Melatonin and Alcohol: Is It Safe to Take Them Together?

It is best not to take melatonin with alcohol. Alcohol can make you sleepy and dizzy, melatonin can too, and drinking while using medicines or herbal sleep aids can intensify those effects. (NIAAA; NCCIH) Alcohol also works against what you want melatonin for: in a lab study, a moderate evening drink lowered the body's own melatonin (Rupp et al., 2007), and alcohol disrupts the second half of the night (Ebrahim et al., 2013). This guide explains what alcohol does to melatonin and sleep, why the two add up, whether you can take melatonin after drinking, and better ways to sleep after a night out.

It is educational, not medical advice.

Key Takeaways

• Skip the combination: alcohol can make you sleepy, drowsy or lightheaded, and drinking while taking medicines can intensify those effects (NIAAA).
• Alcohol lowers your own melatonin: a moderate evening dose cut melatonin levels by 15% and 19% at about 2 and 3 hours, compared with a placebo drink (Rupp et al., 2007).
• Alcohol fragments sleep: it helps you fall asleep faster but disrupts the second half of the night, and moderate and high doses reduce REM sleep (Ebrahim et al., 2013).
• No tested waiting time: no study has set a safe gap between drinking and melatonin, and blood alcohol can keep rising after you stop drinking (NIAAA).
• Simplest rule: on nights you drink, leave melatonin out and give yourself a cutoff before bed (CDC).

Can You Take Melatonin With Alcohol?

It is not recommended. Melatonin can cause sleepiness, dizziness, headache and nausea in some adults (NCCIH). Alcohol can make you sleepy, drowsy or lightheaded on its own (NIAAA). Put together, the effects stack.

The US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) warns that drinking while taking medicines can intensify these effects, and that even some herbal sleep remedies can increase drowsiness when combined with alcohol (NIAAA). Melatonin is not on its list, but the same logic applies: two things that make you drowsy, taken together, make you more drowsy. The risk is less about one quiet night at home and more about feeling unsteady on your feet, getting up in the night, or being groggy the next morning.

What Alcohol Does to Your Melatonin and Sleep

Many people reach for melatonin because they sleep badly after drinking. The research suggests alcohol is a big part of that problem:

What alcohol does	What the research found
Lowers your own melatonin	29 young adults drank a moderate dose of vodka ending 1 hour before bed; melatonin was 15% lower at 140 minutes and 19% lower at 190 minutes than after a placebo drink (Rupp et al., 2007)
Helps you fall asleep faster	Seen at all doses studied (Ebrahim et al., 2013)
Disrupts the second half of the night	More waking and lighter sleep later in the night at all doses (Ebrahim et al., 2013)
Reduces REM sleep	First REM period delayed at all doses; total REM reduced at moderate and high doses (Ebrahim et al., 2013)

So alcohol can feel like it helps you drift off, but it costs you the deeper, steadier sleep later in the night. A cutoff before bed does more for that than anything you add on top. Our guide to how to sleep better covers the habits that do help. If short or broken nights start to add up, our guide to sleep debt explains how recovery works.

Can I Take Melatonin After Drinking?

The safest answer is to skip it that night. There is no study that tells you how long to wait after drinking before melatonin is safe, and blood alcohol can keep rising after your last drink because alcohol already in the stomach and intestine is still entering the bloodstream (NIAAA).

A few practical points:

• One drink is more than people think. In the US, a standard drink is about 14 grams of pure alcohol: a 12 oz beer at 5%, a 5 oz glass of wine at 12%, or a 1.5 oz shot of spirits at 40% (NIAAA).
• If you only had a small drink with an early dinner, and it is now well past that, talk with your doctor or pharmacist about what is sensible for you rather than guessing.
• Never combine alcohol with prescription sleep or anxiety medicines. NIAAA warns this combination can raise the risk of overdose, even at moderate amounts of alcohol (NIAAA).

Melatonin can also leave some people sleepy the next morning, and it may stay active longer in older adults (NCCIH). Our guides to how long melatonin lasts and melatonin side effects explain why.

Melatonin and Wine, Beer or Spirits: Does the Drink Matter?

No. Whether it is a glass of wine with dinner, a beer or a cocktail, the advice on melatonin with alcohol is the same: skip melatonin that night. What matters is the alcohol, and a standard drink of each holds about the same amount:

Drink	One standard drink	Pure alcohol
Wine	A 5 oz glass at 12%	About 14 grams
Beer	A 12 oz beer at 5%	About 14 grams
Spirits	A 1.5 oz shot at 40%	About 14 grams

In sleep research, alcohol helped people fall asleep faster but disrupted the second half of the night at all doses studied, so a glass of wine is still a full drink.

Our Melatonin Nasal Spray also contains L-theanine, and our guide to melatonin and L-theanine covers taking the two together. Save it for nights you are not drinking. For L-theanine on its own around drinks, see our guide to L-theanine and alcohol.

Better Ways to Sleep After a Night Out

1. Set a cutoff. The CDC lists avoiding alcohol and large meals before bedtime among habits that help sleep (CDC). Finishing your last drink well before bed gives your body time to process it.
2. Keep your usual wake time. A regular schedule matters more than one late night, and adults need 7 or more hours of sleep (CDC).
3. Make the room dark, cool and quiet, and put screens away before bed.
4. Skip the late coffee the next day. The CDC also advises avoiding caffeine in the afternoon or evening (CDC), which keeps the next night on track.
5. Save melatonin for nights you are not drinking. Our melatonin dosage guide covers how much to take and when.

If you would rather avoid melatonin altogether, see our guide to sleep supplements without melatonin.

For a light snack on the nights you skip melatonin, see our guide to foods with melatonin.

Taking NAC as well? Our guide to NAC and alcohol covers that combination.

Where Our Products Fit

Our Melatonin Nasal Spray provides 200 mcg of melatonin with 17 mg of L-theanine per two-spray serving, used 15 to 30 minutes before bedtime. That is a low amount of melatonin, but the advice above still applies: use it on nights you are not drinking. The Sleep Stack pairs it with Theanine Nasal Spray and Lithium Orotate in one bedtime routine. Learn more on our melatonin ingredient page and our sleep health hub. Talk to your doctor before starting a new product if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or take medication.

Taking a blood sugar supplement too? Our guide to berberine and alcohol answers the same question for berberine.

When to Talk to a Doctor

Talk with your doctor or pharmacist before combining melatonin with any prescription medicine, and if you often feel you need a drink to fall asleep, or still sleep badly after cutting back. Research on melatonin in pregnancy and breastfeeding is limited, so check first (NCCIH).

Safety note: if someone has been drinking heavily and is confused, hard to wake, vomiting, breathing slowly or irregularly, or has pale or bluish skin, call 911; these can be signs of alcohol overdose (NIAAA).

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you take melatonin with alcohol?

It is best not to. Both can make you drowsy or dizzy, and drinking while taking medicines or herbal sleep aids can intensify those effects (NIAAA; NCCIH).

Can I take melatonin after drinking?

The safest choice is to skip melatonin on nights you drink. No study has set a safe waiting time, and blood alcohol can keep rising after you stop drinking (NIAAA).

How long after drinking can I take melatonin?

There is no tested answer. If you drank only a little, early in the evening, ask your doctor or pharmacist what makes sense for you; otherwise leave it for another night.

Does alcohol affect melatonin levels?

Yes. In a controlled study, a moderate evening dose of alcohol lowered melatonin by 15% to 19% over the following hours (Rupp et al., 2007).

Will melatonin help me sleep after drinking?

Alcohol is the bigger factor that night. It helps you fall asleep but disrupts the second half of the night (Ebrahim et al., 2013), so a cutoff before bed helps most, and melatonin is best saved for nights you are not drinking.

Is it dangerous to mix melatonin and alcohol?

For most people the main risks are extra drowsiness, dizziness and next-day grogginess (NIAAA; NCCIH). Mixing alcohol with prescription sleep or anxiety medicines is far more dangerous and can raise the risk of overdose (NIAAA).

What counts as one drink?

About 14 grams of pure alcohol: a 12 oz beer at 5%, a 5 oz glass of wine at 12%, or a 1.5 oz shot of spirits at 40% (NIAAA).

Does alcohol help you sleep?

It can help you fall asleep faster, but it disrupts sleep later in the night and reduces REM sleep at moderate and high doses (Ebrahim et al., 2013).

Can I take melatonin after a glass of wine?

It is best to skip it that night. A 5 oz glass of wine at 12% is one standard drink, about 14 grams of pure alcohol, and no study has set a safe waiting time after drinking. If you only had a small drink with an early dinner, ask your doctor or pharmacist what is sensible for you.

Is melatonin with beer safer than with wine or spirits?

No. A standard beer, glass of wine and shot of spirits each hold about 14 grams of pure alcohol, so the advice is the same for all three: leave melatonin out on nights you drink.

Can I take melatonin the night after drinking?

Save melatonin for nights you are not drinking, so a night without alcohol is the time to use it. Keep your usual wake time and avoid caffeine in the afternoon or evening so the next night stays on track; our guide to how long caffeine lasts explains the timing. Talk with your doctor or pharmacist first if you take any prescription medicine.

Sources

1. Rupp TL, Acebo C, Carskadon MA. Evening alcohol suppresses salivary melatonin in young adults. Chronobiol Int. 2007. PubMed 17612945
2. Ebrahim IO, Shapiro CM, Williams AJ, Fenwick PB. Alcohol and sleep I: effects on normal sleep. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2013. PubMed 23347102
3. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Harmful Interactions: Mixing Alcohol With Medicines. NIAAA
4. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Understanding the Dangers of Alcohol Overdose. NIAAA
5. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. What Is a Standard Drink? NIAAA
6. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Melatonin: What You Need To Know (updated May 2024). NCCIH
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Sleep. CDC

Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. This article is for education only and is not medical advice.