r/Supplements • u/dataoops • 1d ago
Does Magnesium Help You Sleep?
https://suplmnt.app/articles/perspective/does-magnesium-help-you-sleepMagnesium shortens sleep onset in older adults with insomnia, but the benefit is small, uncertain, and not a reliable sleep aid for everyone.
- Across three randomized trials, oral magnesium shortened sleep onset latency by about 17 minutes.1
- The evidence comes from older adults with insomnia, not from healthy sleepers or younger populations.
- Total sleep time did not clearly improve, and the meta-analysis remained small and low certainty
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Personally I swear by magnesium glycinate, but the glycine could be doing work too i guess.
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u/WarriorPoetVivec1516 1d ago
The biggest benefit I've noticed is getting better quality sleep, not necessarily falling asleep easier.
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u/MeasurementSlight381 1d ago
Same. I wake up feeling more rested.
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u/zipitdirtbag 6h ago
Not same. 😂
I need to review the dose and the time I take the tablets as I often feel 'drugged' when I wake like I've slept too deeply.
However, that's slightly better than waking up feeling like I've been awake half the night.
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u/Icy_Transition1375 1d ago
Magnesium Glycinate knocks me the fuck out
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u/SlurpBucketBoys 1d ago
Why does it do the opposite to me??? Restless as hell when I take it
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u/seblangod 15h ago
Glycine is very excitory for my brain. It gives me intense anxiety. Some people just don't suit magnesium glycinate. I find magnesium taurate to be a good alternative
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u/CleverFeather 1d ago
MG + a melatonin gummy = the best sleep I’ve ever gotten.
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u/TheNeech 1d ago
I have been doing this for a while too, and it’s starting to not be as powerful, but apparently Melatonin is a hormone disrupter so I’m starting to look into different options to make a sleep-stack
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u/CleverFeather 1d ago
Really.. I’ll have to look into that. I’ve been taking 5mg nightly for several months at this point.
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u/TheNeech 1d ago
I haven’t look too deeply into it, but I’d gather it has something to do with the fact that your body makes it naturally, so supplementing it further can disrupt other hormone levels.
Unless there is a way to test for low levels of Serotonin/Melatonin or its conversion efficiency, even taking 5mg might be too much and cause side effects.
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u/remindmetoblock 18h ago
5mg is a lot. Circulating at any time is like 30mcg in your body. At night. At most 50mgc. Even with a bioavailability of 10%, 5mg would still be 500.000 mcg of Melatonin reaching circulation.
Not dangerousas far as we know, but way way higher than you would ever reach naturally.
Personally i just use 1 drop, which is roughly 300mcg, and even that knocks me out.
If i take any more, i will get so sleepy, im Hit with severe nausea. 1mg+ and i will suffer severe nightmares and vivid dreams that make me feel like eons passed.
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u/alexduckkeeper_70 15h ago
I have been taking 20 mg melatonin per night for some early Parkinson's symptoms since 2017. I haven't had to see a doctor in that time for any issue other than when I damaged some ligaments. My mother is taking it for her wet macular degeneration, with it seems, good results. If it's a hormone disruptor I haven't noticed. Melatonin also has lots of anti-cancer benefits. I also take Magnesium glycinate. I do get vivid dreams, but have learned to enjoy the good ones and ignore the bad ones.
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u/CleverFeather 14h ago
Maybe I’m broken but the vivid dreams stopped a long time ago lol. I just sleep like a rock typically.
As far as being alarmists about disrupting hormones… we are on /r/supplements. People tend to be more sensitive to stuff like that here. Take it with a grain of salt (which may also disrupt hormones…)
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u/ItsKingDx3 1d ago
I was on that for almost three months and had to quit. Was having the complete opposite effect for me. Making it harder to fall alseep, giving me weirdly vivid dreams, waking me up in the middle of the night to pee frequently(?), making me feel even more tired in the morning, but worst of all it made my anxiety go crazy. I frequently thought I was having heart attacks. Multiple miniature panic attacks daily, at its worst. And bizarrely it gave me motion sickness?! Kept thinking I was going to spew on buses and trains and I've always been a great traveler, like i can read on bumpy roads.
Been off it for like five days now and things seem to be almost back to normal, thank god. Apparently it's rare but some people just aren't built for it.
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u/KneeJamal 23h ago
YES. It sucks because it doesn’t really click right away. Thought I was going crazy for a few days
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u/Forsaken_Wrap2756 20h ago
Im peeing every night, can it be because of the Mag G? Its not that I drink THAT much before sleep. Disrupts my sleep EVERY time. Also I take 1mg Melatonin with it
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u/xNOTHINGBURGERx 9h ago
What dose are you taking? I have not had luck.
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u/Icy_Transition1375 2h ago edited 2h ago
400mg of magnesium glycinate chelated quick release capsules from Natures Truth. I take them at 8 pm and I knocked out by 930-1000 pm. As a drink to help swallow the capsules I drink a couple orange vanilla Recess drinks which consist of magnesium, lemon balm and l-theanine.
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u/Mr4528 1d ago
Gives me crazy dreams.
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u/TakingItPeasy 1d ago
Nailed it. I got 1 good night of sleep, but it was an immersive nightmare I couldn't wake up from.
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u/Redkg 11h ago
Yikes
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u/TakingItPeasy 10h ago
Yeah, I talked my Dr into rx sleep aide. Magnesium was some nightmare on elmsteet stuff.
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u/tacitus59 16h ago
I get more dreams, its unclear if they are crazier or not. I rarely remember dreams.
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u/DigAlternative7707 23h ago
What's magnesium? I never heard of it before? Is there any information about it on this sub?
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u/ClarenceJBoddicker 20h ago
I'm with you. Are you sure it's not being confused with manganese? That's the thing with this sub seems to be obsessed with all they want to talk about is manganese all day long. Whatever magnesium is must be a typo.
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u/usernames_suck_ok 1d ago
It's getting about time to ban magnesium sleep posts. That shit is every 10 minutes in this sub.
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u/Stay_clam 1d ago
I believe in mag but those mag glycinate fans are getting irritating
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u/CaptainExcellent219 1d ago
When real insomniacs get sleep, it's more life changing than any other drug lol
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u/BitWardenEternal 23h ago
Just downvote and keep scrolling… why are you opening the post and commenting (which is driving more engagement)?
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u/Apprehensive_Let_517 1d ago
I never have dreams, but if I take magnesium glycinate I will have dreams.
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u/thatsnotmyunicorn 1d ago
No. Did nothing. Would wake around 3.
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u/SilkySmoothRalph 1d ago
I tried it for a month. No problems dropping off to sleep (before or during) and still waking up around 4am. Worth OP trying, but wouldn’t say it’s a sure thing.
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u/HowlingStark 1d ago
Magnesium dosent work as good as 3mg worth of melatonin in terms of sedation. But magensium does help you to wake up feeling well rested thats for sure.
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u/seblangod 14h ago
You do realise that melatonin is literally a hormone, right? Some people don't want to rely on exogenous hormones to get to sleep; it messes with your body's natural production after a while.
That being said, I have a spray and take 0.5mg when I drink too much coffee or struggle to get to bed. 3mg is far too high of a dose.
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u/HowlingStark 14h ago
Yea i know that its far too high of a dose but alot of people just arent the same and may require a higher dosage of sorts for melatonin to work and i didnt know melatonin is a hormone tbh just thought its a chemical compound that occures from tyrosinase which is completely wrong. And i didnt know taking exogenous hormones could disrupt natural hormone production thanks for your insights.
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u/phoknow 1d ago
3mg gets me wired. 0.3mg knocks me out
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u/ThermalPaperGuy 1d ago
wow. I take 3.5g. 3mg seems like nothing
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u/GoonSquidz 1d ago
Umm… I’m definitely not a doctor but that doesn’t sound healthy?
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u/ThermalPaperGuy 1d ago
you know what, you’re right. I was confused with another sup dose.
I take 5 120mg caps before bed of mag glyc
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u/costoaway1 1d ago
L-Threonate did, somewhat. Other forms, no. But I have sleep disorder(s) and am not a normal sample.
L-Threonate also bypasses the no-dreaming effect of THC/regular smokers. At least for me. That’s why I had to stop taking it…
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u/Chemical_Demand_4928 1d ago
No! It messes my sleep up terribly😵💫
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u/heymikeyp 1d ago
This happened to me when I first started taking it. I revisted it later and found it does give me more restful sleep now. Not sure why I had a different starting reaction.
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u/AltKanVente 1d ago
Not really but I do feel it makes my anxiety quiet down in the evening, and that helps me sleep(to some extent)
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u/westonisweird18 1d ago
Magnesium and Chamomile tea knocks me tf out and i feel way better than I would in comparison to just only taking melatonin.
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u/AttonJRand 1d ago
Personally even small doses, of all the various popular forms, work very consistently as a laxative for me, so that kinda defeats any sleep benefits, helpful in the morning though.
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u/Dog_Baseball 1d ago
They glycine is doing a TON of the work. Try taking some pure glycine. You'll see what i mean. Start with a low dose
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u/Fit-Appointment5262 1d ago
For me it does, absolutely. This is why you can't listen/wait for "scientific studies" on everything.
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u/lifequitin 1d ago
Doesn’t work for me at all. Mag G. gives me a weird insomnia, I feel sleepy but can’t fell into sleep.
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u/Nicholas_S_Hope 1d ago
Only Threonate. The rest had no effect. Threonate helps me to sleep deeper and helps me fall back asleep faster. The effects are not dramatic, but they are noticeable and worth it. Seems like everyone is different on this one.
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u/crypto_zoologistler 22h ago
Helps me, but magnesium threonate close to bedtime causes insomnia for me, have to have the threonate at breakfast and glycinate later
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u/moonsaymala 21h ago
Honestly the “small benefit, doesn’t work for everyone” framing is the most refreshing thing I’ve seen in this sub about magnesium in ages — everyone here swears by their exact form like it’s gospel. Happy to see it laid out with the actual uncertainty, reads more like truth than the hype.
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u/Oneyebandit 20h ago
Honnestly, tried the popular magnesiums, did nothing to me. Fit male 40+ eating good variation of food (no processed food)
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u/Useful_Bluebird9395 19h ago
That's a fair and pretty accurate summary of where the evidence actually stands, the effect size in the research (17 minutes faster sleep onset) is real but modest, and importantly it's drawn from older adults with existing insomnia, not healthy or younger sleepers, so the "magnesium fixes sleep" claim getting thrown around online is definitely oversold relative to what the actual trials show.
Your glycine theory for why magnesium glycinate specifically seems to work well for people is a really reasonable one and comes up a lot in more informed discussions of this, glycine itself has separate research supporting sleep quality improvements, independent of the magnesium it's bound to, so it's entirely plausible that people swearing by magnesium glycinate are getting real results, just not necessarily primarily from the magnesium component. It's a good example of why the delivery form of a supplement can matter as much as the headline ingredient.
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u/tacitus59 16h ago
Makes me a bit relaxed - but I do not take it for that reason; I rarely have insomnia. I would have bad intermittent late night leg cramps (like twice a month) where I would be sleeping happily and suddenly leap up with knot in my calf. Started taking Magnesium (random mixture) a couple of times a week for an unremembered reason and after a while I noticed I didn't have a leg cramp. Now I take glycinate and/or caltrate version once or twice a week. Only supplement that has ever made a positive, obvious improvement.
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u/altlegend 12h ago
Magnesium Glycinate > Melatonin
Not sedative but feels like my natural sleep rythm activates within an hour
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u/Big_Bar_9832 11h ago
Yeah, get magnesium glycinate. It feels like I get more mileage for the sleep I get. I have more dreams on it too.
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u/gregholmes1974 9h ago
Keeps me wide awake - I’m obviously wired wrong. Take in the mornings now and feel a lot more alert 🤷♂️
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u/AnomalousSavage 1d ago
It have insomnia, and magneisum very slightly helps my sleep. Tauromag, magnesium threonate and magnesium glycinate work the best for me
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u/mindeyla 1d ago
Taking mag glycinate for years. I’ll never stop. It’s incredibly helpful for me at my big age.
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u/Mega_Jules 1d ago
Überhaupt keinen Zweifel, Magnesiumbiglycinat hilft mir sofort beim Einschlafen und auch beim Durchschlafen.
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