Melatonin supplements are a synthetic version of the hormone we make in our pineal gland. But just because it’s natural, that doesn’t mean taking large doses is safe, advised, or even necessary.
Below, we’ll cover how much melatonin is too much, whether you can overdose, and how much to take exactly.
There’s no set amount of melatonin that’s too much. In general, experts recommend taking no more than 1 mg of melatonin, and many recommend taking much smaller doses. Small doses of 0.3 mg to 0.5 mg have been shown to be effective and are less likely to make you groggy the next day or push back your next night’s sleep.
“Unlike other drugs like painkillers, for example, larger doses of melatonin aren’t more effective than smaller doses,” says Dr. Jamie Zeitzer, Co-Director of the Center for Sleep & Circadian Sciences at Stanford University and one of our sleep advisors. “In contrast to other drugs, taking too much melatonin probably won’t cause any serious health issues, but it can backfire and have the opposite effect you’re looking for, causing daytime grogginess and trouble sleeping the next night.”
For example, some research shows 0.5 mg of melatonin can be just as effective as 5 mg for treating jet lag, and doses larger than 5 mg appear to be no more effective.
Many studies looking into large doses of melatonin compare it to a placebo, not a lower dose, so it’s hard to tell what the lowest effective dose is.
Plus, how much melatonin is too much may be individual. It can depend on your age (older adults may need less), weight, and how sensitive you are to the side effects of melatonin.
You want to take as small a dose as you can because high doses of melatonin can:
Some experts say anything above a physiologic dose of melatonin is too much. A physiologic dose is a dose that’s equivalent to what your body produces naturally. Your body makes about 10 to 80 micrograms of melatonin a night (or about 0.01 mg to 0.08 mg). Doses of about 0.3-mg are generally considered physiologic.
Larger doses than what’s found in the body are known as pharmacologic doses or supraphysiologic doses. These include the 5 mg, 10 mg, and 20 mg doses you can buy over the counter.
Experts say you don’t need these supraphysiologic doses.
“While melatonin is considered safe for most people, you may only need a low dose of it,” says Dr. Zeitzer. “In most cases, I’d recommend taking a small dose of 0.3 mg of melatonin and only in the short term.”
It can also be hard to tell how much melatonin you’re taking exactly. A 2017 study found the amount of melatonin in supplements varied from 83% less to 478% more than what was advertised on the label. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies melatonin as a dietary supplement, so there aren’t many rules and regulations. You may think you’re taking a low dose, but it’s hard to know for sure. Plus, different formulations of melatonin — like gummies and sprays — can contain different doses.
Heads-up: Taking melatonin every night is also considered “too much” for most people. It’s generally safe for short-term use, like when adjusting to jet lag, not every night to fall asleep or to treat sleep issues. There are no set guidelines here either, but in general, you should only take melatonin until you’re adjusted to a new sleep schedule— which may be just a few days. Improve your sleep hygiene (more on that soon) and speak to a sleep specialist or doctor if you have trouble sleeping. If melatonin is the best treatment, they can prescribe the right amount of melatonin for you and tell you how often to take it.
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The side effects of melatonin include:
Melatonin isn’t considered addictive and you probably won’t develop a tolerance to it.
Speak to a healthcare provider before taking melatonin if you’re on medication such as:
You may not be able to take melatonin when:
Get medical advice before taking melatonin. Your healthcare provider can tell you whether it’s safe for you, what the upper limit is for you, and whether other treatments are more effective.
There are no set guidelines for how much melatonin is too much for kids. You should only give children melatonin on the advice of a healthcare professional who can prescribe an exact dose.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says there’s little evidence that melatonin can treat insomnia in healthy children (or anyone for that matter). Habit and schedule changes may be better.
Melatonin use among kids has increased and it can be dangerous. A 2023 study found calls to US Poison Control Centers for pediatric melatonin ingestions increased by 530% from 2012 to 2021. They were linked to over 4,000 hospitalizations and two deaths.
A 2023 paper says there’s limited data on the dosage of melatonin for young people. So the right dose could vary with age, and supplements may affect adolescents and young people differently — 2023 research found young adults had lower morning cognition after taking melatonin the night before.
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Most experts agree you probably can’t overdose on melatonin, but more research is needed.
Melatonin’s half-life (the time it takes your body to metabolize half a dose) is about 20 to 45 minutes. So your body should be able to process large doses before you experience serious melatonin side effects.
We’ve covered how long melatonin lasts here.
One study found there were no adverse effects from 100 mg of melatonin up to seven hours later (and this amount didn’t make participants fall asleep, either!). The study was small though — only 12 people! Experts do not recommend doses anywhere close to this.
While you can’t technically overdose and taking a large dose may not be life-threatening, you may experience more serious side effects such as:
Seek medical attention if you’re experiencing unwanted side effects.
There are no set guidelines for how much melatonin to take. Experts recommend starting with as low a dose as possible. Higher doses aren’t necessarily more effective than lower doses, and how sensitive you are to melatonin and how high your natural levels are will vary from others. How much melatonin you should take may depend on what you’re using it for and when you’re taking it. If you’re taking it to fall asleep each night, you may not need to take any at all.
In general, here’s a rough guide to how much melatonin to take to:
If you do decide to take melatonin, we recommend Thorne and USP tested as reputable brands. Start with the lowest dose possible and only increase if needed, but don’t cut pills in half to decrease your dose.
We’ve covered more on how many mg of melatonin to take here.
When it comes to the effectiveness of melatonin, when you take it can matter more than how much of it you take.
In general:
We’ve covered how long before bed to take melatonin here.
RISE can tell you the best time to take melatonin supplements to fall asleep earlier.
It may not be safe to take 10 mg of melatonin. More research is needed. In general, experts recommend taking much lower doses of 0.3 mg to 1 mg of melatonin. Taking high doses increases your risk of side effects and they can push back your circadian rhythm, resulting in sleep problems the next day.
It may not be OK to take 20 mg of melatonin. Many experts recommend taking only 0.3 mg to 1 mg of melatonin. More research is needed on larger doses. They may not be safe and you may inadvertently push back your circadian rhythm the next day.
It’s thought the body produces about 10 to 80 micrograms of melatonin per night, which is equivalent to about 0.01 mg to 0.08 mg. Everybody produces a different amount of melatonin, however, and the amount of melatonin you produce may be affected by doing shift work, being overweight, or having a medical condition. You may not produce less with age, but older adults often have lower melatonin due to medical conditions.
Certain behaviors can also affect how much melatonin your body produces day to day, such as:
To make sure your body can make the melatonin it needs, follow RISE’s 20+ sleep hygiene reminders. These are timed to your own circadian rhythm and include when to get and avoid bright light and when to stop drinking alcohol each day.
We’ve covered how to increase melatonin naturally here, and how to fall asleep without melatonin supplements here.
RISE can also tell you when your body’s rate of melatonin production is at its highest — look out for your Melatonin Window. You’ll have an easier time falling asleep if you head to bed during this window.
RISE users on iOS 1.202 and above can set up their 20+ in-app habit notifications here.
Expert tip: Want to improve your sleep? The first step is finding out how much of it you need. Use RISE to find out your unique sleep need — it’s different for everyone. When looking at the sleep needs of 1.95 million RISE users aged 24 and up, we found it ranged between five hours and 11 hours 30 minutes.
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RISE users on iOS 1.202 and above can view their sleep need here.
There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to melatonin doses, but many experts agree anything over 1 mg can be too much. Many recommend smaller doses than that. Small 0.3-mg and 0.5-mg doses have been shown to be effective and they’re less likely to leave you feeling groggy the next or push back your body clock.
If you do take melatonin, RISE can tell you the best time to take it. You can also follow RISE’s 20+ personalized sleep hygiene habit reminders each day. Some of these habits help boost your body’s natural production of melatonin, and they can all help you fall asleep faster and wake up less often, whether you’re taking melatonin or not.
RISE users notice the benefits of a good night’s sleep: “After figuring out how I should sleep with this app, I felt a lot better and my health is better too!” Read the review.
We’ve found 80% of RISE users get better sleep within five days.
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