Prescription Sleep Aids
Non Prescription Sleep Aids
Non prescription sleep aids are becoming ever popular throughout America. There are some serious side effects that occur quite often when using a prescription sleep aid that can be avoided by using a non prescription sleep aid.
Nearly 99% of all non prescription sleep aids are either one of two things: doxylamine (dox il’ a meen) or diphenhydramine (dye fen hye’ dra meen).
Doxylamine is an antihistamine that helps people fall asleep by slowing down their central nervous system. It sounds kind of scary, but doxylamine is relatively safe, and is one of the main ingredients in the NyQuil line of products. Doxylamine is mostly used for allergies but also makes you drowsy which is why it’s in most non prescription sleep aids. However, it does have a few side effects that one should be aware of. They include, dry mouth, nose, and throat, nausea, headache, and nervousness.
The other major ingredient in non prescription sleep aids is diphenhydramine. Diphenhydramine is also an anti-histamine which works by blocking histamine effects at H1 receptor sites. In plain English, diphenhydramine helps relax your smooth muscles and makes you feel less itchy. This is why it’s a popular ingredient in non prescription sleep aids. It’s mostly sold under the brand name Benadryl, but is found in most other sleep aids and allergy medicines. Now you know why they tell you not to operate heavy machinery when taking Benadryl on the side of the box. However, like doxylamine, diphenhydramine also comes with a lot of side effects. Most of them are about the same and include dry mouth, nose, and throat, and headaches.
If taking doxylamine and diphenhydramine for your sleep troubles doesn’t seem to be up your alley, there is another non prescription sleep aid that doesn’t include doxylamine and diphenhydramine. It’s called Sleep Once Again and uses 100% all natural ingredients that can be found in nature. Because of this, almost all of those ugly side effects that are found in other non prescription sleep aids can be avoided, and you can be left to a calm, natural sleep.
Best of all, it comes in a dissolvable sublingual strip that releases the active ingredients into your mouth and directly to bloodstream almost instantly. Because of its fast-acting technology, it’s considered to be the best sleep aid product on the market.
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The Best Sleep Aid
How do I go about getting prescription sleep medication?
My husband and I have both had a very very difficult time sleeping over the course of the last few months since we’ve moved, and we’re both constantly tired. I’ve been taking tylenol pm long-term, and the dosage just isn’t helping anymore.
Do I just flat-out tell my doctor I want to try Ambien or another prescription sleep aid for a while, or will he or she only offer it after lots of tests and stuff are done?
bmac: research harder. Tylenol PM contains no antihistamine. Trust me. I have a medical condition that keeps me from being able to take several different kinds of OTC meds. I’m a stickler for reading EVERY WORD of the label.
Papeverso…(aka rant-girl): I should have clarified. I’m interested in finding out about prescription sleep meds because I’ve tried every natural or OTC thing I can find. Valarian does NOTHING for me.
Sorry, I get moody when I’m tired.
It depends wholly on the doctor. Most MDs are hesitant to jump right into sleeping medications. If they do, they may recommend a short course to start (ie. 7 days) . Considering your history with Tylenol PM, you may be a suitable candidate to try a precription medication (ie. Ambien, Ativan)
Remember you still need to be careful with Tylenol PM. Even though they state that you do not develop dependence on it, ANY sleep medication still carries that risk. I would recommend on continuing to focus on trying to go without any sleep medication by trying to take a night off once in a while and save the sleep medication, whether it is Tylenol PM or Ambien or Ativan, for days when you think you may really need it. Don’t lose focus on this goal, or else you will be making more and more trips to the doc for refills!