I struggle with sleep. I rarely get more than five to six hours a night — even when I’m exhausted. So, like many people, I’ve turned to melatonin on occasion to try to help me get a little more shuteye. But every single time I’ve used melatonin supplements, I’ve spent the next day feeling groggy and just generally out of it. Eventually, I got curious enough to do a little digging into this drowsy side effect, and I discovered an interesting term: the melatonin hangover.
Clearly, I’m not the only one who has this reaction to melatonin supplements. To learn more about what a melatonin hangover is, why it affects some people and not others, and how you can possibly prevent it, I reached out to a few sleep experts and health professionals. Fellow insomniacs, listen up: Here’s what I learned.
What is melatonin?
“Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone in our body that regulates our sleep-wake cycle and helps us fall asleep, with its initial rise starting when the sun starts to set,” Dr. William Lu, a practicing physician and the medical director for digital sleep clinic Dreem Health, tells Scary Mommy. “It should steadily rise throughout the night as we sleep and then decrease as we approach wake-up time.”
While melatonin occurs naturally in the body, melatonin dietary supplements — typically made synthetically — are often used to promote sleep by people with conditions like chronic insomnia, jet lag, delayed sleep-wake phase disorder, anxiety, and more.
What is a “melatonin hangover”? Is this a real thing?
After dealing with my next-day melatonin haze a few times, I searched social media with one question in mind: Can melatonin cause grogginess the next day? I was surprised to see that other people who’d also experienced this had dubbed the phenomenon a “melatonin hangover.”
Like me, these people experienced uncomfortable side effects the day after taking melatonin, including headaches, dizziness, moodiness, grogginess, disorientation, or even upset stomach.
And according to experts, it truly is a thing that can happen.
“The so-called ‘melatonin hangover’ is real. Melatonin is a natural hormone that is secreted during sleep, but if taken in excess, it may leave the person feeling lethargic, groggy, or tired the next morning,” explains Dr. Courtney Scott, medical director of Momentous Recovery Group.
“Extra melatonin can tip the body’s internal balance, or circadian rhythm, leading to reduced alertness for the next day. Other negative effects of overshooting melatonin consumption include increased blood sugar and neurotransmitter activity, which can bring out the feeling of fatigue and/or brain fog.”
Why do some people get melatonin hangovers and others don’t?
For some people, our bodies simply metabolize supplements differently, according to Scott.
For example, it’s not just melatonin that gives me trouble — when I take two Benadryl, it feels like I could sleep for two days. So, that’s one factor that makes some people more susceptible to a melatonin hangover. “Many factors affect each individual differently, like metabolism, sensitivity levels, amount of natural melatonin produced, and the amount of melatonin consumed,” adds Scott. “If someone has a big overdose of melatonin, their body may take much longer to process it, especially when taken right before bed or during waking hours.”
Dr. Michael Chichak, medical director at MEDvidi, says the difference in how people respond to melatonin consumption can also depend on “ethnicity, hormonal changes prior to menopause, age, and pre-existing levels of melatonin within the individual’s body.”
Is there anything you can do to prevent or minimize it?
Here’s a bit of good news, says author and board-certified integrative physician Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, a renowned sleep and fatigue expert: “Melatonin hangovers are uncommon.” More often, says Teitelbaum, people are tired when waking because they slept poorly.
“If they do find they only have this problem the morning after they take melatonin but otherwise feel better the rest of the day when taking melatonin, it is likely because melatonin stimulates a sleep-supporting hormone called adenosine,” he explains. “Come morning, some people may have suboptimal levels of the enzyme that turns off the adenosine.”
One easy fix? “In this case, the solution is simple — caffeine works by turning off adenosine. So, have a morning cup of coffee or tea to shake off any hangover while still having gotten the improved sleep benefits of the melatonin.”
If melatonin still makes you feel sort of meh, Teitelbaum recommends trying other effective natural sleep aids, such as Nature’s Way Revitalizing Sleep Formula and Terry Naturally Terrific Zzzz.
But Lu agrees that, often, tweaking your nocturnal habits can make a huge difference.
“I rarely prescribe melatonin for people to initiate sleep. Most of the time, an adjustment of the sleeping hours and refinement of sleep hygiene can help to produce the right amount of sleep drive to fall asleep easier … I recommend having a consistent bedtime and wake-up time every day and getting 30 minutes of outdoor light in the morning after waking,” says Lu.
All of the sleep experts recommended starting with the lowest melatonin dose possible (typically around 0.5 mg), going up to no more than 3 mg, and taking the supplement one to two hours before going to bed to ensure you’re syncing up with your natural sleep cycle.
What you should not do is reach for melatonin if you wake up and can’t fall back asleep. “It is best to avoid taking melatonin in the middle of the night, as this would completely ruin the sleep-wake cycle and increase the chances of feeling lethargic in the mornings,” advises Chichak, who says you shouldn’t hesitate to reach out to a healthcare professional if your melatonin hangovers persist.
“They can determine whether a different sleeping medication or a more suitable behavioral approach will work better for you,” Chichak says, cautioning, “Melatonin should only be used in the short term, for example, when adjusting to different time zones or changing when one goes to sleep, as opposed to being used as a long-term cure for sleeplessness.”
