How safe (or dangerous) is Melatonin supplementation?

[BizMarkie1000]

I heard a LOT of anecdotal, negative experiences on the internet about Melatonin.

To name a few - People complain Melatonin can cause rage, psychosis, severe depression, auditory hallucinations.

What is YOUR experience with Melatonin?

 

[Cheradenine]

Among all the drugs that can be used to get some sleep after a stimulant high, melatonin is certainly the safest. By a large margin. It’s given to kids in doses at least up to 3mg. I think the reason melatonin often is blamed is because people who take melatonin more often than not have other issues (adhd, stimulant abuse, poor sleep in general) which all can be an underlying, and perhaps in many cases unidentified, reason for all the things you mention.

Another question is whether it is safe to combine melatonin with other downers such as opiates. I have read warnings against such a combo.

 

[puke]

The only thing I could say with my experience is u never really get a good night sleep with it. I have a few times but I usually have that I had too much to drink kind of sleep if u know what I'm sayin but when I do take them I'm usually out in 10min at least in that twilight stage.

 

[4DQSAR]

I seem to recall batches of Chinese-made melatonin turned out to contain a toxic impurity (the makers descided it if will dissolve in less solvent, using less solvent is fine).

I only ever obtained in once. I bought a Kg to make the then-legal 5-MeO DMT.

I swallowed what must have been a good 50 grams and was quite surprised that it did send me to sleep but only for about 30 minutes.

So I think it's safe if it IS melatonin. At least the reports I read certainly implicated the impurity.

 

[chemconnoisseur]

Incredibly safe. It’s actually a powerful anti-oxidant in higher doses (studies often us up to 400mg, yes mg, not mcg per day) [1]. People assume that because it’s an endogenous chemical, taking it externally means you’ll end up not producing it on your own anymore (I.e. with testosterone the HPTA shuts down LH and FSH production, shutting down natural testosterone production). This is only the case with endogenous substances that have negative feedback loops (self-correction of production when levels are too high). The case is that the body’s internal melatonin production is not decreased by the use of exogenous melatonin. [2] The other concern would be a downregulation of melatonin receptor, but this doesn’t seem to occur to a significant degree either, especially at therapeutic doses that match the natural psychobiological range. [3] It’s easy as recreational drug users to assume doing substance x means you’ll eventually get the opposite of subject x’s effects as withdrawal, but this isn’t always the case. Honestly the biggest risks with melatonin are being a bit sleepy in the morning and maybe having a nightmare that’s extra vivid lol.

Edit: As a more direct answer to your question, the proported negative effects you mention can likely be attributed to placebo, which runs rampant among the hypochondriacs on Reddit and similar forms. Across all of the studies and meta analyses I looked through trying to find reports of rage, psychosis, severe depression, or hallucinations of any kind, I didn’t find any mention, despite it being an incredibly well substance. When similar things were reported in the adverse events category they never occurred at a significantly higher rate than the placebo group. That being said, it does possibly have a slight anti-dopaminergic effect (which could be part of why it helps sleep), but because the half life is so short I doubt it really has any real applications.

[1] Melatonin effectiveness in amelioration of oxidative stress and strengthening of antioxidant defense system: Findings from a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials

[2] The amplitude of endogenous melatonin production is not affected by melatonin treatment in humans

[3] Melatonin-mediated regulation of human MT1melatonin receptors expressed in mammalian cells

 

[WellTram]

Incredibly safe. It’s actually a powerful anti-oxidant in higher doses (studies often us up to 400mg, yes mg, not mcg per day) [1]. People assume that because it’s an endogenous chemical, taking it externally means you’ll end up not producing it on your own anymore (I.e. with testosterone the HPTA shuts down LH and FSH production, shutting down natural testosterone production). This is only the case with endogenous substances that have negative feedback loops (self-correction of production when levels are too high). The case is that the body’s internal melatonin production is not decreased by the use of exogenous melatonin. [2] The other concern would be a downregulation of melatonin receptor, but this doesn’t seem to occur to a significant degree either, especially at therapeutic doses that match the natural psychobiological range. [3] It’s easy as recreational drug users to assume doing substance x means you’ll eventually get the opposite of subject x’s effects as withdrawal, but this isn’t always the case. Honestly the biggest risks with melatonin are being a bit sleepy in the morning and maybe having a nightmare that’s extra vivid lol.

Edit: As a more direct answer to your question, the proported negative effects you mention can likely be attributed to placebo, which runs rampant among the hypochondriacs on Reddit and similar forms. Across all of the studies and meta analyses I looked through trying to find reports of rage, psychosis, severe depression, or hallucinations of any kind, I didn’t find any mention, despite it being an incredibly well substance. When similar things were reported in the adverse events category they never occurred at a significantly higher rate than the placebo group. That being said, it does possibly have a slight anti-dopaminergic effect (which could be part of why it helps sleep), but because the half life is so short I doubt it really has any real applications.

[1] Melatonin effectiveness in amelioration of oxidative stress and strengthening of antioxidant defense system: Findings from a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials

[2] The amplitude of endogenous melatonin production is not affected by melatonin treatment in humans

[3] Melatonin-mediated regulation of human MT1melatonin receptors expressed in mammalian cells

Thanks for info. I bought 30x5mg pills once but it was useless for me. But i often think about melatonin because of the 400mg doses you mentioned. But i will rather spend momey on some linalool - otc terpene which made me high cause i took 5 pills of 80mg instead of 1. I thought it would be very mild - otc herbal extract..No, it was not mild.

 

[4DQSAR]

Obscure fact - Soviet researchers identified homologues of melotonin with larger alkyl groups beyond that amide moity as confiring protection against radiation on the consumer.

The problem has always been with Soviet (and now in Putin's Russia) that sciences are subject to political goals.

Lest we forget, the Soviets went through several totally self-inflicted famines by desciding that a scientist in an office knew more than the people who had successfully grown foods for millenia. Forced collectivsation (the Holodomor) cause oned, Lysenkonism another and others were the result of redirecting rivers, using fertilizers and other agrochemicals that accumulated while destroying the soil.

Evidence of the last being the Aral Sea now being a toxic desert.

But it seems melotonin itself is considered quite safe.

Ironically, I would class 5-MeO DMT as NOT being safe. Even Shulgin noted that for some users the subjective effects were akin to 'being sat on by an elephant' and I know what he means. So when 5-MeO AMT was offered, I chose not to use it which in retrospect was probably a good thing as it does seem that considering just how rare it is, fatalities seem common.

 

[M!$TER-ED]

I take 9mg (3-3mg tabs) for sleep, it works for me