Do you love indulging in a relaxing cup of high caffeine coffee after dinner, but find it hard to fall asleep? Or do you love the taste of melatonin, but find it hard to stay awake afterward? You're not alone.
Well, maybe you are actually.
But still: What if you could combine your two favorite things—caffeine and sleep—by drinking coffee and taking melatonin at the same time?
Well, you can't. Caffeine and melatonin are two completely different substances that have polar opposite effects on the body.
Caffeine is a potent stimulant that keeps you awake and alert, and makes you feel energized and focused. Melatonin is a gentle hormone that makes you feel a little sleepy.
But if you're insistent on screwing up your sleep schedule, here's what happens when you ingest melatonin and caffeine at the same time:
What Happens When You Take Melatonin and Caffeine at the Same Time?
Well... not much, really.
Caffeine and melatonin have a minor interaction. Basically, the caffeine in the coffee will handily cancel out the effect of the melatonin, and you'll just end up wide awake, staring at the popcorn texture on the ceiling, 11 cents worth of sleeping aid poorer. Which is fine, really. I don't know what you're supposed to do with 11 cents.
There's no reason I can think of to combine caffeine and melatonin, other than an accident down at the Centrum plant. Or possibly if you're looking to stimulate tryptophan metabolism in Wistar rats. Is that the sort of stuff you're into? No? Then don't do it.
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Just drink coffee all day until about 6 hours before you need to fall asleep, then go to bed when you're sleepy. We really don't need to bring complicated biohacking into this, now do we?
To sum up: don't drink strong coffee at night and take melatonin expecting to be able to sleep, unless you're prepared to stay awake all night being productive instead. Or, you know, if you're a rat.
Why doesn't the melatonin cancel out the effect of the caffeine?
Good question. Why one way, and not the other way around?
Well, for one thing, the effects of melatonin are much weaker than the effects of caffeine. Whereas caffeine is a "kick in the ass," melatonin is more of a "suggestion in the ass."—it just sort of gently nudges you in the direction of slumber.
The main reason why caffeine will always win in a battle against melatonin is that caffeine is a natural psychoactive substance, and melatonin is not. Caffeine is capable of boosting your energy, mood, and focus, while melatonin is just a boring hormone that your body boringly produces.
For that matter, caffeine also takes longer to leave your body than melatonin. The half-life of caffeine is about 5 hours, while the half-life of melatonin is only about 30 minutes. So if you're trying to sleep and you've got caffeine and melatonin coursing through your veins, the caffeine is going to win every time.
The Bottom Line: Should You Take Caffeine and Melatonin at the Same Time?
In a word: Nah.
You should never take caffeine and melatonin at the same time. They work fine on their own—in fact, they work fantastic on their own. Like a nice hot cup off Extreme Caffeine when you need it.
If you want to drink coffee to finish some work or studying and take melatonin to sleep, make sure to space them out by at least a few hours. If you need to sleep after drinking coffee, here are 16 safe ways to help yourself doze off.
Don't combine the two, or it'll be like the time I had a cold and took Nyquil after drinking a Red Bull: An existential waking nightmare full of periodic weird dreams about being chased by a giant cheeseburger.
Seriously though, caffeine and melatonin don't mix. Caffeine is a stimulant, and melatonin is a not-a-stimulant that makes you sleepy. So if you take them both at the same time, you're basically canceling each one out. The caffeine will make it harder for you to sleep, and the melatonin won't be able to do its job.
But what if I really need to stay up and I really need to sleep?
Huh? Now you're just messing with me. Either way, the answer is still no.
Caffeine and melatonin don't mix, and you shouldn't drink coffee and take melatonin at the same time. Seriously, this question makes no sense. Put the melatonin away, brew a fresh pot of coffee, accept that sleep is for losers and dead people, and watch some Netflix. I hear Bill Burr has a new special out.
In fact, I'm going to just assume you're looking this up out of curiosity and not actually planning on doing it, because that would be a really bad idea.
When it comes to combining melatonin and caffeine, in the immortal words of Dexter Holland and his offspring: "You gotta keep 'em separated."
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