Le Biohacker · Preparing for your consultation
Melatonin: before taking it
Tick boxes to flag a situation, not to calculate a safety score. Leaving a box unticked does not guarantee there is no risk. This information sheet has not been reviewed by a healthcare professional.
1. The exact product
Bring the packaging, label, ingredients list and batch number. Include sprays, gummies, other supplements and any medicine too. If you have not started yet, say so.
2. Situations to flag before starting
Anses advises against supplements in these situations:
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding.
- Child or adolescent: no self-medication; seek paediatric advice.
- Inflammatory or autoimmune disease.
- Driving or activities requiring sustained alertness if drowsiness poses a risk.
Medical advice is needed before taking melatonin in these situations:
- Epilepsy, asthma, mood, behavioural or personality disorders.
- Medication use, even occasionally.
Also mention any liver or kidney disease. A specialist prescription falls under a different framework: do not change it on your own.
3. All medicines and supplements
| Exact name | Dose and time taken | Daily / occasional |
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Items to have checked include: fluvoxamine, sleeping pills, oestrogens, antibiotics, antiepileptics, anticoagulants, antiplatelets, blood pressure medicines and other sleep products. This list is not exhaustive. Do not add melatonin to a treatment regimen without medical advice. Avoid alcohol and combining products.
Le Biohacker · Preparing for your consultation
Melatonin: monitor and reassess
Prolonged daily use warrants reassessment. A report or statistical association does not prove causation. This sheet does not provide medical advice.
4. Why did you start taking it?
Initial goal, actual duration of use, benefit observed, ongoing difficulties:
5. Symptoms to describe and timeline
Record your observations without automatically attributing them to the product:
- Next-day drowsiness, dizziness, impaired attention or balance.
- Headaches, nausea, abdominal pain or other discomfort.
- Nightmares, irritability or an unusual change in mood.
- Any other new symptom or change in treatment.
| Symptom and date | Previous intake: dose / time | Other products / context |
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6. When to pause use and seek help
Drowsiness: do not drive or operate machinery while your alertness is impaired. For a supplement started without a prescription, pause use and seek advice before taking it again. For a prescribed medicine, contact the prescriber or pharmacist. Do not stop other treatments on your own.
Chest pain, significant difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness or a severe allergic reaction: seek emergency help; in France, call 15 or 112. Accidental ingestion of a large amount or ingestion by a child: contact a poison control centre or emergency services depending on the symptoms, without delay. Do not deliberately take the product again to test a reaction.
7. Decision to discuss with the healthcare professional
Proposed next steps: _____________________
__________________________________
Reassessment date: ________________
Professional contacted: _______________
Questions, possible cause of the sleep problem to investigate, and instructions received:
References and limitations are detailed in the article: Anses, Circadin Summary of Product Characteristics, reviews of adverse effects and observational cardiovascular data. This sheet has not undergone medical review.