What are the risks of mixing alcohol and melatonin? Understand

I take melatonin to help me sleep at night. But I also like to have a glass or two of wine to unwind after a long day. Is it safe to do both?

The struggle to get a decent night’s sleep is real. In 2020, about 15% of adults in the United States had trouble falling asleep on a regular basis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and nearly 18% had trouble staying asleep. And more and more people are taking melatonin in order to sleep better.

Use of the supplement, which is sold over the counter as a sleep aid, has increased significantly over the past two decades.

If your goal is to wake up feeling refreshed every day, though, you won’t be helping yourself if you mix melatonin with alcohol before bed — and could even be putting your health at risk, says Rachel Salas, professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins Medicine and assistant medical director of the Center for Sleep and Wellness at Johns Hopkins University.

How does melatonin affect sleep?

Melatonin is not just a store-bought supplement. It’s also a hormone your brain naturally produces in response to darkness, and its purpose is to signal that it’s time to sleep, points out Rafael Pelayo, a clinical professor in Stanford Medicine’s division of sleep medicine and author of “How to Sleep.” to sleep, in Portuguese).

Contrary to popular belief, however, melatonin supplements don’t always make you lose sleep quickly, as many classic sleeping pills do, says Pelayo. Melatonin is not a cure for insomnia. It is most useful for shifting sleep schedule by adjusting the circadian rhythm, also known as the 24-hour internal clock that regulates the sleep-wake cycle.

“If someone’s sleep problems are related to their circadian rhythm – the classic example would be ‘jet lag’ on long plane journeys – then melatonin can help,” says Philip Gehrman, associate professor of clinical psychology at the School of Medicine Perelman of the University of Pennsylvania. For example, although people typically adjust to a new destination’s time zone by about an hour a day, “taking melatonin can speed up this adjustment even more,” he says.

One caveat: Melatonin only works well this way if you take it at the same time each night (usually about half an hour or an hour before bed) and if you’re consistent about when you go to sleep at night and when you wake up in the morning. It’s also important to talk to your doctor before taking melatonin, Gehrman points out, to make sure it’s appropriate for you and, if so, what dosage you should take.

What is the effect of alcohol on sleep?

Liquor, on the other hand, is not an effective sleep tool. While that glass (or two) of wine can send you dozing off quickly, it can also go awry, causing you to wake up more frequently during the night, which makes your overall sleep quality worse, says Salas.

Furthermore, alcohol depresses the central nervous system, causing a decrease in heart rate and brain activity and slow breathing. Therefore, for those who have sleep apnea, a condition that causes breathing to stop repeatedly during the night, alcohol can exacerbate symptoms, can further limit oxygen uptake, and in some cases can even be fatal. points out Salas.

So at what point in the night should you stop? “It’s not an exact science because we all metabolize alcohol at different rates, and it obviously depends on how much you drink,” says Gehrman. As a general rule, he suggested avoiding alcohol consumption about two to three hours before bed.

What happens when you mix melatonin and alcohol?

There isn’t a lot of research into the effects of taking both at the same time, but experts say it’s best not to.

On the one hand, doctors discourage people from consuming alcohol, which may initially be sedating, with medications or supplements that can also be sedating. And while melatonin probably won’t knock you out, it can still “have a sedative effect” in some people, says Gehrman.

So “the most conservative approach,” he said, would be to avoid mixing melatonin with alcohol so as not to risk becoming overly sedated.

Drinking too close to bedtime can also disrupt melatonin’s role in keeping your internal clock regulated. Not only will alcohol disrupt your sleep, it can also make it harder to maintain your sleep routine if it causes you to go to bed later, sleep late, nap during the day, or fall asleep earlier than usual, for example. , says Salas.

The professional emphasizes that the moment of melatonin intake is essential to have a good night’s sleep. “You don’t want to take melatonin at random times,” she says. “Take it consistently or don’t take it at all.”

So, if you plan on taking the substance, try to stop drinking at least two to three hours beforehand, and if you end up drinking late at night, it’s best to skip the melatonin until the next night.

Of course, if you’re having trouble sleeping and the melatonin isn’t working, seek out a sleep specialist.

“People who suffer from insomnia are at greater risk of cardiovascular diseases, higher incidence of mood disorders and worse quality of life”, indicates Salas. “So if you’re struggling with sleep, you really should see a doctor, because we know that sleep is so important for health and well-being.”

And skip the bedtime drink.

Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves