CBD Oil With Melatonin: What Happens If You Take Them Together?

Melatonin is a sleep aid that has been used since the 1990s. It’s a legal, over-the-counter supplement in the US, but it’s only available in the UK, EU, and many other nations with a doctor’s prescription. CBD has only been available as a supplement in those countries since the late 2010s, and it’s used for the enormous number of apparent medical benefits it provides.

The two supplements work differently. The melatonin you can take is usually a synthetic version of a hormone produced in the brain; it regulates the circadian rhythm that tells people when to sleep and when to wake up. It can also help people “reset” their internal clocks after experiencing jet lag.

CBD (cannabidiol) is a plant chemical extracted from hemp. Manufacturers use it to create CBD oil which is taken by itself or infused into other products. Cannabidiol interacts with a system in the body that governs a huge range of crucial functions, ranging from thinking and immunity to pain control and sleep.

None of CBD’s apparent benefits have been definitively proven, but preliminary research shows it may relieve chronic pain, ease stress and anxiety, reduce cardiovascular risks, provide neuroprotective effects, and even help fight some types of cancer. And many consumers use CBD oil because it appears to help fight insomnia, particularly insomnia caused by stress.

So, if people take melatonin to help them sleep, and they take CBD oil to help them sleep — can the two be taken together for even greater effectiveness?

Yes, because the two work in different ways. Melatonin helps the user get to sleep at an appropriate time in their body’s 24-hour cycle by resetting their circadian rhythms. CBD helps calm the stress and anxiety that affects sleep, often helping users remain asleep through the night.

There’s been very little research into whether combining melatonin and CBD is more effective than using just one of the two, though. One study found a mix of melatonin and cannabidiol dropped under the tongue improved sleep quality, while another found some indications that cannabidiol may interfere with the body’s natural production of melatonin.

In other words, the jury’s still out — but there’s no known risk to trying the supplements together.

Want to learn more? Read on.

What Is CBD?

Cannabidiol is one of two major cannabinoids (a class of plant compounds) found in cannabis and hemp. There are more than 100 less important, other cannabinoids in the plants as well. The CBD used to make CBD oil and other products is extracted from hemp plants because they contain large amounts of cannabidiol, while cannabis plants contain very little.

The other major cannabinoid is psychoactive THC. Cannabis contains lots of THC, of course, which is why marijuana and other cannabis products make users high. Hemp plants contain very little THC, and even though some of it comes along when cannabidiol is extracted from hemp, it’s such a small amount that CBD oil and other CBD products are non-intoxicating.

CBD oil is the most popular way to consume cannabidiol. If dropped under the tongue (instead of being added to foods or beverages), it’s one of the fastest and most effective ways to receive cannabidiol’s apparent effects. Only vaping CBD works more quickly.

In the introduction, we mentioned some of the many benefits that CBD is believed to deliver once it’s consumed. Relieving stress, anxiety, and depression is one of those apparent benefits important for this discussion — and easing insomnia and other sleep quality issues is another.

CBD provides its reported benefits by interacting with receptors in a full-body network called the endocannabinoid system (ECS). Neurotransmitters called endocannabinoids serve as messengers in that system, and as you can probably guess, they are very similar in chemical structure to cannabinoids like CBD.

That similarity allows cannabidiol to interact with ECS receptors to deliver its effects. And since the ECS governs important bodily functions like thinking, pain, appetite — and sleep — it would make sense that CBD oil could help users with insomnia and other sleep disorders.

What Is Melatonin?

Melatonin was discovered in 1958. The hormone was isolated from cows’ glands, and initial studies focused on its apparent ability to lighten skin colour.

Research over the following decade has shown that mammals and most other animals produce melatonin in their brains’ pineal glands, and that it plays roles in a huge range of biological functions including immunity, hormone regulation, menstrual cycle regulation, and neuroprotection.

Most importantly, though, it helps regulate and synchronize the body’s circadian rhythm, or 24-hour internal clock. Melatonin ensures that we sleep when it’s dark and wake up when it’s light; the pineal gland produces lots of melatonin at night, and smaller amounts during the day.

Melatonin can also be synthesized in the lab, and that’s the primary source of the sleep aid supplement that’s become enormously popular in recent years. (It can also be sourced from animals, plants, or microorganisms.) Melatonin is used to help with insomnia, jet lag, a disorder that keeps people up late known as DSWPD (delayed sleep-wake phase), and even anxiety.

The product is readily available as an over-the-counter supplement in America, but it’s heavily regulated or illegal in most countries. In the UK, you need a doctor’s prescription through the NHS, and doctors will only prescribe melatonin to adults over 55 who are suffering from a sleep disorder.

Some foods like milk, eggs, fish, bananas, oats, and nuts are rich in melatonin, but a melatonin supplement or prescription medication provides users with much more of the hormone than dietary sources.

Combining CBD Oil and Melatonin

Since 1+1=2, it would be natural to assume that using two sleep aid products would be more effective than using just one. Many people who suffer from insomnia or other sleep quality issues combine CBD and melatonin, figuring that concurrent use of the two substances would ensure that they’d get an even better night’s sleep.

Why Might Taking CBD and Melatonin Together Make Sense?

One argument in favor of combining CBD oil and melatonin is the fact that they work in different ways to deliver their effects. CBD works through the body’s endocannabinoid system to provide its effects, while melatonin directly regulates the body’s circadian rhythm to help users sleep during nighttime and wake up in the morning.

Another is that the two substances appear to help users in slightly different ways, with melatonin seeming to induce faster sleep and CBD appearing to help people stay asleep through the night.

It’s important to understand, though, that melatonin isn’t a sedative and isn’t recommended for continuous use by people with sleep problems. Experts suggest (and doctors in the UK instruct) that users should only take melatonin when they need temporary help adjusting their sleep-wake cycles, usually for no more than four weeks.

There are no similar recommendations for how long people should use CBD for sleep problems. Research into cannabidiol is still preliminary, and it’s not fully understood at this point why CBD oil seemingly eases insomnia. It does appear, though, that the cannabinoid’s apparent ability to ease stress, anxiety, and pain largely explains much of why CBD helps people sleep better.

The Limited Research on Combining CBD and Melatonin

There’s no definitive scientific proof that using CBD oil and melatonin together can bolster each other’s effects. The largest clinical trial, involving 1,800 participants, concluded that CBD provided better sleep improvement than melatonin taken alone, but found that a product combining the two performed no better than using CBD by itself.

Only a few other studies on the subject have been conducted.

• In recent research involving just 20 patients, a combination of melatonin and CBD was administered every night for three months. It appeared to deliver results similar to sedatives commonly prescribed for sleep difficulties, with people reporting “a very balanced sensation of well-being during the sleep.”
• Another study found that CBD promotes alertness in some people but not others; in those individuals, CBD worked better during the day than at night to help them sleep. That could contraindicate their using cannabidiol for sleep, although using it together with melatonin might offset the nighttime wakefulness they might experience.

And a final study wasn’t as encouraging.

• Research on rats’ pineal glands (the glands that naturally synthesize melatonin) found that cannabinoids like CBD appear to inhibit the production of melatonin. The implication is that cannabidiol used together with melatonin might make the latter less effective, although it’s not clear whether the results would translate to humans consuming melatonin.

Clearly, there’s not enough information to determine whether combining melatonin and CBD oil use is a more effective way to deal with insomnia and sleep disorders than using just one or the other.

Since neither substance is associated with serious side effects, though, there should be little harm in trying them both together. The best advice, though, is to first consult with your doctor or another healthcare professional who can advise you on whether CBD and/or melatonin are appropriate for your sleep issues and other medical conditions.

And if you’re in the UK or another nation where melatonin is only available by prescription, you’ll have no choice. Otherwise, you’ll only be able to obtain CBD oil over the counter.

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