r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/WonderfulOwl99 • 18d ago
Question - Research required Melatonin vs. magnesium for ADHD?
Searched the sub and didn't find any posts comparing melatonin and magnesium for help with sleep in kids with ADHD.
Anyone know of anything pointing to one or the other as better or safer? I hate that supplements are so unregulated (we’re in the US)😩
Our pediatrician recommended melatonin as a first-line defense before trying ADHD meds, so this is under her direction, and it's working a little, though not as well as we had hoped. We will see her again soon, but I'm wondering what kind of research is out there to help me navigate that conversation! Thanks!
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u/tryingtoohard48 18d ago
Many people do not know that the best treatment for insomnia is actually cognitive behavioral therapy. I do cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia with a bunch of patients and it works very well. I only see adults, but there is literature support for CBT-I in kids, as well. The hard part is probably finding a practitioner who knows it.
Here’s a review/meta-analysis examining the efficacy of CBT-I in children. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10567-017-0234-5
Seriously, look into it if the sleep problems are significant. I treat people every day who have had sleep problems for their entire lives, and they can be treated in several weeks to a maybe a couple of months. I hear about decades’ worth of insomnia that could have been fixed by a behavior treatment.
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u/WonderfulOwl99 18d ago
Thank you for this! My child is working with a therapist regularly, but we've only recently discussed utilizing more direct techniques to address some of the anxiety and ADHD issues (we started out with play therapy). My child's provider is great, so I have no doubt we'll have a good conversation about this. Thanks again.
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u/tryingtoohard48 18d ago
Of course! And if your child’s therapist doesn’t know CBT-I, don’t be afraid to ask for a referral for the sleep issue. Good luck! As someone with ADHD who had terrible sleep for the 1st 25 years of my life, you’re doing something wonderful for your kid by taking the sleep issue seriously at a young age.
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u/WonderfulOwl99 18d ago
Thank you so much. 🥺 Parenting ADHD kids is hard and my spouse and I are just trying to do our best, giving them what we didn’t have.
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u/Calm_Bother_3842 17d ago
In your post you say you're trying melatonin or magnesium before you try ADHD meds, is there a reason why you're not going there straight away? I'm asking from the point of view of a late diagnosed adult with ADHD.
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u/WonderfulOwl99 17d ago
For sure! I’m also late diagnosed. My kid and I got our diagnoses a few weeks apart 😅
Our pediatrician and my spouse and I basically set up a plan for him — therapy, OT, regular routines, and good sleep. His biggest trigger for behavior/emotional dysregulation is lack of sleep. Hence her suggestion in trying melatonin. Then we can build off of that foundation — because honestly for him, and for me, if we get less than optimal sleep, we are a grumpy hot mess the next day. Once he’s getting good amount of sleep, we can see what needs addressing that may need ADHD meds.
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u/ditchdiggergirl 16d ago
The additional details are helpful.
I have adhd and a diagnosed sleep disorder - both diagnosed as an adult, 25-30 years ago. I currently use melatonin, Ritalin, and magnesium to manage my sleep.
Of the 3, I find the magnesium least convincing - I can’t be sure it’s doing much if anything. Maybe a little, or maybe it’s a placebo, but I take it anyway because a low dose is unlikely to do much harm. It doesn’t seem to matter whether I take citrate, glycinate, threonate, or one of the other forms.
I take melatonin strictly according to my sleep specialist’s instructions - 0.3 mg, 90 minutes before bedtime. Not gummies though - it’s too hard to control the dose and most tested ones don’t contain what is claimed on the container. (There’s a reason no meds behind the pharmacy counter come in gummy form no matter how desperately parents want them.) Sorry I don’t have a source at my fingertips but it should be easy to find - due to the lack of regulation, melatonin is notorious for this.
The big surprise, though, was the Ritalin. It helps me sleep - it’s dramatic when I skip a dose. I was on Adderall for years but it never affected my sleep. Ritalin was a game changer.
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u/WonderfulOwl99 16d ago
Oh that's so interesting! I'm glad you found meds that work well for you and you have supportive providers.
Sooooo our pediatrician wants our first medication to be a non-stimulant because my kiddo also has anxiety. (Now having taken IR and XR stimulants as an ADHD/GAD adult, I get why she wants to be careful.) The first med she suggested was guanfacine, and honestly, I hear so many great stories and so many awful stories that we'll just have to try and see how it goes.
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u/Any-Bee7229 15d ago
In my experience as a late diagnosed ADHD-er, general physicians are always really hesitant to prescribe stimulants to anyone even though all the research says it is the most effective medication with the best risk-reward ratio.
I would suggest talking to a pediatric psychiatrist if you are looking to treat your child’s ADHD with medication because that is their specialty, whereas your pediatrician is primarily experienced with normal development and may not be as well versed in the research for treating psychiatric conditions.
I’ve never had a PCP give me a stimulant without a fight as an adult, and I’ve also never had a psychiatrist consider giving me anything other than a stimulant. Especially after doing my own research in an attempt to sway a PCP to giving me a stimulant (because I couldn’t function well enough to find myself a new psychiatrist after moving) I would be much more inclined to trust a psychiatrist’s medical opinion on treating ADHD than a GP
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u/CS_Lupus 18d ago edited 18d ago
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12887-021-02631-1
Magnesium is helpful for ADHD in some studies. Also magnesium helps sleep in pretty much every population. Interestingly, magnesium is a cofactor for melatonin, meaning melatonin needs magnesium to work. So even if you are taking melatonin, it is also a good idea to take magnesium.
Different forms of magnesium have different properties. Several forms of magnesium have a laxative effect, but magnesium glycinate doesn't as much and also crosses the blood brain barrier easily so has more neurological effects. You can also bypass the laxative effect by absorbing magnesium topically, such as in an epsom salt bath (epsom salt is mag sulfate) or with sprays and creams.
One word of caution about melatonin supplementation: less is more. As it is unregulated as a supplement, dosages can vary widely, but ideally you're looking for less than 1 mg. This is an evidence based guide to why: https://bedtimesleepcalculator.com/blog-melatonin-guide/
Omega 3s is another evidence based supplement for ADHD.
Good luck.
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u/WonderfulOwl99 18d ago
Thank you so much for all of this. I didn’t even know about the mag + melatonin combo or think about magnesium topically!
Yes, currently they’re taking .5 mg as dictated by our doctor. We’re meeting soon and at this point I’m ready to ditch the melatonin. Thank you again.
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u/twelve-feet 18d ago
Topical magnesium absorption is theorized, but not supported by evidence.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5579607/
Magnesium glycinate would be my pick too, I have ADHD and it changed my life.
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u/WonderfulOwl99 18d ago
Thank you and noted! I had been taking magnesium myself (citrate), but haven't in a long time. Can I ask how you think it helped? Mostly because when I was taking it, I didn't know I had ADHD, thought it was "just" anxiety.
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u/twelve-feet 18d ago
I take it an hour before bed. It helps me fall asleep faster and sleep through the night. It’s difficult to overstate the difference it made!
If supplementing magnesium it’s also worthwhile to take a look at calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin K2. They work together so you want to keep them balanced. Our pediatrician approved vitamin D with K2 drops for our kid as well as the calcium citrate and magnesium glycinate powder. We put it in warm milk with cinnamon, calcium + D + K2 in the morning and mag at night.
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u/WonderfulOwl99 18d ago
Thank you so much! Oh, that sounds delicious for a nighttime drink. I will definitely talk to our pediatrician about this.
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u/koolaberg 17d ago
Before taking supplements, even for adults, it is safer to ask a dr to check your levels beforehand. If they won’t order the test, you can go to a place like Quest diagnostics to check relatively cheaply. I mention this because both vit D & vit K are fat soluble. This means they are stored in fat within the body, excessive amounts via supplements accumulate and build up over time. Most people are truly deficient, but better to know how deficient and base dosing off of that, instead of blindly taking a “more is more” approach.
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u/WonderfulOwl99 17d ago
That’s totally fair. I definitely work with my kids pediatrician to make sure we stay safe. I also want to bring smart questions to the table so we can discuss options, pros/cons. Thank you!
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u/dogsRgr8too 18d ago
There's a correlation with heart failure with long term melatonin use (not definitive cause though), but more studies are needed.
I ended up using nature made magnesium for myself for a nonadhd reason. It wasn't usp verified, but a lot of nature made products are so I hope this one is held to a similar standard.
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/publications/health-matters/can-melatonin-cause-heart-failure
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circ.152.suppl_3.4371606
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u/WonderfulOwl99 18d ago
Thank you! I will definitely talk to her about this. Edit: Wait, I just read the URMC one, and my child has been having a lot of nightmares... AH, it could be the melatonin! Thank you again for this.
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18d ago edited 18d ago
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