NOW Foods Supplements, Melatonin 5 mg, Sustained Release, Formulated for a 4-Hour Release Period, 120 Tablets

This does the trick for me. One tiny pill (plus some magnesium glycinate) before bed and I sleep well. I take this 45-60 minutes before I want to go to sleep; that seems to be the sweet spot for me. No side effects, no “sleeping pill” hangover. The price is really good, especially for the sustained release kind. If you want to give melatonin a try, I recommend this.

I trust the Now brand’s product quality and they are affordable. I’ve been using their products for many years. I take melatonin every once in a while, when I can’t fall asleep or when I know I have to get up earlier than normal and I have to go to sleep. It starts working 30 or 40 minutes after I take it and it allows me to rest and relax. These really work for me.

Now has been consistently reliable quality. I was surprised this was as effective as the pricey purple brand!

Every brand or size of Melatonin always helped me to get to sleep more quickly. I am almost 83, and have read that old folks often need more melatonin than theire bodies produce. But my problem wasn't getting to sleep but staying asleep. The time-release version means more hours of uninrupted sleep (aside from bathroom breaks) and I have been getting up 30-60 minutes later than I used to. Some 3 mg time-release pills are also available, and a lower dose could be preferable for some people. This one does not leave me drowsy in the morning, but my wife preferes a lower dose.

I’ve bought and used the ‘Now’ brand before, supplements are good as any other usually, sometimes better than some store bought brands. But this time I’m not impressed. Melatonin supplement is supposed to help you stay asleep longer once you are asleep. For some it helps falling asleep as well. I was taking ‘Natrol’ brand 10 mg melatonin and I decided to “size down” as I’m also doing other regimen to improve sleep and I’m trying to let my own melatonin start building up on its own. With Natrol I was able to stay asleep most of the night, with a short wake up or two, which would then allow me to go right back to sleep. But the Now brand doesn’t keep me asleep at all. I fall asleep as usual but wake up after about 3 hours, and several times during the night, then I’m unable to go back to sleep (TBN that I have used a lower dose of Natrol before and still worked). While I understand that I also reduced the melatonin dosing from before, I should still be able to maintain sleep longer, or go back to sleep easily. But with this I wake up and then I’m wide awake for a long time each time (and have sometimes to restart my routine again, in order to gain deeper sleep). I’ve not changed my bedtime routines except to make improvements to it (I’m trying to go to bed earlier etc etc), which I had begun before using Now brand melatonin. I let myself believe that I could change brand, with cheaper price, AND lower dose at same time, and still make it work; since Now was cheaper, I bought this instead of my usual Natrol. I will go back to my brand as soon as I finish this bottle. Sadly, it’ll be a while. Guess chamomile teas it is until then. I will assume that if you’ve never taken melatonin supplements, or aren’t a lighter sleeper, this will probably work well for you. Which is why I’m giving it 4 stars. It isn’t a bad product, just doesn’t do it for me.

Work as described

Pills are physically small -- that's good. Advertises that time-release is for 4 hours; that's good -- most time-release brands don't state duration. 5 mg is a good starter dose for new consumers, and remains good for many longer-term users. I like that it carries Intertek certification -- Intertek is a well-trusted certifier, though more widely known in Europe than in the U.S. Too many supplements that are uncertified have contents not matching the label. I've bought more than once, and each time there was a substantial "discount" that made the price extremely competitive.

It definitely helped me fall asleep but the sleep I would get is 2 hours of crazy dreams and then I’d wake up in a panic. I think it’s something to do with the sustained release running out. There may be some situations where the extended release is helpful. For me it wasn’t. I went back to a standard formulation.