How to Properly Use CBD and Melatonin Together?

If you’ve been searching for a natural way to sleep better, look no further than CBD. CBD is a hemp-derived molecule that holds big promise when it comes to helping you sleep better, feel better, and maybe even slow down your body’s biological clock. 

But CBD gets even better when combined with another natural sleep aid: melatonin. Keep reading to learn the details on how to properly use CBD and melatonin together. We’ll get into how CBD and melatonin work, how they affect sleep, CBD and melatonin dosing, and much more. 

The importance of sleep and sleep-wake cycle

Before we dive straight into how CBD and melatonin work, we should take some time and have an overview of why sleep is important in the first place. 

After all, sleep’s importance is often overlooked by today’s hustle harder culture. Why sleep when you can some more work done or hang out with friends?

Yet sleep is when your body recharges itself and renews its energy — making all the good stuff you do the rest of the time possible. During sleep, cellular damage gets repaired and vital hormones get replenished. 

Sleep’s importance can also be seen in what happens when you don’t get enough of it. Just a single night of poor sleep can cause you to begin producing larger amounts of stress hormones like cortisol. Cortisol is what’s called a catabolic hormone: it breaks down your muscles and skin surfaces to preserve energy. This leads to premature aging and a worn-out appearance. Not good! [1] 

In humans, the sleep-wake cycle is regulated by a biological clock, called circadian rhythm, which response primarily to light and darkness in the environment. The sleep-wake cycle starts with the alert state when people feel awake. When somebody then lies down they enter sleep that comes in a lighter or a deeper sleep stage. The sleep stages repeat until the person wakes up.

The natural sleep-wake cycle is very important for our well-being because it ensures that we feel good during the day and sleep well at night (or vice versa). This sleep pattern can be easily disrupted by jet lag, weekend sleep in or other disturbances like working the night shift. 

Now, before we learn how to use CBD with melatonin, let’s figure out how each of these components works for sleep. 

How CBD could help sleep

CBD might help people sleep better. Statistics show that many CBD users are taking the compound specifically for sleep. For many of these users, this strategy is working.  FDA data shows that 39% of all CBD users use CBD in hopes of sleeping better. According to cannabis expert Stuart Titus, “anecdotal evidence suggests that CBD Oil has made a great deal of difference.” [2]

Research is just beginning to back up this real-world experience. A clinical trial from 2019, titled “Cannabidiol in Anxiety and Sleep: A Large Case Study,” was among the first of its kind to highlight CBD’s sleep-specific effects. This study also provided insight into how CBD might improve sleep. [3]

It all goes back to CBD’s interaction with the body’s endocannabinoid system. By nourishing the endocannabinoid system, CBD may promote inner-body balance enough to assist with sleep and promote regeneration. While the endocannabinoid system was only discovered in the 1990s, researchers have quickly learned just how far-reaching its effects can be. Especially if the system is healthy. 

CBD’s ability to boost your body’s levels of feel-good endocannabinoids may also help you sleep better. Just think: do you sleep well after a great day, or after a day where you felt totally stressed out?

By boosting anandamide levels, CBD might just make you feel good enough that sleeping better becomes easy. Anandamide = improved mood = restful sleep. Simple enough, right?

CBD Oil sleep benefits: what the research says

So, that’s how CBD works when it comes to promoting sleep. Let’s now take a look at the specifics from the 2019 study above: [4]

This study also discovered just how effective CBD can be. 66% of its patients experienced better sleep within a month of initial CBD use. “Evidence points toward a calming effect for CBD in the central nervous system, study authors concluded.” [5]

Melatonin for quality sleep

Melatonin is often referred to by a simple but telling name: the sleep hormone. 

Melatonin is a hormone that has been shown to help induce sleep and regulate the sleep cycle. It’s made by a cluster of cells in your brain called the pineal gland, and it gets released when it starts getting dark outside (in both diurnal and nocturnal animals).

What are melatonin receptors?

Pretty much all life forms have melatonin, including humans. In order for melatonin to do its job, though, the melatonin needs to be able to attach itself to receptors in the body – hence why it’s called “receptor-mediated” melatonin action.

Melatonin is at the core of the body’s sleep-wake cycles. It’s produced in the morning and released in the evening, and this release promotes well-timed drowsiness and restful sleep. 

Healthy individuals produce enough melatonin to keep their sleep schedules intact, yet melatonin production can easily get thrown off by a variety of factors:

Since melatonin mismatches and/or deficiencies develop so easily, researchers have turned their attention to melatonin supplementation. So have consumers. A 2012 poll by the NIH (National Institutes of Health) reported that melatonin is one of the most common supplements used by adults and children. [6] 

Most studies involving melatonin have yielded good results, but melatonin may still not be for everyone. Here’s what the research says. 

Benefits of Melatonin supplements for sleep: what the research says

Most of the available melatonin research has been done on adults. (Considering that adults suffer from sleep problems more often than kids do, this is understandable!)

Several groups may experience especially good results from melatonin supplements. These groups include:  [7] 

For most people, melatonin has relatively few side effects. And that means it might be worth a try — even if you’re not guaranteed to benefit from it. Analyze your existing sleep hygiene and talk to a doctor before beginning any high-dose melatonin intake. 

Now, let’s proceed to the most interesting point — co-administration of melatonin and CBD. 

Can you take CBD oil and melatonin together?

Most likely. If CBD might be good for sleep…and if melatonin might be good for sleep…then taking CBD with melatonin might be even better. 

Studies on CBD and melatonin for sleep

As of 2021, no clinical studies have shown that taking CBD oil with melatonin together is effective. 

But that’s not necessarily bad news. Everything we now view as accepted science went through a phase where it wasn’t yet accepted science — or even a phase where it was ridiculed by the experts!

In other words, the efficacy of taking CBD oil with melatonin might just be yet to be seen. Here’s what could theoretically happen when you take CBD and melatonin for sleep together. 

Why CBD and melatonin could work?

Research has shown that both CBD and melatonin may promote sleep. Melatonin is created in the pineal gland and released at nighttime to produce drowsiness. CBD, meanwhile, is received by receptors throughout the brain and peripheral body, and these receptors release endocannabinoids that also produce drowsiness.

In other words, supplemental melatonin and CBD for sleep may both promote the health of your body’s circadian rhythm. They just do so in different ways! 

CBD and melatonin may also benefit those with:

Studies also show that full spectrum CBD may promote sleep better than isolated CBD extracts. Considering that full-spectrum CBD is up to four times stronger per unit, that’s no real surprise.  

Premium CBD for natural sleep & wake cycle

Both CBD oils may enhance your sleep naturally. Hemp seed oil pills work differently than CBD oil pills do, but both options have their place. Keep reading to learn more.  

CBD sleep medications

CBD oil provides your body with a steady supply of healthy fats and fat-soluble vitamins. One such vitamin, vitamin E, doubles as a super-strong antioxidant. Antioxidants may help you sleep better by preventing cellular damage. Consider hemp pills if your diet could use some work — or if you simply want to optimize things. 

CBD softgels provide your body with the balancing molecules it needs to destress and better sleep cycles. They do this by activating your body’s endocannabinoid system. 

Other CBD products can activate the ECS, too. Our premium CBD-only products, like our Fruit Punch CBD Oil, may help you sleep better and maintain healthy sleep cycles if taken in the right dosage. 

But don’t be afraid to try a more specialized product to really boost your sleep.  For that, you’ll need to select a CBD Oil and melatonin product that combines the right dosages of both. 

Unabis CBD PM Oil does exactly that. It contains 10 milligrams of CBD and 2 milligrams of melatonin per serving to create a powerful 1-2 punch. Customers who try it report sleeping better, deeper, and more soundly than they have in years.

CBD and melatonin dosing

Now that you’ve got the right product, it’s time to find the right dosage of melatonin and CBD for sleep. There are several factors to consider when identifying the CBD and melatonin dose that works for you. 

But don’t think that CBD Oil dosing for quality sleep has to be complicated. If you already know how much CBD your body needs, simply increase that dosage by 10-20%! 

An important concept

CBD oil is unique in several ways. When it comes to dosing it’s unique in the fact that its dose-response curve is far from linear. 

In other words, taking 30 mg of CBD may not affect you twice as much as taking 15 mg of CBD. More isn’t always better. Overshooting your own optimal dose makes it more likely that you’ll experience side effects. 

But one of these side effects — drowsiness — can actually be leveraged to our benefit when it comes to sleep. 

Why big doses of CBD work?

Want to sleep your best? Then use a slightly higher dose of CBD than normal…and take this dose a few hours before bedtime. You may want to start with a 10% larger dose at first. 

Let’s say that you start feeling best on 20 milligrams of full-spectrum CBD oil per day. 

Normal dose: 20 mg

10% higher nighttime dose: 22 mg 

If that doesn’t work, try a 20% larger dose. 

Normal dose: 20 mg

20% higher nighttime dose: 24 mg 

And some people experience their best results by taking a 50% larger dose! 

Normal dose: 20 mg

50% higher nighttime dose: 30 mg 

Big doses of CBD slightly overpower the endocannabinoid system, resulting in a pleasant level of sleep-inducing drowsiness. 

The biphasic effect of CBD

CBD’s effects are biphasic. That means the effects of small doses fall into one phase, while the effects of big doses fall into another. In practical terms, 5 milligrams of CBD will probably feel energizing…while 50 milligrams will probably feel sedating. CBD’s dose-response curve is biphasic in nature. 

And this biphasic nature explains why larger doses of CBD are the way to go if you want to experience better sleep. [8]

When to take CBD and melatonin for sleep?

Trusted sources like the International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences explain that sublingual CBD reaches its highest blood level within 15 minutes. Melatonin also kicks in fairly fast. 

That being said, it’s okay to let your CBD’s effects subside a little before bedtime. Instead of taking CBD right before bed, try taking 1-2 hours prior. Want to be asleep by 10? Put on your blue-blocking glasses at 7 (more on those soon) and take your CBD and melatonin at 8. 

Other sleep-friendly tips

However great melatonin and CBD for sleep are, they’re not the be-all-end-all of good sleep. Lifestyle changes can also go a long way towards improving your sleep hygiene. Here are some of our top picks. 

Minimize blue light

Blue-lit devices are everywhere. Your computer…your phone…your TV…your nightlight…chances are they’re all illuminated by light that falls on the blue end of the spectrum. 

Why’s this a problem? Because blue-lit screens can throw off your body’s circadian rhythm by sending ‘wake up’ signals when it’s time to ‘wind down.’ Blue light actually prevents melatonin release — making melatonin and CBD products less effective.

Unfortunately, today we’re spending more time under blue light sources than ever. COVID-19 and associated boredom are partially to blame. One 2020 study found that roughly 30 percent of its participants were using blue-light devices for at least 9 hours a day. Another 15 percent were on these devices over 12 hours a day! Not good. [9] 

It’s for these reasons that sleep experts recommend that you get off all blue-lit devices 3 hours before you’re aiming to fall asleep. You can also give blue-blocking screen filters and blue-blocking sunglasses a try. 

Morning sun

Another thing to keep in mind: melatonin may be secreted at night, but it’s actually produced the prior morning in response to sunlight exposure. So be sure to get some sun during the day if you want to naturally sleep better! 

Taking CBD and Melatonin together: summing things up

Both CBD and melatonin may work with your body to naturally improve sleep. Sleep couldn’t be much more important. It’s when we recharge our batteries and replenish our hormones. Don’t neglect to get enough shut-eye if you want to be truly healthy! 

Why CBD and melatonin works for restful sleep

CBD and melatonin may both improve sleep quality and quantity, though they work via different mechanisms. CBD and melatonin can be safely combined to provide a winning 1-2 punch of pro-sleep benefits. For best effects, opt for a product that contains both premium melatonin and CBD of the highest quality. Once you’ve found the right product, take it consistently an hour or two before bed. CBD and melatonin are only part of the sleep puzzle. The closer you can live to nature’s design, the better you’ll sleep.

Disclaimer: The statements made regarding cannabis plant (CBD) products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. CBD products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.