Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Jan/Feb;10(1):35-39.
doi: 10.1177/1941738117743205. Epub 2017 Nov 21.

Medications for Sleep Schedule Adjustments in Athletes

Matthew B Baird  1 , Irfan M Asif  1
Affiliations
Review

Medications for Sleep Schedule Adjustments in Athletes

Matthew B Baird et al. Sports Health. 2018 Jan/Feb.

Abstract

Context: Sleep schedule adjustments are common requirements of modern-day athletes. Many nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic strategies exist to facilitate circadian rhythm shifts to maximize alertness and performance during competition. This review summarizes the evidence for commonly used pharmacologic agents and presents recommendations for the sports medicine provider.

Evidence acquisition: MEDLINE searches were performed using the following keywords: sleep aids, circadian rhythm adjustment, athletes and sleep, caffeine and sports, melatonin and athletes, and sleep aids and sports. Pertinent articles were extracted and discussed.

Study design: Clinical review.

Level of evidence: Level 2.

Results: There are very few available studies investigating pharmacologic sleep aids in athletes. Data from studies involving shift workers and airline personnel are more abundant and were used to formulate recommendations and conclusions.

Conclusion: Melatonin, caffeine, and nonbenzodiazepine sleep aids have a role in facilitating sleep schedule changes in athletes and maximizing sports performance through sleep enhancement.

Keywords: caffeine; circadian rhythm; flight dysrhythmia; melatonin; sleep aids.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no potential conflicts of interest in the development and publication of this article.

References

    1. Atkinson G, Buckley P, Edwards B, Reilly T, Waterhouse J. Are there hangover-effects on physical performance when melatonin is ingested by athletes before nocturnal sleep? Int J Sports Med. 2001;22:232-234. - PubMed
    1. Atkinson G, Drust B, Reilly T, Waterhouse J. The relevance of melatonin to sports medicine and science. Sports Med. 2003;33:809-831. - PubMed
    1. Atkinson G, Edwards B, Reilly T, Waterhouse J. Exercise as a synchroniser of human circadian rhythms: an update and discussion of the methodological problems. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2007;99:331-341. - PubMed
    1. Beaumont M, Batéjat D, Piérard C, et al. Caffeine or melatonin effects on sleep and sleepiness after rapid eastward transmeridian travel. J Appl Physiol. 2004;96:50-58. - PubMed
    1. Buxton OM, Copinschi G, Van Onderbergen A, Karrison TG, Van Cauter E. A benzodiazepine hypnotic facilitates adaptation of circadian rhythms and sleep-wake homeostasis to an eight hour delay shift simulating westward jet lag. Sleep. 2000;23:915-927. - PubMed