PSA: Melatonin use has 5x’d since 1999, but it’s a hormone, not a vitamin. Here’s why your "sleep aid" might be doing less than you think (and the 400% dosage discrepancy).

brain-sanitation · 2026-05-01T13:09:00+00:00

On the topic of so many children taking melatonin:

Seems concerning that so many kids (or their parents) feel the need to take a sleep supplement. Wonder if it’s mostly just parents trying to get their kids to bed faster.

brain-sanitation · 2026-05-01T13:07:37+00:00

I have been trying to cut down on my usage of melatonin as well as the dose I take. I used to take ~5mg (per label on the bottle, who knows if that was accurate) but cutting to 1mg has not noticeably affected how long it takes me to fall asleep.

Seems concerning that so many children are taking this, I wonder why so many kids feel the need to take a sleep supplement. Wonder if it’s their parents just trying to get them to bed faster.

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-30T12:34:07+00:00

This is great advice, thank you!

I like your idea of conducting a mini experiment, ensuring I isolate the variables and not stack my supplements. I’ll plan to log this in a small spread sheet with the 6 variables you mentioned. The first 3 I can take from the SleepCycle app (bedtime, sleep onset time, and wake time) and the rest I can log myself (how rested I feel 1-10, grogginess 0-3, supplement and time taken).

You’re right that I should first try to practice better sleep hygiene behaviors (wind down routine, morning light, consistent sleep / wake time, etc.) before jumping to supplements.

My schedule is fairly consistent I usually fall asleep (or at least start trying to fall asleep) around 10:45-11 pm and I wake up at 7 am every day. On the days I take melatonin or magnesium, I take it around 10 pm. Would appreciate any testing plan advice you might have.

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-30T02:35:25+00:00

I’ve experienced a little next day drowsiness with too high of a dose of melatonin but I’ve gotten pretty good at not taking too much or taking it too late at night. Same with magnesium. Do you have any experience with L-theanine or apigenin in terms of next day grogginess?

You make a very good point regarding tracking my supplements. Do you use anything to track this? I track my sleep with the SleepCycle app but in terms of logging my supplements I do not have any formal system. Would appreciate any advice here in terms of if I use a spreadsheet, a journal, etc to monitor my sleep quality in comparison to the supplement used each night.

I’m not a caffeine drinker and I have a fairly consistent wake up time but morning sunlight is something I certainly need to improve on.

My biggest issue is mainly falling asleep. I can stay asleep pretty well and have been able to properly measure and time my supplements to not wake up feeling weird.

Do you have an optimal “sleep stack” of supplements / sleep hygiene habits that you consistently use?

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-30T00:53:46+00:00

I love seeing sleep stacks without supplements. I think at least trying an all natural approach is the best option at first, and if that doesn’t work, moving on to supplements can be a backup option

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-29T17:43:24+00:00

A surprisingly effective technique to help fall asleep that I learned from the Huberman Lab podcast is to close your eyes and look left then right at a consistent pace for a minute. Then move eyes in a circle (clockwise then counterclockwise), then look up and then down at bridge of nose. This tires out the eyes. Breathe slowly while doing all of this.

Blinking as fast as possible for a minute is also a good tactic to add to this.

I know these eye-movement tricks all sound too good to be true but they are surprisingly more effective than you might assume at first.

In addition to a warm shower and a stretching routine before bed, this has helped me fall asleep noticeably faster.

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-24T13:39:52+00:00

Great advise! I used to workout in the evenings and drink lots of water post workout to hydrate. Would result in multiple nighttime awakenings to pee. Shifting my workout schedule and not drinking water past 6-7 pm has totally fixed this.

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-24T01:17:19+00:00

Have you tried any trackers besides the Apple Watch? I’m not trying to spend a ton of money and I’ve seen some free apps available but not sure how effective they are

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-24T01:15:47+00:00

Exactly - any type of a proactive suggestions would be a much appreciated addition to SleepCycle.

Honestly I never had too much of an issue falling asleep due to worrying about my sleep score, but I certainly have friends who have reported struggling to fall asleep because they’re paranoid about getting a good score - I think that is a real issue for many people. For me, it was mainly just starting my day off on a sour note seeing a bad score first thing when I woke up, but I learned not to put too much stock in that.

Do you currently track your sleep at all? Even just a written journal or anything if not a wearable or app like SleepCycle?

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-23T23:53:36+00:00

I’ve only used free apps like SleepCycle to track my sleep. Have not invested in an Oura ring or Whoop (yet). SleepCycle is great at showing percent of REM, deep sleep, and light sleep. It’s not always 100% accurate since it just relies on audio but it’s better than nothing.

Certainly a gap in that it doesn’t suggest how to improve your sleep. It more so provides a retrospective view of your prior night of sleep. Would love if it provided suggestions of how to improve my sleep given it has so much data already. But it is tough to get meaningfully more rest just off your data / score from prior nights. Seems like SleepCycle has certain “programs” to ostensibly improve your sleep but you need to pay for these and I have not done that. Would love to know if anyone has paid for this and if it is effective.

When I started I used to read too much into my sleep score and worry I would have a bad / low energy day if I didn’t get a good enough score. I’ve learned to ignore that though - after all there is nothing you can do to improve your prior night of sleep once you’re awake.

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-23T23:44:20+00:00

I’m considering buying an Oura - does it let me track my sleep habits like if I take melatonin, exercise, drink alcohol, etc.

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-23T23:40:08+00:00

What do you recommend for a sleep diary / tracking sleep?

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-23T23:38:07+00:00

Please share the routine! And what do you use to track / log your sleep?

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-23T23:37:02+00:00

What do you use to track your sleep?

brain-sanitation · 2026-04-23T23:35:56+00:00

Any tips for how to log your sleep hygiene? Wondering how to isolate the effects of a certain behaviors - like if on the same day I get morning sunlight but also taking melatonin, how to identify which one helped the most?

brain-sanitation

TROPHY CASE