Melatonin and Daytime Use

One of the concerns that people have with using Melatonin 4 times a day for covid or other viruses is that, because Melatonin is used to help with sleep it is presumed to make you too tired during the day. I will share some of my personal experiences with that.
When we had covid back in January we all used high dose Melatonin (thanks to Art who kept us informed about the protocol! ) I used it on everyone in the house - ages 9 to 83, based on weight, as Dr. Neel recommends. We took it 4 times a day.
My 83 year old mother in law with dementia did not know what the pills I gave her were, I just added them with her other meds and supplements. She was not symptomatic of covid, but we were using it to try and prevent covid since others in the home had it. (I think it worked, or at least helped! She never got sick, but did lose her sense of smell.) Anyway, her sleep/wake patterns were no different than when she wasn't taking round the clock melatonin. (She always takes it at night.)
It was hard to tell how it affected those of us who were actually sick. Sick people sleep more.
I take 15-20 mg of melatonin every night to help me with sleep (and it definitely improves my quality of sleep! )
Last summer, an hour after taking my melatonin dose, my daughter-in-law went into labor. I had an hour of sleep but woke up easily and drove an hour and 20 minutes to the birth center where she had the baby. I had no trouble driving and no trouble staying awake all night.
I had the opportunity to repeat the experiment last week. I had taken my 20 mg of melatonin and fallen asleep when my daughter went into labor. I woke up and stayed up the rest of the night with her and was able to see another grandchild born. (What a privilege! )
I cannot know how it affects others. But I can say that melatonin does not make it impossible for at least some people to stay awake after taking a significant dose. Certainly it would be wise to know how such a dose would affect you before driving a long way or using heavy equipment.
~Mama to Many~
Montmorency Tart Cherries for Melatonin

This brand new study suggests that drinking 480 ml of Montmorency Tart Cherry Juice or taking capsules of the tart cherry each day had little to no health benefit in the parameters tested in the study. This suggests that Montmorency Tart Cherries are a poor source of melatonin.
Here is a link to the study :
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35790450/
Here is a relevant quote from the abstract :
>>> ' Despite the potential benefits of antioxidants and melatonin, we did not find improvements in sleep time or quality, cellular health or BP in participants consuming MTC for 30 days, though BM decreased in capsule groups. ' <<<
This study implies that if you plan to get your melatonin and its known health benefits from cherries, that will not likely happen. Even if you are just looking for better sleep, the result is still likely to be no benefit.
Art
Side Effects
Side Effects

For many years, I had trouble sleeping and took Melatonin and always felt groggy and a hangover from taking it, but since pot is not legal in TN, what choice did I have? And then all of a sudden, my whole system flipped and then suddenly I couldn't get enough sleep! Suddenly 8 hrs was not enough and I always felt exhausted! What a nightmare! Not saying the melatonin had anything to do with it, but it what I was taking and it scared the holy hell out of me!
Now I'm fighting diabetes and liver damage and thyroid malfunction which came on all of a sudden also and while I am overcoming that slowly but surely by alternate day fasting, cutting ALL wheat products out of my diet, and the old timey cottage cheese and oil (Flax, black seed & Hemp oil) medicine cancer cure remedy!
But I'm not my old self by any stretch as before I started taking melatonin every night and so am very leery about ever taking melatonin again! Besides it always makes you feel so tired and groggy and who the hell needs that when your 65 yrs old? Certainly not me! So the jury is still out on that one! The side effect of melatonin is it makes you drowsy and tired, and I need just the opposite of that!
Hi Kenny,
Yes, there are people who can not tolerate melatonin as I have mentioned many times on EC, but the majority of people do tolerate melatonin as shown in many studies. Generally, as soon as you realize that there is a negative reaction to melatonin or you are not tolerating melatonin because of symptoms such as you described, it is probably a very good idea to stop using melatonin immediately rather than continuing. It is sort of like your body is trying to let you know that this is not compatible with you.
Art
Side Effects

Regarding Melatonin Side Effects,
Melatonin was a big help in starting my fight to get well even with side effects.
I decided to reorder some more Melatonin, because I was glad that I had it on hand to meet a possible emergency during my coughing fits. As I mentioned I took about 100mgs of Melatonin for each of 3 days. I took 4 to 5 pills a few times a day and once at night. They were 5mgs each. No, my brand did not make me sleep or sleepy; however, I found that when I was ready to sleep they let me sleep at least an hour or two at night. The side effect I had was loose stools.
Some years ago, I had ordered some Melatonin from eBay. I am not sure why I bought them, I do remember reading a book back then that said it was good for stopping any further memory loss in its track. Anyway, this Melatonin product was from overseas, it was a powder, and a very high mgs per tiny scoop. I do not remember the company. I remember going to sleep that night and not waking up until morning. In the garbage it went. As I used to do all night prayer often and too much sleep would interfere with my work. The interesting thing is I do not remember having any side effect, only what it said it would do give me sleep.
The Melatonin that I had on hand when I was sick this month, I bought last year because Earth Clinic, Art and others posted Melatonin benefits for COVID 19.When I decided to buy more, I noticed that I needed to find out what "Other ingredients" are in each brand and kind of Melatonin. The company that I got mine from had at least 3 different kind of Melatonin mixtures. I did not want any artificial sweeter in mine so I was reading the labels. Then it dawn on me that perhaps one of the" Other ingredients" in the brand that I already had was what caused the side effect that I encountered. So please read the label.
HisJewel
Hi HisJewel,
Thank you for the feedback on melatonin!
What I have noticed is that some people can develop diarrhea from HDM [High Dose Melatonin], but in the few people I have seen or heard of this side effect, that delay, can vary from 3 days to 3 weeks. In either case, the delay makes it possible to use melatonin long enough to help achieve the desired result with Covid-19 and it may be possible to use melatonin for a very brief period even if diarrhea does occur in an attempt to have maximal effect on Covid-19. Stoppage of HDM seems to allow a fairly quick recovery from the diarrhea. I still feel that the combination of melatonin plus the addition of the Xlear Nasal Spray, suggest the potential for a quick recovery.
Here is a link to what I wrote about Xlear Nasal Spray and Covid-19 : Https://www.earthclinic.com/xlear-for-covid-recovery.html
Art
Side Effects

I've been taking a, for me, high dose of melatonin for insomnia. I've been taking 10 mg at 7, another 10 mg at 8 and one more at 9, then off to bed. The first night I slept fine, next night not so great and, but the third night, was having stomach troubles. So, I backed off for a week. I then to 10 mg at 7 and, at 9, took a 10 mg timed release tablet. I kept waking up but my concern is that I was dizzy. I had to be careful getting up and then was fine. So I stopped it for several days.
Then, last night, I took a 5 mg regular tablet and, during the night, woke up dizzy. Even at the gym this morning, doing barbell bench presses, I was dizzy upon sitting up. So, is this the melatonin or something else? I stay hydrated and my blood pressure was good (I took it several times), so it's not that.
Possibly low blood sugar? I had not eaten for some time when it happened. Any thoughts? I swim, so wonder if it's not my ears? I do not have vertigo during my normal day, only upon rising from flat to sitting (of course I don't stand until it passes). I don't want to visit a dr until I've eliminated other causes. Thanks. I really need relief of the insomnia! I've taking benadryl and want to stop.
(Nyc)
09/21/2020
I definitely feel your pain. I had insomnia for years. Turned out it was gluten. (Yeah, I thought I'd tried eliminating it, but I guess I hadn't. If I get even a pinch of flour, ping, eyes wide open all night long.) Melatonin makes me loopy as well unless I take a tiny tiny dose. Also, if I do high intensity workouts sometimes that makes it worse, especially if I'm fasted.
GOOD LUCK and SWEET DREAMS.
Side Effects
I was wondering about the use of melatonin..some use it as a sleep aid and i've heard it works really well..is there any other uses..are there any side effects of the oral form, is there any longterm side effects noted from using it?
(Greensboro, Nc)
08/04/2009

Hi Manti,
I use to take melatonin, but stopped because of two side effects. One side effect was that it acted as a diuretic, so I really didn't get much sleep b/c of running to the bathroom. The other was very real dreams. It got to the point that I could not figure out if I had really had conversations with people in my dreams versus reality. Melatonin is actually a hallucinagen your body naturally produces. I guess when you add more of the chemical to your body, it coases you to dream more realistically.
Where to Buy: UK
One of my friends has just been diagnosed with covid and she is higher risk so I'm worried. I am in the UK where melatonin is not available. I've been looking at buying melatonin from pharmacies in Poland but they only seem to sell 1mg or 3mg so I would need a huge number to ingest 80mg per day for covid-19. Also many refuse to post to the UK.
Can anyone advise me how to buy sufficient quantities from a reputable source?
Hi Katie,
I found 10 mg capsules on Ebay UK :
You may have missed my post about Xlear Nasal Spray for Covid-19, but these are the two main components I plan to use if I get Covid-19. Here is a link to that post :
https://www.earthclinic.com/xlear-for-covid-recovery.html
Here is a link to the product on Amazon UK :
If you can, get her started on the spray if you can get it from a local drug store. The post that I linked to above shows how they used the Xlear Nasal Spray, how often and what effects it had on the small group of patients.
Good luck to you and your friend!
Art
(NY)
02/08/2021
Isn't it strange that they banned melatonin in England, Scotland and Ireland back in 1995? It's even more strange that they haven't allowed it after the thousands of studies that have been done on it since then worldwide. How archaic!
Perhaps now is a good time to start a petition in your country to legalize it for over-the-counter use.
Hi Glennise,
This one ships to the UK:
You can get melatonin by prescription in the UK and any dose is better than no dose. If your Dr. will write a script for each of you for 5 mg capsules for sleep, that amount may hold you over until your order arrives.
Art
Thank you for replying. Delivery from Piping Rock was super fast, it only took 1 week from US.
(Co. Laois)
01/09/2022
Use vitamin d it is the sàme at over 500 u per week if sick help with more until it abates and go back to th 500 u again every week