Opinions - Best Prescription-Free Sleeping Aid

[CABS205]

Jatelka Edit: This is a combined thread and the earlier posts were made before the rule on self-incrimination came into play

Okay, I personally am a night owl. I would sleep like at 3 or 4...ThenI started using coke everyday and wouldn't go to bed till 6 or 7...BUT, since I had to quit. My body can't go to be early...I end up going to sleep at 9 or 10am in the morning.

I went to the local drug store and got some sleeping pills. They said, that one an hour before I want to sleep(they're 25mg). And if it doesn't kick in yet an hour later, take ONE more and that's it.

Can someone out there help me??? I'm looking for stronger over the counter pills...Or would you recommend just taking more than 2.

[djryand]

Tylenol PMs have worked pretty well for me. I don't think its that big of a deal to take a few more than what they advise, but I wouldn't do it too often. Don't take them daily for very long either. You can quickly develop a dependence and tolerance to them.

If you can smoke pot. If not, try exercising. That really helps me sleep well, and I wake up energized. This would be the best thing for your health.

Whatever happens I hope you get your z's back!!!

[OneDiaDem]

Excedrin pms are good also. Valarian root from a health food store is good. I got a sleeping pill from my doctor years ago who told me the same thing. Take one, if you dont feel it in an hour, take two. Im glad I only took one because it knocked me out for two days.</font>

[hitman278]

CABS205.

Try melatonin at 1mg and go from there. Theres timed released and faster acting forms. Try out both and see works best for you.

or

Benydrl at 25mgs to start with.

or

Like OneDiaDem said, Valarian root tea, liquid, or pill form. If buy this product try to buy it in extract form, its more pure.

or

Working out early mornings either in general or before work, even if its just walking around the block it will make you more tired in the evening hours (pending on your job).

Do you work mid-nights, days or afternoons????

Personally, I would start with the above meds and if that does not work talk to your doctor. Also, be advised theres a ton more of OTC meds you can try out. Start with these. I worked in a health food store for five
years (not as if that means anything), so I know enough to help ya sleep at night. PM me if you have anymore questions.

Hope this helps.

Take care.

[Dualpower]

"Try melatonin at 1mg and go from there"





WEDNESDAY, Dec. 22 (HealthDayNews) -- A U.S. government review of
more than 50 studies on the effect of melatonin on sleep has found
little evidence that the supplement helps people drift off.


While
melatonin does aid sleep in a certain group of people whose biological
clocks are out of kilter, researchers found it doesn't promote sleep
among the most common users of the supplement -- those suffering from
jet lag or weary shift workers.


"A lot of people take melatonin
for jet lag and shift work, but we found no good evidence to justify
the use of melatonin in this context," said study author Dr. Terry
Klassen, director of the Evidence-Based Practice Center at the
University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

[scout]

melatonin & valarian rootdidn't work for me. I've been taking 2 tylennol pm every night for years.Helps, but I wake at least 2 x's a night and it takes a couple of hrs. to even make me feel sleepy.Your dr. can give you something, but he'll either give you a limited supply, or something more powerful that you will absolutely become addicted to and will need to take more than the recommended dosage after a while. If you don't have a problemwith that, and you can find a dr. that will give them to you (I'm not talking about ambien or sonata)go for it. I did, and I'm sorry I decided to quit the meds and the dr. SLEEP is so essential to a productive and stress free day. I'm an extremely hyper person, have been all my life andhave a hard time shutting down.

[moeBius]

hello,
what are your experiences with sleeping pills? did diphenhydramine, valerian capsules, l-tryptophan, melatonin or any else help you.
greets
M

[Dualpower]

I found melatonin worked until the recent info arose that it didn't.



It blew up my whole placebo infested universe and sent me back to square one.

Take 150mg Diphenhydramine and 50mg Doxylamine together
with a glass of red wine.

[chrisdahl]

Originally Posted by Guest

Take 150mg Diphenhydramine and 50mg Doxylamine together
with a glass of red wine.

The doxylamie would do the job alone....Big ZZZZ's coming out ya nose and everything

[frankpikins]

swim would say that diphenhydrite or dimenhydramine are the best choices for knockout pills, however both those drugs prevent you from achieving the REM sleep which is the most important part of the sleep cycle so really they are probablly worse for you then tossing and turning for half an hour.

the best choices for truelly restfull sleep would have to be melatonin or tryptaphan

[moeBius]

surely a good idea... o_O
even 100mg of diphenhydramine cause a bad afterglow which makes it useless as a sleeping aid.

[William_Again]

nyquil, get the gelcaps, the night time ones, take like four and wait a
half hour...they work quite nice, I used to work a night job and had
trouble sleeping in the morning and found this to be the best solution
till I got used to the sleep cycle.

[club222]

I was going to post nyquil as well. It puts me right to sleep.

[lilmiss]

Tylenol PM or the walmart brand work for me.Whenever I can'tfall alseep on my own I take2 or 3 and it seems to help. I just feel foggy-headed the next morning if I only get 3-4 hours sleep before the next day begins.

[geophagus]

Originally Posted by lilmiss

Tylenol PM or the walmart brand work for me.Whenever I can'tfall alseep on my own I take2 or 3 and it seems to help. I just feel foggy-headed the next morning if I only get 3-4 hours sleep before the next day begins.

For anyone taking Tylenol PM just to help them sleep, why not just take Benadryl (diphenhydramine) all by itself?

There is nothing wrong with taking Tylenol PM if you have trouble sleeping and say you have a headache, or perhaps some other kind of pain that you might be needing to treat. However, if you are not in any pain then there really is no need to consume the acetaminophen. In Tylenol PM the acetominophen does not help or induce sleep, it's only the diphenhydramine in Tylenol PM that does that.

Acetaminophen is not the worst thing that you can consume obviously, but since it doesn't help any with sleep, there really is no point in taking it unless you are trying to treat pain. It's known to be somewhat taxing on the liver too, and for people who like to drink this can become an issue since alcohol and acetaminophen both compete for the same enzyme in the liver.

So, if anyone reading this currently takes Tylenol PM for sleep, save your money & your liver by only taking the diphenhydramine for sleep.

[Dextro]

Taking four benadryl makes it easier for me to fall asleep, although I prefer the prescription sleeping aids.

[wingsofazrael]

dihyphendramine, l-tryptophan and melatonin have all proven effective for me...i prefer ambien or halcion though if youre lucky enough to cross its path

[Phungushead]

50mg diphenhydramine has always worked for me.

[Emperiorjack]

diphenhydramine is the strongest sleep aid you can find.

[Red_Baran]

The otc sleep aidsare all diphenhydramine (in my area)wich doesnt do shit for swim. Even pm's, nyquil and anything you can buy otc doesnt do shit for swim. the only thing that swim has had sucess with is benzo's and weed (even alcohol will kill swims sleep)

[blindpanda_eric]

Diphenhydramine didn't work in low doses for me. However, at
500mg doses, it put me right to sleep. The problem with that is,
its bad for the liver, its 1/4th the lethal dose, cottonmouth the next
day, and still some deliriant effects the next day.



This is why I try to cut down on Caffeine, and only take
Diphenhydramine when I need it. Truly, sleeping pills shouldn't
be taken every night. Just when you need them.

[sands of time]

Here is my personal experiences with sleep aids...

Doxylamine Succinate: Probably works the best, and it's sedative effects can last quite a bit. The problem is that it can make you feel tired and lethargic the next day, all through the day. In my experince, if I take this stuff at night, I will sleep well. I will feel zombie like the next day, until work ends. When I have to go to sleep again, I will have trouble again, so one may be tempted to take more. Do not take larger than recommended doses, as this stuff can eat away at muscle tissue. Doxylamine Succinate is the antihistamine in nyquil, and it is put in some OTC sleeping pills.

Diphenhydramine: Less effective in helping with sleep in my opinion. The sedative effects fade in less than an hour, and you must take it an hour before the sedation is noticed. The next day, I feel a bit zombie like, but not like with doxylamine succinate. Diphenhydramine is sold OTC in benadryl and unisom.

Herbal teas: I find the most effective herbal tea would be chamomile. 3-4 tea bags is mildly sedating and calming. It is not overly effective, but there are not any next day effects. It does help. Velarian root tastes like shit, as does hops. I would go without sleep before chugging any significant amount of that shit. Decaf tea is mildly calming. Kava has worked in the past, but now it actually keeps me up longer.

Alcohol: I do not recommend it, since it tends to keep me up. I would also suspect that alcohol supresses REM like barbituates, which is very important for improving and maintaining cognitive function. The disadvantages of alcohol use for sleep should be obvious, but a doctor would be happy to run through them with anyone.

[armatitumor]

Melatonin always works well for me. I've also had some good experience
with valerian, but i have to take really high doses to get it to work.
I've heard good things about Ambien, but that's prescription, isn't it?

[Mr.Nixon]

Originally Posted by armatitumor

Melatonin always works well for me. I've also had some good experience
with valerian, but i have to take really high doses to get it to work.
I've heard good things about Ambien, but that's prescription, isn't it?

neither valerian nor melatonin works for me

and there are studies linking melatonin use to cancer

but this is also in large amounts and frequent (everyday) use