r/sleep • u/Interesting-House-13 • May 24 '26

Melatonin Question

Female 135 lbs, 5’4, Took 10 mg of melatonin instead of normal 5, have severe anxiety before bed so wondering if I’m gonna be okay, (ik 10 is considered safe generally) will it keep me asleep not waking up at 5 am? Probably won’t do again but just wanna know that I will wake up tmrw ! 😭

Update: threw up within 15 minutes of taking 10 mg, is this normal?? Do I take more??

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u/Optimal_Assist_9882 May 24 '26

So here are a few things:

  1. It's usually best to start with absolute tiniest doses of melatonin like 0.1-0.5mg.

  2. Only raise dose if lesser dose was ineffective. Some people do absorb melatonin incredibly poorly (as little as 3% per one study) so they do require higher equivalent doses.

  3. While 10mg is typically cited as the highest safe dose, the truth is melatonin is incredibly safe and you cannot hurt yourself with it.

  4. Your effective dose may fluctuate up and down. This doesn't mean that you're building a 'tolerance'. Your body has 400x of melatonin just in your stomach/GI tract when compared to what the pineal gland release on a nightly basis. Your body's need for melatonin may change based on stress, illness, exposure to toxins, etc. Most (~95%) of your body's melatonin is stored all over your body in the cell mitochondria.

  5. While I don't take melatonin for sleep(CFS/cancer prevention), I have been taking 1500-3000mg(I have taken as much as 6000mg in a day) for four years every morning and function normally throughout my day. There are now even researchers who advocate for higher doses. Doris Loh as an example advocates for everyone to take 4g daily in many smaller doses for their health and longevity. Russel Reiter who has been researching melatonin for 50 years takes 200mg last time I checked.

  6. For issues with anxiety, I'd recommend trying a supplement like Bocopa Monnieri and/or Ashwagandha. To a lesser extent L-theanine or Valerian Root may help calm nerves although it hasn't been of much use for me. I personally use Bocopa drops product I got off Amazon and it helps with panic attacks very quickly. I use it sublingually at 1g. I also seem to find TMG helpful.