Melatonin is a popular sleeping aid that is available as a supplement at drugstores in the Netherlands and Belgium, without a prescription. But your body also produces this hormone itself. When it gets dark in the evening, the pineal gland in your brain produces more melatonin. This is how your body sends a signal: time to go to bed.
People who struggle with insomnia or suffer from jet lag while traveling can take melatonin supplements to help them fall asleep more easily. Because this hormone is available without a prescription, its use seems harmless. But is that it? Not everyone is enthusiastic: In 2019, five hundred sleep experts warned against the use of melatonin. They argue that it should only be available with a prescription through pharmacies.
What are the side effects of melatonin?
Melatonin helps you fall asleep faster, but it also throws off your biological clock. Moreover, it is not yet clear what the long-term effects of melatonin supplements are. And then there are also the short-term side effects: for example, does melatonin give you nightmares?
Melatonin’s side effects include daytime sleepiness and headaches, says Suzie Bertisch, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and clinical director of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Melatonin and nightmares
But melatonin can also cause vivid dreams and nightmares. According to Kim Yuen, a sleep medicine specialist at the University of California San Francisco, the risk of nightmares increases with higher doses of melatonin. Your dreams become more vivid and the chance that you will remember them also increases.
But where do those nightmares come from? One study found that additional melatonin intake extends the REM phase. This is the sleep phase in which you dream. If that phase lasts longer, the chance of nightmares also increases. In addition, you will often take melatonin when you cannot fall asleep due to stress. Are the nightmares caused by the melatonin or the stress? That is not yet clear.
How can you use melatonin safely?
According to Bertisch, there is no harm for adults to use melatonin for a short time, for example to get over jet lag. But take the pills in moderation and seek medical advice from a doctor before use. Or use one of these other tips to get rid of jet lag. You really don’t need pills for that.
You probably also want to know this: Does magnesium work as a natural sleep aid?
2024-01-16 16:10:08
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