Melatonin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Melatonin is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Liquid
- Sold as
- Melatonin
- Generic available?
- Yes
Can you take melatonin with…?
Source-cited answers for the combinations people actually ask about — each with a verdict and what to watch for.
Every melatonin product we track (1)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
Only one: Melatonin.
Melatonin and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for melatonin: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadMelatonin has no specific use during breastfeeding, and no data exist on the safety of maternal use of melatonin during breastfeeding. However, doses higher than those expected in breastmilk after maternal supplementation have been used safely in infants. It is unlikely that short-term use of usual doses of melatonin in the evening by a nursing mother would adversely affect her breastfed infant, although some authors recommend against its use in breastfeeding because of the lack of data and a relatively long half-life in preterm neonates.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised April 15, 2026. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about melatonin
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 54,666 reports naming melatonin, and the FDA flagged 66% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- fatigue4,474 reports
- nausea3,810 reports
- diarrhoea3,044 reports
- headache3,014 reports
- dyspnoea2,603 reports
- insomnia2,566 reports
- fall2,432 reports
- dizziness2,394 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean melatonin caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved July 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
Can you take melatonin with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run melatonin against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What forms does melatonin come in?
Across the brands we track, melatonin is currently marketed as liquid, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic melatonin?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic melatonin product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
What should I avoid while taking melatonin?
Other medicines: we hold source-cited interaction answers for Can you take Benadryl with melatonin?, Can you take magnesium with melatonin?, Can you take melatonin with blood pressure medication? and Can you take NyQuil with melatonin? and more. This is what the FDA label and our cited sources say — it is not a complete list. Your pharmacist can check your own combination.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Melatonin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/melatonin
- MLA
- “Melatonin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/melatonin.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for melatonin on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.