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I have tried almost everything lately. SInce my knee replacement I have only had a couple really decent night's sleep. It isn't just the pain, though when I wake up it is sometimes hard to fall back to sleep cause I am uncomfortable. Most everything I have tried puts me out for about 4 hours, then I wake up. I think the best so far has been Alive PM>BTW, I am not taking anymore pain meds, except a couple advil during the day before P.T.
I am glad that after 60 years of marriage we have never injested any of these chemicals into our bodies along with smoking.
We still get a good nights sleep.
Most of the otc sleep aids (other than the natural/herbal ones like melatonin, valerian, chamomile) are simply diphenhydramine in various strengths---same active ingredient as Benedryl.
The only one that has a different sleep inducing ingredient is Unisom--but only the tablets. They consist of doxylamine, similar to but different than diphenhydramine. The Unisom sleep gels are (you guessed it!) diphenhydramine!
For me, the doxylamine doesn't give me the woozies the next morning like diphenhydramine does, and it tends to work better than melatonin.
I'm one of those weird people who gets wired on diphenhydramine (I'd never waste money on anything but the cheapest generic version -- sold as sleep aids and "allergy medicine")...
Anything else I can try? Wouldn't be averse to a prescription sleep aid, but not the crazy hypnotics that cause strange side effects! Just one with drowsiness as an added benefit.
How much melatonin do you have to take (alone) for it to be beneficial?
Most of the otc sleep aids (other than the natural/herbal ones like melatonin, valerian, chamomile) are simply diphenhydramine in various strengths---same active ingredient as Benedryl.
The only one that has a different sleep inducing ingredient is Unisom--but only the tablets. They consist of doxylamine, similar to but different than diphenhydramine. The Unisom sleep gels are (you guessed it!) diphenhydramine!
For me, the doxylamine doesn't give me the woozies the next morning like diphenhydramine does, and it tends to work better than melatonin.
Very true, 90% of the sleep aids out there are the exact same thing, diphenhydramine HCI 25mg.
Diphenhydramine used to knock me out when I was younger, but for some reason it doesn't work so great anymore (I don't take it often either). Doxylamine definately seems more powerful IMO.
I'm one of those weird people who gets wired on diphenhydramine (I'd never waste money on anything but the cheapest generic version -- sold as sleep aids and "allergy medicine")...
Anything else I can try? Wouldn't be averse to a prescription sleep aid, but not the crazy hypnotics that cause strange side effects! Just one with drowsiness as an added benefit.
How much melatonin do you have to take (alone) for it to be beneficial?
That is true. I'm not sure why people are so concerned about taking a prescription sleep medicine. Prescription sleep medicines exist for a reason; to help people sleep. If they didn't exist, I would probably be dead right now, and I'm not joking. I believe people who are worried about taking them are concerned that they will become addicted to them. That is very uncommon unless you have an addictive personality anyway. So if you are addicted to illegal drugs, alcohol, or pain pills, it's probably not a good idea to take them. But Rx sleep medicines, such as Ambien or Lunesta, can be very helpful when used on a short term basis, and they don't have those nasty side effects that Bendaryl and their ilk have, specifically that morning after drowsiness hangover. That alone keeps me from using Benadryl at all.
I'm one of those weird people who gets wired on diphenhydramine (I'd never waste money on anything but the cheapest generic version -- sold as sleep aids and "allergy medicine")...
Anything else I can try? Wouldn't be averse to a prescription sleep aid, but not the crazy hypnotics that cause strange side effects! Just one with drowsiness as an added benefit.
How much melatonin do you have to take (alone) for it to be beneficial?
My husband is the same with diphenhydramine. He took some a couple of times, and was more awake than before he took it!!
In general, our pharmacists tell people to try the minimum amount of melatonin that works for you. It comes in 1,3,5, and 10 mgs.
It doesn't work well for me, Unisom (doxylamine) works better in my case.
However, it seems that with any of this stuff you can build a resistance.
That is true. I'm not sure why people are so concerned about taking a prescription sleep medicine. Prescription sleep medicines exist for a reason; to help people sleep. If they didn't exist, I would probably be dead right now, and I'm not joking. I believe people who are worried about taking them are concerned that they will become addicted to them. That is very uncommon unless you have an addictive personality anyway. So if you are addicted to illegal drugs, alcohol, or pain pills, it's probably not a good idea to take them. But Rx sleep medicines, such as Ambien or Lunesta, can be very helpful when used on a short term basis, and they don't have those nasty side effects that Bendaryl and their ilk have, specifically that morning after drowsiness hangover. That alone keeps me from using Benadryl at all.
I think there are a lot of horror stories out there about RX sleep meds. People getting up in the night and eating things, not remembering in the morning, driving around town and not remembering. Doesn't happen to everyone, but the stories are out there. Kinda scary.
You just have to find the right path for yourself. For a lot of people RX sleep medications certainly work.
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