The sleep tracker that made me give up my nightly magnesium routine

I used to pop 400mg of magnesium glycinate every night, convinced it was the only thing keeping me asleep. Then I posted my sleep data on here and someone pointed out my deep sleep numbers were actually worse on the nights I took it. They said I was probably just chasing the placebo effect and that my 2am bathroom trips were doing more harm than the supplement was helping. I switched to taking it in the morning with breakfast three weeks ago. My sleep onset time went from 45 minutes to about 20, and I stopped waking up at 3am every night. I still feel groggy sometimes, but at least now I know the magnesium was just a crutch. Has anyone else found that their supplements were actually messing with their sleep cycles instead of helping them?

2 comments

2 Comments

samrodriguez1d ago

My buddy Dave had the exact same thing happen with zinc. He was taking it every night for months, then his watch showed his REM sleep was tanking on those nights. Took it out and suddenly he was dreaming again, which he hadnt done in forever. He called it his zombie pill after that. Blamed the late-night dosing for messing with his brain chemistry all along.

jessem5920h ago

Heard a sleep doc on a podcast say timing matters way more than people think, especially with minerals like magnesium. Sounds like your morning switch lines up with that, so makes sense it worked.