# Melatonin

43 Hacker News commenters recommended Melatonin and 24 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for helping people fall asleep, often at low or liquid doses. Common caveat: morning grogginess, and evidence is weak outside jet lag and sleep disorders.

## Why people recommend it

- Small doses are easy to dial in (5 comments): "I've had a good experience with liquid melatonin. Each drop contains like 0.1mg, so it's easy to dial in the small dose that you need." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48923480)) "So you can take small doses easily, and it absorbs under your tongue pretty quickly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48924285)) "I only take a couple drops at night and it does the trick for me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48924892))
- Helps fall asleep at a set time (4 comments): "It’s not like it’s some miracle cure but it has helped a bunch with being able to fall asleep at a reasonable time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50013829)) "Melatonin works well to help me get to sleep, but it doesn't keep me asleep." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48923855)) "Together with 0.3 mg melatonin it knocks me out." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48710036))
- Helps reset a sleep schedule (3 comments): "I've fixed my sleeping schedule by taking lorazepam and melatonin every night" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46597122)) "find it helps to quickly get me on the new schedule" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49230534)) "melatonin helps set the cycle" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48921557))
- Deep sleep through the night (2 comments): "Prolonged-release melatonin keeps me asleep for the whole night" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48921087)) "I slept like a baby for the first time in months." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49231085))

## What people warn about

- Morning grogginess or fatigue (4 comments): "it has mild side effects, most commonly reported in the literature are daytime fatigue, headaches and GI symptoms" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48922929)) "I'm groggy and fog-headed for several hours, or dependent on coffee to reverse the lingering effects." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48921671)) "if it isn't already early when I take it, I'm positively trashed for the morning after" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45873126))
- Headaches, stiffness, muscle spasms (3 comments): "it has mild side effects, most commonly reported in the literature are daytime fatigue, headaches and GI symptoms" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48922929)) "Long-term use of high dosage (5-10 mg) of melatonin gave me painful stiff neck and shoulders and muscle spasm." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48925026)) "I had problems waking up in the morning and was getting nasty headaches even with half a dose (1 mg)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49230196))
- Effect fades or wears off early (3 comments): "melatonin is an awsome dream drug great for a midwinter cleanup of the unconsious attic but looses its zap, quickly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45829273)) "If I take it and go right to bed I always wake up still in the 'window' of its effect." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49228693)) "Melatonin works well to help me get to sleep, but it doesn't keep me asleep." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48923855))
- Weak evidence and unregulated doses (3 comments): "the evidence for melatonin is quite poor outside of jet-lag and certain more serious sleep disorders" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48921018)) "are now recommending not to buy online because the doses are completely unregulated" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45871869)) "long term consistent melatonin use is not advised outside of special cases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49228882))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Creatine monohydrate](https://hackerapproved.com/p/creatine.md): 104 recommend
- [Magnesium glycinate](https://hackerapproved.com/p/magnesium-glycinate.md): 31 recommend
- [N-acetylcysteine (NAC) supplement](https://hackerapproved.com/p/n-acetylcysteine.md): 17 recommend
- [Psyllium husk](https://hackerapproved.com/p/psyllium-husk.md): 13 recommend
- [Magnesium L-threonate](https://hackerapproved.com/p/magnesium-l-threonate.md): 9 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Melatonin", https://hackerapproved.com/p/melatonin/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).