Alright, I need to talk about sleep because mine is garbage and I have been down the supplement rabbit hole for 3 months now.
Tried melatonin first. 3mg, then 5mg, then 10mg. Made me groggy in the morning but didnt help me stay asleep. I would wake up at 2am staring at the ceiling every single night.
Then tried ZMA. Weird dreams but no improvement in sleep quality based on my Oura ring data.
Currently trying magnesium glycinate 400mg before bed. Two weeks in. It might be helping? Hard to tell whats placebo at this point.
What has actually worked for you guys? And I mean worked as in you have data showing improvement, not just “I feel like I sleep better.”
The magnesium glycinate is actually the best evidence-based choice youve tried. A 2023 systematic review in BMC Complementary Medicine found magnesium supplementation significantly improved subjective sleep quality (effect size 0.65) and reduced sleep onset latency.
Key findings from the literature:
– Magnesium glycinate > magnesium oxide (better bioavailability by ~2x)
– Optimal dose: 200-400mg elemental magnesium
– Takes 4-8 weeks for full effect — your 2 weeks isnt enough data
– Melatonin is actually more effective at lower doses (0.3-0.5mg) than the standard 3-10mg doses. Higher doses can desensitize receptors.
The article on this site about sleep supplements covered the dose-response issue with melatonin pretty well. Most people are taking 10-30x the effective dose.
I know nobody wants to hear this but the biggest improvement in my sleep came from boring stuff, not supplements:
– No screens after 9pm (I read actual books now, sue me)
– Room temperature at 67F
– Same bedtime every night including weekends
– Cut caffeine after noon
Did all that first THEN added magnesium. Sleep went from garbage to 7+ hours solid. My wife says I dont snore as much either tho I cant verify that lol
Nurse here, night shift. I say this with love: if youre waking up at 2am consistently, that pattern can indicate cortisol dysregulation, not a supplement deficiency. Your body might be dumping cortisol in the early morning hours.
Worth getting a morning cortisol test. If thats the issue, no amount of magnesium will fix it — you need to address the stress response.
That said, magnesium glycinate is the one supplement I actually recommend to patients. Its safe, inexpensive, and the evidence supports it. Just dont expect it to override a broken stress system.
Wait so ashwagandha isnt good for sleep? I see it everywhere. My roommate takes it and swears by it but he also thinks crystals work so…
@NewToThis — Ashwagandha actually has decent evidence for sleep. A 2020 RCT in Cureus found 300mg of KSM-66 extract improved sleep quality scores by ~72% vs placebo. But its primarily an adaptogen that reduces cortisol, so the sleep benefit is indirect.
Unlike crystals, there are actual peer-reviewed papers. Your roommate is accidentally right for once.