Are you having trouble sleeping? Many people have trouble sleeping in today’s society due to the amount of time we spend in front of screens and the other stresses of modern-day life.
Luckily, there are lots of solutions for this including melatonin tablets which should be combined with trying to spend less time in front of screens and getting to the root cause of the problem. Many Americans take these every night.
But should you combine melatonin and alcohol and does it matter if you accidentally do? Here’s all about mixing melatonin with alcohol.
Alcohol is a Depressant
It is important to understand that while many people think alcohol is a great high, it is a depressant. It can bring you down rather than build you up. Alcohol causes 1 in 20 deaths in the world according to the World Health Organization.
How we respond to it also depends heavily on our circumstances. Are we having a good night or are we angry or upset before we start drinking? Alcohol is never a medication or a solution to our problems nor can it make us have a good time.
Alcohol Can Disrupt Your Sleep Patterns
Alcohol and sleep are not compatible. Alcohol can make you pass out or fall into a light sleep but the sleep you have will not be deep and you will be likely to wake up in the middle of the night.
Worse still you could wake up the next morning and still feel tired, no matter how long you have been asleep. Whilst you might feel sleepy after a glass of wine it does not help you get a better night’s sleep and it is the quality of sleep that is important.
Alcohol and Melatonin
So how does all of this link with taking melatonin and are what are the side effects of melatonin and alcohol?
Melatonin is designed to help you sleep by better regulating the pineal gland. The pineal gland produces melatonin naturally to regulate when you feel sleepy and should go to bed and when you are awake, alert and feel most alive.
Since alcohol disrupts your sleeping pattern and most people who are drinking do so at night, you are reversing the effects of the melatonin. The side effects can be very unpleasant.
If you take melatonin and alcohol, for instance melatonin and beer, you can develop drowsiness, headaches and you can even have trouble breathing. They should therefore never be mixed if at all possible.
Should You Take Melatonin And Alcohol?
The short answer to the question should you take melatonin and alcohol is no. Alcohol is a depressant and a strong drug that can stop you from getting a good night’s sleep. Often people who are indulging in drinking it are staying up late, at a party.
Yet melatonin is designed to help stimulate your pineal gland which regulates when you feel sleepy and when you do not, based on how light it is.
Taking melatonin and alcohol can lead to very bad side effects such as a headache, drowsiness in the middle of the day and even trouble breathing which can be lethal.
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