Megadosing Melatonin safe?

Luke391

Member
been seeing lots of conflicting opinions online. Some people talking about how terrible it is, other talking about how amazing it is and it should be done like Hormone Replacement Therapy.
I'm getting leaner and recently my sleep has gone to shit. Been using blue light blocking glasses and taking magnesium but it's been unhelpfull. I feel restless in the evening and wake up many times torugh the night. I sleep 6hours maximum (more common 5 hours) and then I wake up, still tired and sleepy, but unable to fall back asleep.
I tried 3mg melatonin in the past I didn't feel any effects from it (tho I was sleeping well at the time, I was trying it for anti-aging).
I wanna try 10-20mg of melatonin a night. Do the melatonin receptors actually desensitize or is it bs? Should I cycle the melatonin or just stay on it?
I used to take cold showers in the evening because it helped me sleep but now that has also been ineffective
 
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been seeing lots of conflicting opinions online. Some people talking about how terrible it is, other talking about how amazing it is and it should be done like Hormone Replacement Therapy.
I'm getting leaner and recently my sleep has gone to shit. Been using blue light blocking glasses and taking magnesium but it's been unhelpfull. I feel restless in the evening and wake up many times torugh the night. I sleep 6hours maximum (more common 5 hours) and then I wake up, still tired and sleepy, but unable to fall back asleep.
I tried 3mg melatonin in the past I didn't feel any effects from it (tho I was sleeping well at the time, I was trying it for anti-aging).
I wanna try 10-20mg of melatonin a night. Do the melatonin receptors actually desensitize or is it bs? Should I cycle the melatonin or just stay on it?
I used to take cold showers in the evening because it helped me sleep but now that has also been ineffective
I also take Taurine 1g 3 times a day and ashwaganda 750mg 3-5days a week (I take it during the day when I need to, for anxiety).
 
Seems healthy young people at their peak make about .5 mg a day from my reading. It is a natural hormone not a drug. So i would not expect to feel anything it is not a sleeping ill. It just helps wit sleep. But a person life style can mess up it doing it's job. and in general mega dosing a hormone is not the healthiest thing to do. I tried using it over 30 years ago and found it helped with sleep. As i have gotten older and worked rotating sleep schedules due to work, i have found it effective. There are numerous studies supporting it use. I take 2.5 mg a day these days i used to take more but more is not always better.
 
Search for Dave Lee on you tube and his videos about melatonin. There are many guys megadosing it and afaik you don't get addicted to it, you can't do any damage down the road as you would do with 5-HTP or GABA, Phenibut etc which are for short term use.

I usually take 10mg and some days i take 20mg but honestly i don't find it much helpful for sleep. I just take it with a plethora of other sleep aids (which again, don't do much) but mainly because melatonin in high dosages is simple the single most effective brain adioxidant from supps. Honestly if it didn't cost that much (20 eu a bottle of 100 pills X 10mg) i'd take 40-50mg or maybe higher. There's people taking 200mg per day. Obviously you must build your tolerance and titrate slowly, if you go straight to lets say 100mg it might knock you out for 15 hours lol
 
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On my last cut I started taking it to wake up less during the night and for its benefits as an antioxidant. Got up to 60mg with no sides and sleep quality was great.

No longer taking it because I don’t want to be reliant upon it but I’ll definitely continue using it during future cuts.
 
So I sleep like shit regardless. And im not going to take prescription meds. I’ve been taking 10-15 mg melatonin since I was 16-17. I’m 27 now. Zero issues.
Of course sleeping without it is miserable.

Noticed what helped me as well was dropping any sort supplements or caffeine that raised my energy levels. I also have terrible adhd. So when my brain is going a million miles an hour from energy supps/caf, no shot Im sleeping good.

Taurine I believe also can increase energy. Might be slightly effecting you, could be wrong tho.

But also. Melatonin supplements are the most off regulated things, they always come back from testing not containing the right amount advertised. I’ve noticed some brands “work” better than others.
 
Seems healthy young people at their peak make about .5 mg a day from my reading. It is a natural hormone not a drug. So i would not expect to feel anything it is not a sleeping ill. It just helps wit sleep. But a person life style can mess up it doing it's job. and in general mega dosing a hormone is not the healthiest thing to do. I tried using it over 30 years ago and found it helped with sleep. As i have gotten older and worked rotating sleep schedules due to work, i have found it effective. There are numerous studies supporting it use. I take 2.5 mg a day these days i used to take more but more is not always better.
I know oral bioavailability is about 15%. so 10mg would provide about 1.5mg, like 3x my natural production I would assume?
 
So I sleep like shit regardless. And im not going to take prescription meds. I’ve been taking 10-15 mg melatonin since I was 16-17. I’m 27 now. Zero issues.
Of course sleeping without it is miserable.

Noticed what helped me as well was dropping any sort supplements or caffeine that raised my energy levels. I also have terrible adhd. So when my brain is going a million miles an hour from energy supps/caf, no shot Im sleeping good.

Taurine I believe also can increase energy. Might be slightly effecting you, could be wrong tho.
Taurine supplementation increases energy levels in the long term, but acutely it has more of a claming effect
 
I know oral bioavailability is about 15%. so 10mg would provide about 1.5mg, like 3x my natural production I would assume?
The 15% is often quoted but many studies show up to 3x that amount being utilized. Seems how it is taken can make a difference as soft jell caps get absorbed at a higher rate.
 
One thing I don’t see mentioned often is that melatonin can suppress insulin.

That’s why I only take it right before bed, and only after having not eaten for at least 4 hours. It’s convenient, really, as people sleep better on an empty stomach anyway.
 
People megadose melatonin at 100-2000mg, you'll be fine with your 1-10mg :) Theres lots of studies and anecdotes on melatonin in many dosage ranges
 
I make my own capsule of Magnesium Glycinate / L Theanine / Melatonin - approx 200mg elemental magnesium / 400mg L theanine and ~30 mg Melatonin. (My magnesium powder high% elemental magnesium and capsule size is max "000" if you wonder how I fit so much).

In the beginning the melatonin has you dead in the morning but this fades quickly and feels very refreshing. Only downside is sometimes I wake at mid night. Usually another capsule does the trick but I am considering modifying it with an ingredient that keeps knocked out..

Some ideas I've had is psyllium powder and melatonin for slower release.

Magnesium threonate
or
Low dose Trazodone

Anyone got some suggestions?
 
One thing I don’t see mentioned often is that melatonin can suppress insulin.

That’s why I only take it right before bed, and only after having not eaten for at least 4 hours. It’s convenient, really, as people sleep better on an empty stomach anyway.
Thanks for bringing this up - never heard of it.


"Melatonin supplementation might be beneficial, as an adjunctive therapy to improve insulin resistance."
 
Thanks for bringing this up - never heard of it.


"Melatonin supplementation might be beneficial, as an adjunctive therapy to improve insulin resistance."
Yeah it seems that melatonin can help with insulin resistance in the long term, but it acutely lowers insulin secretion. Meaning, based on my limited understanding, you could be experiencing transient hyperglycaemia after dosing melatonin on a full stomach.
 
Yeah it seems that melatonin can help with insulin resistance in the long term, but it acutely lowers insulin secretion. Meaning, based on my limited understanding, you could be experiencing transient hyperglycaemia after dosing melatonin on a full stomach.
Right, makes me think about how some fitness influencers 7-8 years ago would ridicule people for saying dont eat past 8 pm or such. Calories are calories and all that were how the saying went then.

But maybe there's a pretty good point in not eating past certain hours given melatonins effect on insulin.

Just read an article about how they connected this to shift workers increase in metabolic disorders / obesity.

But maybe there are 2 potential reasons for waking up mid night on melatonin. I just to think it was just related to cortisol but could be something with insulin and blood sugar aswell then.
 
Yeah it seems that melatonin can help with insulin resistance in the long term, but it acutely lowers insulin secretion. Meaning, based on my limited understanding, you could be experiencing transient hyperglycaemia after dosing melatonin on a full stomach.
yep. Melatonin acutely causes insulin resistance, but it improves insulin sensitivity during the day. So you should not eat for 3-5 hours before bed when taking it
 
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