Several supplements, behavioral strategies, and medications can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. The most effective long-term approach is a structured method called cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), but if you’re looking for something to take tonight, melatonin, magnesium, and certain amino acids all have solid evidence behind them. Here’s what works, what doesn’t, and what to be cautious about.
Melatonin: Best for Falling Asleep Faster
Melatonin is the most widely used sleep supplement, and it works best when your problem is falling asleep rather than staying asleep. Your brain naturally produces melatonin as darkness falls, signaling that it’s time for sleep. A supplement essentially gives that signal a boost.
The typical dose for short-term sleep problems is 2 mg of a slow-release tablet, taken one to two hours before bed. For persistent insomnia, that dose can gradually increase up to 10 mg, though most people do well at the lower end. More isn’t necessarily better with melatonin. Doses above what you need won’t make you sleepier and can actually disrupt your sleep cycle.
Timing matters as much as dose. Taking melatonin 3 to 5 hours before your natural sleep onset can shift your internal clock earlier, which is useful if you’re a night owl trying to get on a more conventional schedule. If you just want help drifting off, taking it 30 minutes to an hour before bed is the standard approach. Because of its short window of action, melatonin won’t do much for middle-of-the-night waking.
Magnesium: A Calming Mineral
Magnesium helps quiet neural activity through two pathways. It enhances the brain’s main calming neurotransmitter (GABA) while simultaneously blocking excitatory signals that keep your mind buzzing. This dual action makes it particularly useful if your sleep problem involves a racing mind or physical tension at bedtime.
Not all forms of magnesium are equal for sleep. Magnesium glycinate and magnesium threonate are the forms most commonly used in clinical practice for sleep support. Magnesium oxide and citrate have also been studied, but glycinate tends to be better tolerated and less likely to cause digestive issues. Magnesium glycinate has the added benefit of containing glycine, an amino acid that independently promotes sleep (more on that below).
A common supplemental dose ranges from 200 to 400 mg taken in the evening. If you’re already getting enough magnesium through your diet, supplementing may not add much benefit. But many adults fall short of the recommended daily intake, making this a practical option with few downsides.
Glycine: Cooling Your Body Into Sleep
Glycine is an amino acid that promotes sleep through an unusual mechanism: it lowers your core body temperature. Your body naturally drops its temperature as part of the sleep process, and glycine accelerates this by widening blood vessels near the skin’s surface, allowing heat to escape. Research shows it does this by acting on receptors in the brain region that controls your circadian clock.
Taking 3 grams of glycine before bed has been shown to improve subjective sleep quality and reduce daytime sleepiness and fatigue in people with insomnia tendencies or restricted sleep. It’s inexpensive, widely available as a powder that dissolves in water, and has a mildly sweet taste. Unlike many sleep aids, glycine doesn’t cause grogginess the next morning.
Chamomile and Valerian Root
Chamomile works largely through a compound called apigenin, which binds to the same brain receptors targeted by anti-anxiety medications, producing mild sedation. Clinical trials have found that chamomile extract significantly improves sleep quality compared to placebo, with measurable benefits appearing within two to four weeks of daily use. Chamomile tea is the simplest way to get it, though concentrated extracts deliver a more consistent dose.
Valerian root has a longer history and stronger clinical data. A meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials found that valerian significantly reduced the time it takes to fall asleep and improved overall sleep quality compared to placebo. Its active compound, valerenic acid, enhances GABA signaling in the brain. The effects are modest, more like turning the volume down on wakefulness than flipping a switch. Most people need to use valerian consistently for a week or two before noticing clear benefits.
Over-the-Counter Sleep Medications
The active ingredients in most OTC sleep aids, like those found in common nighttime formulas, are antihistamines. These block a brain chemical involved in wakefulness. They’ll make you drowsy, but they come with real trade-offs: headaches, memory problems, confusion, and next-day grogginess are all common. Your body also builds tolerance quickly, meaning they stop working as well within days to weeks of regular use.
These medications are reasonable for the occasional sleepless night, like before an early flight or during jet lag. Using them regularly is a different story. The cognitive side effects are especially concerning for older adults, where antihistamine-based sleep aids have been linked to confusion and increased fall risk.
Prescription Sleep Medications
If over-the-counter options aren’t enough, prescription medications fall into a few categories with very different risk profiles.
Older prescription sleep aids, including benzodiazepines and closely related drugs, are recommended for a maximum of four weeks for good reason. In studies of chronic users, dependence rates were striking: roughly 77% of benzodiazepine users and 69% of those on related sleep drugs met criteria for dependence. These medications work, but they’re difficult to stop once your brain adapts to them.
A newer class of sleep medication works by blocking the brain’s wakefulness signals rather than forcing sedation. These carry a lower risk of dependence but aren’t side-effect-free. A meta-analysis of 11 trials covering over 7,700 patients found they roughly doubled the risk of excessive daytime sleepiness and more than tripled the risk of sleep paralysis compared to placebo. Sleep paralysis, a brief inability to move when waking up, is unsettling but not dangerous.
What About CBD and CBN?
CBD is widely marketed for sleep, but the evidence is thin. Most studies testing cannabinoids for sleep have used multi-ingredient formulations combining CBD or CBN with THC, making it impossible to isolate which compound is doing the work. As of now, no clinical study has tested the isolated effects of CBN on objectively measured human sleep. The one well-designed trial showing clear insomnia improvement used a combination of THC, CBN, and CBD together.
If you’re considering cannabinoid products for sleep, know that you’re largely relying on anecdotal evidence. The clinical research hasn’t caught up to the marketing.
CBT-I: The Most Effective Long-Term Option
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is the gold-standard treatment, recommended as a first-line approach ahead of any medication. It’s not a supplement you take but a structured program, typically four to eight sessions, that retrains your sleep habits and addresses the thought patterns that keep insomnia going.
CBT-I includes techniques like sleep restriction (temporarily limiting time in bed to build stronger sleep drive), stimulus control (reassociating your bed with sleep rather than wakefulness), and relaxation training. It’s more effort than swallowing a pill, but the results tend to last long after treatment ends, which no medication can claim. Several apps and online programs now offer guided CBT-I if in-person therapy isn’t accessible.
Putting It Together
For tonight, melatonin (2 mg, taken an hour before bed) or glycine (3 grams before bed) are the most straightforward options with the fewest side effects. Magnesium glycinate is a good addition if you suspect you’re not getting enough through your diet. Chamomile tea costs almost nothing and adds a calming ritual to your evening.
For persistent sleep problems lasting more than a few weeks, supplements alone are unlikely to solve the underlying issue. CBT-I addresses the root causes of chronic insomnia, and combining it with targeted supplements gives most people the best results. Prescription medications have their place for severe insomnia, but the dependency risks of older options and the side effects of newer ones make them better suited as short-term tools than long-term solutions.