, a seizure disorder or depression. Talk to your health care provider if you have diabetes or high blood pressure.
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.
Melatonin is generally safe for short-term use. Unlike with many sleep medications, with melatonin you are unlikely to become dependent on it, have less response to it after repeated use or experience a hangover effect. The most common melatonin side effects include: Headache.
Single melatonin intake can lower BP, but only when melatonin is taken during the day, when general SCN neuronal activity is high and endogenous melatonin levels are low. This effect could be mediated via an immediate inhibition of SCN–neuronal activity inducing a state resembling nocturnal SCN output.
Furthermore melatonin has been shown to have valuable effects on cardiovascular health, blood pressure, and endothelial function and it might benefit patients with heart failure.
Melatonin has many beneficial effects on cardiovascular system. In this context, melatonin can regulate heart rate (87), and reduce nocturnal blood pressure in patients with hypertension (88, 89).
"By adding extra melatonin every night, you might throw off that delicate balance in the long run, and might experience the side effects of the body needing to re-balance, whenever you decide to stop using melatonin," says Dr. Raymann.
Regardless of whether it truly helps with sleep or not, Dr. Ramkissoon doesn't recommend taking melatonin long-term.
Melatonin is deemed safe for most people when taken under the guidance of their medical professional, with far fewer side effects compared to a sleeping pill.
Do not use melatonin if you are pregnant or breastfeeding or have an autoimmune disorder, a seizure disorder or depression. Talk to your health care provider if you have diabetes or high blood pressure.
The most common side effects are headaches, nausea and dizziness (17). In the elderly, exogenous melatonin may decrease blood pressure and cause hypothermia (17).
Several unpleasant side effects may occur with regular melatonin use, these include: dizziness. stomach cramps. headaches.
Stopping the use of melatonin
You should not get any harmful discontinuation or withdrawal effects if you stop taking melatonin. However, you may get your old symptoms back. If you are on a high dose, then the doctor may wish to reduce the dose slowly before stopping it completely.
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.
Most people overdo it with melatonin by taking upward of 10 milligrams or more prior to bed and then claim it doesn't work. Taking too much melatonin can actually cause rebound insomnia —either rendering the supplement ineffective or worse, exacerbating your already sleepless nights further.
In the UK and most of Europe, it's classed as a medicine, not a health supplement and as such, requires a prescription. This is because melatonin is considered “medical by function” which means that it requires a drug licence.
In several clinical trials, melatonin was found to be well tolerated and not associated with serum enzyme elevations or evidence of liver injury. Despite wide scale use, melatonin has not been convincingly linked to instances of clinically apparent liver injury.
Melatonin's target sites are both central and peripheral. Binding sites have been found in many areas of the brain, including the pars tuberalis and hypothalamus, but also in the cells of the immune system, gonads, kidney, and the cardiovascular system (39, 40).
When it comes to whether you can take both magnesium and melatonin at the same time, the short answer is yes. Since both supplements have different effects on the body, they can be combined for improved sleep quality.
More than inducing and improving sleep quality, melatonin can reduce stress, anxiety, aggressive behaviour, promote calm, and bring back to a state of serenity.
On the other hand, melatonin inhibits the sympathetic system in several ways representing potentially the counter-regulatory mechanism to normalize excessive sympathetic drive. Second, administration of melatonin reduces heart rate in animals and humans.