Illustration, not a product photo.
The pineal hormone sold over the counter in the US as a supplement.
1212 owner comments (637 with a clear rating) from r/sleep, r/insomnia, r/Supplements, r/Anxiety, r/Nootropics, r/Stress, r/Ashwagandha, May 2026 to October 2026. Top 40% of the 20 rated supplements.
Value for money: Not rated. The example products differ too much in dose to compare cost fairly. How we score.
Melatonin is rated about average among the supplements we track: 3.7/5. Of 637 rated owner comments, 352 were positive, 49 mixed and 236 negative; 137 mention an unwanted effect. People talk most about side effects and falling asleep faster.
Reddit comments are self-reported and unverified. They tell you what people noticed, not whether a supplement works or is safe for you.
Dose matters with melatonin; see melatonin dose and timing. Some of these interact with medicines; see our interactions guide. Waking up foggy? See why some sleep aids cause grogginess.
Supplements can interact with medicines. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist first, especially if you are pregnant, take prescription medicine (including sleep, anxiety or antidepressant medicines), or have ongoing sleep problems. See sleep supplement safety and interactions.
| Context | Rated owner comments | Positive | Negative | Unwanted effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falling asleep | 94 | 62 | 20 | 21 |
| Morning grogginess | 76 | 14 | 49 | 68 |
| Staying asleep | 58 | 36 | 13 | 11 |
| Vivid dreams | 48 | 9 | 34 | 47 |
| Jet lag & shift work | 30 | 22 | 7 | 3 |
| Anxiety at night | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 |
| Deep sleep | 22 | 21 | 1 | 4 |
4/5 Morning grogginessSide effects“Honest take, melatonin helps a lot of people fall asleep a bit faster at first, but it never felt like deep, natural sleep for me, and bigger doses left me groggy.”
4/5 Fast-actingTaste & form“I searched for a verified-by-third party brand of melatonin because I knew that the amount of melatonin in each pill seemed to be random.”
4/5“I promise I have tried magnesium, melatonin, quitting caffeine, exercising, morning bright light, and at times have practiced better sleep hygiene than you could possibly imagine.”
2/5“I think the correct dose for most ppl is 0.25-0.5mg, and more is not better with Melatonin.”
2/5 Side effects“I had a similar experience and I can feel what you are going thru rn because I went thru the same shit myself , here is my take , melatonin might have been the trigger for the first bad nights of sleep but it's believe that afterwards you…”
4/5 Falling asleep fasterTaste & form“I was always tired and could sleep anywhere but I do take melatonin and sleepy time on my nights off to help with falling asleep.”
2/5“Melatonin ck, guided thoughts sleep deprevation.”
4/5 Falling asleep faster“Melatonin tablets helped me fall asleep but it's useless if you wake up in the middle of night and can't fall back asleep once the tablet wears off...”
1/5 Morning grogginess“Others here would suggest stuff like melatonin, l-theanine, magnesium glycinate.”
4/5“magnesium glycinate worked way better for me than melatonin ever did.”
2/5“Melatonin has NEVER worked for me or anyone I know!!”
4/5“Bioavailability of oral melatonin varies so widely from person to person that stating a set ceiling amount is meaningless.”
4/5“I've been told by my GP that melatonin is one of the better drugs to be taking long-term and there are no known long-term effects.”
4/5 Falling asleep faster“Melatonin is really good at getting you \*to\* sleep, but in my experience it doesn't do too much for the deep, restorative part of sleep, so it's possible you're falling asleep fine but not getting the quality underneath.”
2/5“Melatonin...that sh\*t doesn't help me sleep, at all.”
2/5 Side effects“Melatonin is meant to be in small doses, once in awhile.”
1/5 Side effectsVivid dreams“I also can't take normal melatonin because it gives me terrible nightmares from my PTSD”
2/5“Doctors don't always understand that less is more with melatonin.”
4/5“Anyhow this led me to intervention where I started talking low dose melatonin 0.5 mg 3-4 hours before bed.”
4/5 Morning grogginessDeeper sleep“I had a similar issue, I solved it by sleeping out the melatonin.”
4/5 Side effectsDeeper sleep“I get extremely vivid and sometimes violent nightmares if I touch melatonin.”
4/5 Morning grogginessFalling asleep faster“I also have trouble falling asleep especially if I know I have to wake up on a certain time, I take 5mg melatonin and it helps with that but it can make you even more tired the next day, or not work at all, depends on the person.”
2/5“unfortunately melatonin does that to me too.”
2/5 Fast-actingFalling asleep faster“Does for me what Melatonin does for most people: I feel ready to fall asleep within an hour or two of taking it.”
2/5 Side effects“Interesting because so many people swear by melatonin and I had brain fog and had a hard time waking up, so I stopped taking it and started taking magnesium and I'm so glad I did!”
2/5 Side effectsVivid dreams“Even low dose melatonin gives me terrible nightmares.”
2/5 Side effectsVivid dreams“It may be a bot account but I have HORRIFIC nightmares when I take anything containing melatonin and it's a well documented side effect”
1/5 Side effects“Melatonin actually made my sleep much worse.”
5/5“Best thing I've been able to do is order L-Theanine and melatonin online (I use the bioeva store) and take magnesium supplements.”
4/5“Melatonin: but it only puts me to sleep for a few minutes”
4/5 Fast-acting“Melatonin helps me sleep immediately.”
5/5“\- I take 10mg of Melatonin if I'm jittery and 20 before bed and it works wonders.”
3/5“Gpt convinced me my sleep architecture is broken, so I started bright light therapy upon waking and melatonin a couple hours before bed.”
4/5“I take mine about an hour before bed since it's got natural melatonin, seems to hit better that way”
2/5“5) 1/2 of a 0.5mg extended release melatonin.”
These are examples of Melatonin products sold on Amazon. They are not ranked by Reddit and the score above is for the ingredient, not a specific product. Check the label for dose and other ingredients.
Published studies (we list them so you can read the evidence yourself; inclusion is not an endorsement):
Across 1212 Reddit comments from people who say they have used it for sleep, 352 of 637 rated comments were positive and 236 negative, for a SnoozeVerdict score of 3.7/5. These are self-reported experiences, not clinical evidence.
137 of 637 rated owner comments (22%) describe an unwanted effect such as grogginess, headaches, vivid dreams or an upset stomach. Check the safety notes on this page and ask a doctor or pharmacist before starting.
Most rated owner comments come from people who struggle to fall asleep (94 comments, 62 positive).
No. The score summarizes Reddit owner comments only. Factual statements on this page link to NIH or PubMed sources, and nothing here is medical advice.
“Magnesium -- I started taking it for the muscle cramps after long runs and it turned out to help with general sleep quality too, which I wasn't expecting.”
What owners report →
“magnesium glycinate before sleep make huge difference for me, i can't go without now”
What owners report →
“glycine on its own was the missing piece for me for years.”
What owners report →Comparisons: Melatonin vs Magnesium glycinate · Melatonin vs Tart cherry · Melatonin vs Glycine · Melatonin vs Magnesium (form not stated) · Melatonin vs L-theanine · Melatonin vs Valerian root · Melatonin vs Chamomile · Melatonin vs 5-HTP · Melatonin vs Apigenin
Last updated 2026-11-04. Mentions scanned: 4600 in 2420 threads.