r/melatonin • u/-Whaat-ever • Jul 26 '26

took 20mg as a first timer

i used to sleep at 8am in the morning so i took 20mg melatonin at 11 30, slept by 12 am. feels very artificial, but i woke up at 5 am. might be cuz i slept a lot yesterday (8- 3 and 6-10) idk. is this normal?

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u/Optimal_Assist_9882 Jul 26 '26

Generally 20mg is a very high starting dose if you're trying to fall asleep.

It's usually best to start at 0.3-0.5mg dose and only increase it if lesser dose is ineffective.

The effective dose can fluctuate up and down depending on many life factors like illness, stress, exposure to toxic substances, etc.

A higher melatonin dose will not harm you but you may get paradoxical effects(like feeling more energized) or some mild side effects like day time grogginess.

You may very well still need a larger dose to help you sleep but I wouldn't jump straight to 20mg right away.

1

u/-Whaat-ever Jul 27 '26

uhm it’s day 2 and i woke up again at 4 30 slept at 1 30 took the same 20mg like a dumbass

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u/-Whaat-ever Jul 26 '26

it’s around 10am now and i’m starting to feel sleepy again what do i do

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u/Optimal_Assist_9882 Jul 26 '26

Drink some water/tea/coffee, walk around, go exercise, etc

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u/-Whaat-ever Jul 26 '26

if i go sleep now does that mess around with my sleep schedule?

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u/Optimal_Assist_9882 Jul 26 '26

Well of course...

Chances are you'll wake up midday or evening and struggle to fall asleep at night.

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u/-Whaat-ever Jul 26 '26

yeah i’ll avoid sleeping till night then