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Comment by mikepurvis | Hacker News Reader

I take melatonin to sleep on a redeye, but otherwise don't use it. I find the effect is similar to taking a weed edible to fall asleep— basically, my wearable registers a lengthy period of deep sleep but instead of waking up feeling refreshed and ready for action, I'm groggy and fog-headed for several hours, or dependent on coffee to reverse the lingering effects.

As someone who has never been a regular coffee consumer, I really didn't want to end up with the dual dependence of melatonin at night and then caffeine in the morning.

This thread is stimulating me to want to get my magnesium checked, but barring that I've found the most effective sleep interventions are the basic ones: get some exercise earlier in the day, and don't do screens for the last few hours before bed.

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This sounds like you may be taking a very high dose. What dose do you take?

The tablets in my OTC jar are 10mg, and they're pretty small already, not easily divisible, and certainly not to 1/100th of a dose as the sibling comment is suggesting. This is an interesting suggestion though, maybe I'll try just licking one some night and see if that has a noticeable positive effect sans the downsides.

Pretty much all the melatonin in physical stores is hilariously overdosed, yes. If you're in the U.S., you'll have to look for products from specialty supplement brands. I take a tiny 300mcg capsule.

This. Try with smaller doses starting from 0.1 mg (liquids are best for this) and work your way upwards to reach the optimal dosage. Tablets are often overdosed which leaves you drowsy in the morning.

"and don't do screens for the last few hours before bed" because that will help you fall asleep more quickly? or because that will help you sleep later in the morning 6 or 7 hours later? People never seem to mention that key aspect.

For me most things I do on a screen are fairly mentally stimulating (like video games), and even the ones that aren't (like watching a movie) inhibit the feeling of sleepiness I get when I abstain. So, it's better for falling asleep quickly.

I believe it's much to do with blue light emitted by screens:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9424753/

I had heard that that wasn't as much of an effect as some people think - https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260407-the-blue-light-f...

or rather, that its less about blue light specifically, and more about activity and bright light in general - the times where we are active are shifted later, and a profound lack of exposure to bright light during the day is the issue. Even with the massive amount of screen time the average person gets in a day, that much light adds up to less than a single minute of the equivalent of sunlight.

Probably the best thing you can do is go outside as soon as you can from when you wake up, and stay outside as long as you can. Failing that, get some good BRIGHT sunlight lamps. way brighter than you think could possibly be necassary

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