Lilly,
You say that the various sleep meds “will eventually stop working”. Does this include melatonin and Tylenol PM? I have been taking small amounts of these at bedtime hoping to extend my sleep “segments” beyond 1:15 to 1:30 at a time. They seem to help a bit, but I don’t want to keep taking more and more. I have been getting up 6-10x per night, go to the bathroom, then try to get back to sleep. Each waking event takes about 10 minutes if I am lucky. Occasionally it can take more than a half hour to fall back to sleep again. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in several years. Had prostate issues that caused retention, but now after surgery, this is no longer an issue, but I still keep getting up frequently at night - maybe it’s just a very bad habit from three years of up and down all night.
Tom
Tasha, I’m afraid there’s no “simply” about antidepressants either. Although not addictive, they can cause severe withdrawal symptoms, as well as actually making insomnia worse in some cases.
Speaking from personal experience, I would disagree with you about occasional sleep aids not being sufficient. I had very poor sleep for 40 years - starting in my mid-20s, when I spent a year or so working an impossible shift system as a nurse, which wrecked my sleep pattern - but managed to make it to retiring age by only taking antihistamines two or three consecutive nights in about ten.
Relying on any kind of pharmaceuticals every night is more likely to be the road to chronic insomnia than a cure for it.
Hi Tom,
I confess I don’t know a lot about melatonin, though I believe there’s someone else in here who does, and I’m hoping she will reply to you.
I have, however, looked up Tylenol PM, as I was unfamiliar with this version of it. I see it contains diphenhydramine, which is an antihistamine. I got very good results with using an antihistamine during my 40 years of insomnia. It was a different one, but all the older antihistamines work in much the same way.
The problem with antihistamines is the same as with sleeping pills: we develop tolerance to them, and they eventually stop working. However, I managed to get round this for all those years by only taking a small dose for a maximum of three nights at a time, then toughing it out for a week or so before repeating. In 40 years, I managed never to develop tolerance. They still work on the very rare occasions I need to take them these days - usually on “nervous nights” before a journey etc.
The other, possibly more serious, problem is that you’re taking the painkiller acetaminophen on a regular basis. This is a relatively safe drug, but it still seems a bit unnecessary to be taking something you don’t actually need - unless you’re always in pain, of course. There have been a lot of questions over the years about acetaminophen. By coincidence, I was reading up on an article about it only the other day, on the UK’s NHS (National Health Service) site. The Patient site won’t let me post a link, but you should be able to find it if you search for: “Is long-term paracetamol use not as safe as we thought?” PARACETAMOL is the UK generic name for ACETAMINOPHEN (TYLENOL). They are one and the same medication.
I’m wondering whether it’s possible to purchase diphenhydramine alone OTC in the US. I’d imagine it would be, if it’s available in a Tylenol mix. That way, you’d avoid the possible risks of long-term Tylenol use. It might be worth asking your pharmacist about this.
hi lily-which antihistamines do you take? benadryl doesn’t work on me. and did you ever have a bad experience on an antidepressant?
thanks
tom- how many mg melatonin do you take? i’ve tried melatonin (gnc, naturemade, etc) but it doesn’t work for some reason. what does it do for you?
Tasha,
I only take 1/2 mg - very small amount, then another 1/2 mg in the middle of the night. It does work - slightly.
Tom
Lily,
Yes, it’s possible to purchase the diphenhydramine HCL alone - product name is Benadryl. Tablets are 25mg of diphenhydramine. The Tylenol PM is also 25mg plus 500mg of Tylenol. Either of these products is commonly used as a sleep aid and is not physically addictive, but, might become psychologically addictive. I only take a part of a tablet, hoping to take the “edge off”. With small amounts it’s easy to taper off.
I just had both liver and kidney function tests and both came back excellent, so the small amounts of Tylenol I am taking isn’t harming me that I know of.
The issue of “tolerance” is very interesting. Amazing how the body adapts.
Tom
The one I found most effective was promethazine (European brand name Phenergan). However, I don’t know whether it’s available in the US. You’d need to look for it under its chemical name in any case, rather than the brand, as brand names vary from country to country. However, this medication is now banned in most continental European countries, and not available even on prescription. (Don’t know why.) It’s still freely available OTC in the UK, which is where I get my occasional supplies. One pack lasts me several years these days.
I believe the active ingredient in Benadryl is diphenydramine in the US formulation. The same ingredient is marketed under the brand name Benylin in the UK. I tried Benylin for hay fever in the 1970s . It was recommended to me as a medication that wouldn’t cause daytime sleepiness. It certainly caused less daytime sleepiness than promethazine, but I quickly abandoned it as it still made me feel very tired. I tried using what was left over as a sleep aid, but it was much less effective than promethazine.
Something to bear in mind is that if you’ve been taking heavy-duty sleep medications for any length of time, it’s highly unlikely that something as mild as an antihistamine will have any effect.
I’ve never used antidepressants as sleep aids, and wouldn’t recommend it either, unless you’re depressed. I was prescribed amitriptyline - one of the older, tricyclic antidepressants - for a bout of depression more than 50 years ago, but it certainly didn’t help me to sleep. I stopped taking it after a couple of months as I didn’t like the side-effects.
Hi Lily hope your well. Yes it was me a couple of years ago. I’m much better now thankfully. And yes I’ll continue to post on here from time to time.
Hi Tasha I’m sleeping 6-7 hours now. Feeling great because of it.