Benzodiazepines (Anti-Anxiety)
Common brand names: Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan
One nutrient listed against this medication. The most severe is marked moderate.
At a glance
At a glance
- MelatoninModerate · Well documented
Color shows how serious each listed effect is. The label beside it shows how strong the evidence is. The cards below explain each one and show its evidence.
Nutrients it can lower
Mechanism, Benzodiazepines suppress pineal melatonin release and alter sleep architecture, suppressing deep sleep and REM stages even when inducing sleep.
Common signs, Non-restorative sleep, morning grogginess, daytime fatigue, rebound insomnia
McIntyre et al. (Biol Psychiatry, 1988; PMID PubMed ID: the permanent number the US National Library of Medicine gives a published paper. Each one links to that paper's record on PubMed. 3370271): a single dose of the benzodiazepine alprazolam suppressed plasma melatonin in humans.
A gradual benzodiazepine taper is planned with the prescriber. Melatonin 0.5–1 mg is a range in common use and is not from a trial cited on this row; the cited paper reports that a single dose of alprazolam suppressed plasma melatonin, and studied no supplement. Timing is a question for the prescriber.
For your next appointment
It prints or saves as a single page. Whether to add a supplement for a nutrient this medication may lower is a decision for your prescriber.
Disclosure
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Any grade on this page describes the strength of published human trial evidence in the populations studied. It is not a recommendation for any individual and is not medical advice. Starting, stopping or changing any supplement or medication is a decision for your physician.
Grades move when new trials publish. A free monthly email lists every grade EBL moved, with the reason and the trial behind it: the sign-up is on the Evidence Log →