Has anyone experienced diarrhea with Melatonin use?

Date is September 29, 2017
My doctor put me on Melatonin for Insomnia and almost immediately I got horrible explosive diarrhea, going over 7 or 8 times a day. I had no idea what was causing it and only briefly wondered if was the Melatonin. I went to the dr and he didn't think it was Melatonin. But after eliminating everything I could think of, I decided to quit the Melatonin and no more diarrhea.

Doctors should be notified about this!

Thank you all for posting your stories. Almost three months after starting to take melatonin almost nightly as a sleep aid, I began a bout of horrible diarrhea that only ended last week after stopping the melatonin two weeks earlier. I never connected the melatonin with my problem so I never mentioned it to my doctor who did stool samples, blood tests, etc., which were all negative. Finally, in searching my mind, I told her about the melatonin and she told me to stop taking it. That's when I found this forum. Since then I learned that it is not be be used as a regular sleep aid, especially long term.

Again, thank you all for posting. Your stories helped confirm my problem.

hi there, i could not help to share my horrible experience with melatonin. I started taking 3 mg after my mother tragically passed away and slowly increased the dosage to 25 mg as the effects on my sleep was as i used it nightly was decreasing. just so you know all it has been a week since i took my very last pill and im not 100% myself yet but getting better everyday. my experience was really bad until i found this group and confirmed my suspicion with my several times a day diarrhea, stomach cramping and bloating. i though the worse until i realised that melatonin was causing this. i also was feeling tired, moody and put 5 pounds. im a extremely healthy person i put an average of 40 miles on intervals workouts a week. i had not mut energy. im 5'5, 105 pounds quite consistent with my weight, loosing weight more than gaining due to extreme hikes. i was very surprised with my weight gain due to the hormonal effects of melatonin. but the very worse was the horrible uncontrollable burst of diarrhea. yes melatonin helped me sleep but the side effects are absolutely not worth it. im slowly getting back to norm (diarrhea only in the morning, instead of several times a day).
im taking powerful chamomile tea (pure from flowers) and im sticking with it. neve melatonin again
here is a very informaive link:
https://wwws.fitnessrepublic.com/fitness/the-side-effects-of-melatonin.html

Hello!
I am so thankful to have found this forum. I have been researching for over a month with regard to my problem. After having all blood, urine, and stool sample tests coming back negative, I felt very frustrated! I have requested an ultrasound before seeing a gastroenterologist. It has been 9 years since my first colonoscopy. I have not been diagnosed with IBS, and I may not have a serious intestinal disorder.
But I believe I have discovered the cause of my diarrhea!
I began taking Melatonin (5 mg) as a sleep aid in mid-October. Explosive diarrhea began on December 7th. I keep a daily log of food intake, number of trips to the bathroom, Bristol stool chart rating, etc.
Last night I stopped taking Melatonin and I sincerely hope that this horrible onslaught will end soon!
Like most, I feel like I was going crazy, crippled in daily activities, having to map my daily route with knowing where the restrooms were located in the stores, etc. I even have had to slip out of church service several weeks in a row because of this.
I agree with others: the side effects of Melatonin and safe dosage amounts should be CLEARLY labelled. I do believe this side effect is not as common for most people, but those of us who have extreme sensitivity are the most impacted.
I was using the Walmart brand: Equate. The label does indicate short time use only, with a peel back label I just noticed as I'm writing (pale grey lettering/not easy to read) that lists non-medicinal ingredients and warnings, etc. Diarrhea is not listed, only "Mild gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, or cramping), none of which I experienced, as well as "rare allergic reactions have been known to occur, in which case discontinue use."

So, I am really hopeful that I have discovered the cause of my chronic diarrhea.

Also a question: Has anyone else experienced any hair loss? I am upset with the amount of hair clumps/strands that are in my comb. Could it be due to malabsorption of nutrients due to the diarrhea?

Post Edited (Nancy1951) : 1/24/2018 8:27:02 AM (GMT-7)

My husband is a retired physician. Some years ago, he began to take a small dose of a prescription sleep aid and that has worked well over the years. Browsing in the drug store recently, he walked past the "natural supplement" shelf and spied melatonin advertised as a non prescription sleep aid, so he decided to try it and purchased a bottle of 10 mg (!) pills.

That evening he started by taking one pill at bedtime, and yes, it helped him sleep, and he was very happy as a result. So, the next night he took another pill and did so again for about six days in all.

about four days after the first pill, he began to experience watery diarrhea two or three times a day, and it was the same for the next few nights, and so I began to investigate the cause. I came upon this site, and read these posts about similar cases.

So, he stopped taking the melatonin immediately.

The diarrhea has continued for at least three weeks, with no help from imodium or peptobismol. Finally he got a prescription of Lomotil, and that has helped. The diarrhea attacks are lessening, finally. And, he and I are convinced it was caused by the melatonin, especially the 10 mg dosage. The real concern is that the problem has lasted for so long.

It is hard to believe that there are not more warnings out there about melatonin in particular.

Hi all,

After reading this thread I felt relieved as I was also going crazy myself. I stopped taking Melatonin about 2 weeks ago and I'm still having diarrhea several times a day that usually stops around noon or 1. Has anyone elses side effects lasted this long? All my tests are also coming back negative and I'm at a loss of what to do. Any recommendations of what to do would be great.

Thanks all.

Thanks Jha.

It’s been a little over three weeks now and still have diarrhea. Has anyone else’s lasted this long?

How long does it take for Melatonin to leave your system?
Providing caring and compassionate services to individuals with behavioral health needs

hi i have had the same thing happen to me took melatonin for weeks and couldn't figure out why i had diareah so bad. had stool culter done and it was normal, also getting scan on stomach now and i believe it was the melatonin that caused it. i also have celiac and lung cancer and had been on immunothearapy so thought it was the treatments. i just know with celiac it is much different then this was so i stopped taking the melatonin just for the heck of it on my own and already the diareah has slowed up not sure how long it will go on but, it is much less then it was. but after seeing this i am relieved it wasn't just me hope it doesn't take long to get back to normal!!!!

holy hope this doesn't go on that long i know i was some sick still had it today but not near as bad

LOL

I read in this forum that it will take anywhere from 2-7 weeks to get better.