The question "do melatonin vapes work?" really has two answers.
On one hand, Melatonin vape pens, or melatonin diffusers, haven’t been around long enough to bring about a body of research conclusively answering the question.
Of course, scientific evidence conclusively supports the use of melatonin as a safe and effective sleep aid (according to a meta-analysis from PLOS One that reviewed 19 studies), but vaping technology in general hasn’t been around long enough to know if inhaled melatonin works in the same way.
On the other hands, there’s no shortage of anecdotal evidence that they can help people fall asleep. For instance, our MELO Air Vaporizers have thousands of overwhelmingly positive reviews, suggesting these products work well for at most people.
Read on to learn how melatonin vapes work, how to make melatonin work more effectively for you, and other melatonin supplements you can try.
At a glance:
Do Melatonin Vapes Work?
While more research is needed to determine the total effectiveness of inhaling melatonin, it’s safe to say that many people have had success using a melatonin diffuser to fall asleep faster. The evidence so far is anecdotal, but that doesn’t mean it’s not valid. It just means scientific research hasn’t quite caught up yet.
Melatonin Diffusers Have Thousands of Positive Reviews
MELO Air vaporizers from MELO Labs receive around 3,000 or more 5-star reviews per year. Clearly, some people find them effective. For instance, the cotton candy flavored MELO Air melatonin diffuser currently has more than 500 5-star reviews.
Overall, customers comment on how it helps them both fall asleep faster and stay asleep throughout the night, and how good it tastes. They also mention how quickly they feel the effects, usually within 20-30 minutes (much faster than melatonin pills).
One customer even comments that unlike nicotine vapes (e-cigarettes), MELO Air melatonin diffusers don’t cause a burning sensation in the lungs. MELO Air melatonin diffusers contain no nicotine, vitamin E acetate, or any other substance known to cause harm when inhaled. They only contain melatonin, organic vegetable glycerin, and natural flavoring.
Other flavors of MELO Air such as gummy bear have received similarly positive reviews, with customers specifically highlighting how quickly it works and how good it tastes. Customers also mention feeling good upon waking up (which is not always the case when using sleep aids). One customer who experiences side effects from melatonin pills says these vape pens have no side effects at all.
For the most part, the only negative reviews come from customers who complain that it doesn’t work as well as strong sedatives or sleeping pills – but it isn’t meant to act as a sedative. The effects are more subtle. Melatonin supplements are ideal for those who occasionally have trouble falling asleep or experience jet lag.
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Some Questions Remain About The Effectiveness of Melatonin Vapes
Clearly, there is substantial evidence that melatonin vaporizers can be effective, but we don’t completely understand how they work.
For instance, in an article from Rolling Stone, Dr. Philip Forys suggests inhaling melatonin may not be as effective as inhaling nicotine, since melatonin is a large chemical compound while nicotine is comparatively small. It’s not clear how well we’re able to metabolize large compounds that enter the lungs. Most of the particles we inhale are much smaller.
While other questions remain about the safety of inhaling melatonin on lung health, Dr. Forys notes that vaping is generally considered safer than smoking.
And while melatonin molecules may be larger than nicotine molecules, they are still most likely small enough to be respirable (able to be absorbed by the lungs). Evidence suggests we can inhale particles no larger than 10 microns (10 millionths of a meter). Melatonin molecules are likely much smaller than this, around 250 nanometers (250 billionths of a meter), according to one study.
At the end of the day, you may need to try a melatonin diffuser for yourself to see if it can work for you. Keep in mind this would be true even if there were more definitive research on melatonin vapes, since we all respond a little differently to supplements and can’t ever really know how well something like nicotine free vapes will work for us until we try it.
How to Make Melatonin Work More Effectively
Melatonin is known to be an effective sleep aid. However, it’s important to understand melatonin is a hormone, not a sedative or sleeping pill. It’s a hormone produced by the pineal gland alongside serotonin that governs the body’s circadian rhythm (sleep wake cycle) by responding to changes in light. As such, it is sensitive to our typical sleep cycle and daily habits.
The following habits are part of good sleep hygiene (a set of sleep-promoting behaviors) and will enhance the effects of melatonin – but they’re likely to benefit you whether or not you take melatonin.
Get Sunlight in the Morning, and Avoid Bright Light in the Evening
Your body naturally produces the most melatonin after the sun sets when it gets dark, and melatonin production is blocked as soon as the sun rises. For this reason, melatonin – both the hormone your body produces and as well as the supplement – is easily disrupted by bright light in the evening, especially blue light (from electronic devices).
If you take melatonin, it’s a good idea to avoid bright lights up to two hours before getting into bed. Stick to warm-colored, dimly lit lights, and try blue light blocking glasses if you’d like to use your electronic devices in the evening.
Get Exercise in the Morning or Afternoon
Exercise is known to have many health benefits, one of which is improved sleep. Getting exercise in the morning or afternoon can help improve your sleep at night.
That said, it’s best to avoid exercising in the evening, since exercise can disrupt melatonin production according to a review from the Journal of Biological Rhythms. To make your melatonin supplements more effective, avoid intense exercise in the last few hours before you intend to go to bed.
Keep Your Bedroom Cool, Dark, and Quiet
Sleep experts recommend ensuring your sleep environment is a sufficiently cool temperature, has little to no light, and limits extraneous noise as much as possible. Going to the effort of creating an ideal sleep environment will also help melatonin work more effectively.
The Sleep Foundation identifies the ideal temperatures for sleep to be between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit. To the extent that this is possible for you, try to keep your bedroom temperature within this range using air conditioning, a fan, an open window, or some combination.
Additionally, you’ll want to limit light and noise in the bedroom as much as you can. If you need a night light, stick to warm colors like red or orange, and use earplugs for noise beyond your control. Even if you think you are able to sleep through excessive noise, keep in mind you don’t always remember all your nighttime awakenings.
Other Melatonin Supplements
Those who would prefer to avoid vaping melatonin have plenty of other options for taking melatonin supplements.
Melatonin Liquids
While melatonin diffusers appear to be the fastest method of getting melatonin into your bloodstream, liquid melatonin works nearly as quickly. As Medicare Europe explains, liquid supplements can be absorbed in as little as 1-4 minutes, and they have an average of 98% bioavailability.
That said, you won’t necessarily feel the effects of liquid melatonin within 1-4 minutes – that’s just the amount of time it’ll take for the liquids to work their way through your digestive system. You’ll still want to give yourself 20-30 minutes to allow your body to respond to the supplement and feel the effects.
MELO Sip from MELO Labs is a powdered melatonin supplement you add to water that works very quickly. Additionally, unlike most other melatonin supplements, it also contains valerian root extract, chamomile extract, L-Theanine, and GABA (all of which are known to be effective natural sleep aids) as well as a variety of sleep-regulating vitamins and minerals.
This means MELO Sip is particularly effective for those whose insomnia is a result of anxiety, or a lack of the right nutrients, or for whatever reason worse than usual on a given night. Each additional sleep aid plus the sleep-promoting micronutrients give MELO Sip much more noticeably relaxing effects than melatonin alone.
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Melatonin Pills and Gummies
Melatonin pills are the most popular but possibly least effective melatonin supplement, with only 15% bioavailability on average according to a clinical trial from the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
Besides their relatively poor bioavailability, pills also take a long time to be fully absorbed, according to Medicare Europe. This is because pills need to be broken down by the digestive system before their contents can begin to be absorbed, and this process can take upwards of half an hour.
However, taking a melatonin pill does have the potential to be at least somewhat effective. For those who would prefer to take a melatonin pill, the general recommendation is to do so 1-2 hours before your planned bedtime to give the supplement enough time to be broken down by the stomach and then absorbed into the bloodstream.
Gummy supplements are thought to be similar to pills in terms of their bioavailability and the time it takes for them to be absorbed, according to the Cleveland Clinic. So, recommendations for gummies are similar to those for pills. However, unlike pills, they almost always have added sugar, so they may not be great for your teeth just before bed.
Try MELO Air to See if a Melatonin Diffuser Will Work For You
The evidence in favor of the effectiveness of melatonin diffusers so far is encouraging. Thousands of customers are saying it works for them, and some are even saying it’s the most effective sleep aid they’ve ever used.
If you want to know whether or not it’ll work for you, the best way to find out is to try it. MELO Air is highly-reviewed, and with a wide variety of tasty flavors, there’s something for everyone. For those who’d rather not vape, or who just like variety, MELO Sip is a great option for liquid melatonin with additional sleep-enhancing compounds for particularly restless nights.
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