Does Anyone Use Benadryl For Insomnia?

[Kb3]

Thanks Gamereign (Shannon!)that sounds like a great technique. I have used benzos in the past and it can be scary how quickly you can build up a tolerance for them.

I like the idea of swapping around the non addictive sleep aids for several nights and taking out the big guns (so to speak!) less often.

I agree that a good night's sleep lessens daytime anxiety, and I'm glad that you are feeling well enough to cut down on the Xanax. Thanks so much for the advice, once I find a willing prescriber I'll try to get my hands on some Ambien, lunesta or restoril. I really don't think it can hurt to try them.

 

[Gamereign555]

I forgot to mention that it's important to try to sleep unaided for one or two days of the week. Maybe make an extra effort to tire yourself out doing something, a walk, chores around the house or lawn.

 

[jaerc]

Benadryl is excellent for sleep. And cheap! I am finally benzo free, and Ambien causes me to be a bit nutso, so melatonin and benadry is what I use with much success. I agree with gamereign555 as well -

I forgot to mention that it's important to try to sleep unaided for one or two days of the week. Maybe make an extra effort to tire yourself out doing something, a walk, chores around the house or lawn.

That is very important too - to take a night or two off. Good luck!

 

[Kb3]

Thanks so much Jaerc - you've given me hope!

 

[BlueKitty]

Thought I might share:

I was very tired, lied down on my bed but my mind kept navigating. As a good night's sleep is crucial for me for my performance during big events, I took Benadryl. It is kicking in at a record-breaking rate for me this evening!!!!
I guess I was mentally exhausted, had a long day with 6hrs long meeting, had to give speeches, etc. and had only 2/5 hrs of sleep the night before.

As obvious as it sounds....it is definitely working better as I am exhausted.

On that note, I am off to my bed!

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Benadryl is the same as Unisom (the sleep gels).

The Rx cousin of Benadryl is Vistaril. I've used both at various times.

 

[Gamereign555]

Right, you can also get the bottles of Diphenhydramine which come with 400 pills. It's the active ingredient in Benadryl. It is sold as an allergy remedy, but is considered by most a terrible allergy med which does not work that great for allergies.. It is however great for inducing sleep. You would want to be careful combining it with other sedatives.
Benedryl and Vistaril are quite similiar, its probably a bad idea to combine these 2. Some people report breathing difficulties when taking these drugs, dizziness upon waking up was also reported but does not nessessarily mean that you will experience these side effects.

I was recently prescribed amitriptyline for sleep, its a low dose at 20mg. Normally used at higher doses as an antidepressant it however is great for promoting good sleep and even makes me a little tired when I take it. It can safely be combined with another antidepressant your already on, provided its a low dose, and taking another sleep aid with it is also safe. Worth looking into if you are sick of being reliant on something like xanax or restoril just to get to bed.

 

[Kb3]

Thank you gamereign and scareoflonely.

Right now I am taking 50mgs Seroquel (successfully down from 100mgs 4 months ago, round of applause please:)). What I have noticed is that I sleep just as well at the lower dose as I did at the higher one, which is good in two ways 1)it saves me a shedload of money and 2)metabolic side effects are becoming nonexistent.

Because I have been dx'd bipolar I am hesitant to take an antidepressant to sleep. I believe the dx is wrong, but I have had a couple of pretty funky prescription drug induced experiences that were labelled as hypomanic. Better safe than sorry I always say! I also hate the libido dampening side effects of most AD's. **

So what I'm trying to do is keep cutting down slowly on the Seroquel until I reach a point where I am either free of it, or can no longer sleep. If I can't sleep, I'll try Benadryl, Vistaril, one of the traditional nonbenzo sleep aids and/or herbal remedies/melatonin. If I still can't sleep, I'll go back on the lowest dose of Seroquel that works, and periodically keep trying to come off of it.

**As a side story I'll mention a little exchange between myself and a former psychiatrist:

Me - "Dr f*ckface, the medication cocktail I am taking is killing my sex life" (or something like that, I'm pretty uptight about talking about this stuff so I may have pantomimed something instead)

Dr F: "I'm not surprised with the boatload that you're on"

Me: "So what should I do?"

Dr F: shuffling paperwork, checking phone "Please talk to my secretary about booking your next appointment in six weeks."

I will add that, in the most delicious of ironies, this same psychiatrist was recently struck off the British Medical registry for having sex with at least two patients, one suicidal and the other a teenager. I guess he wasn't taking anything that was interfering with HIS libido.

I don't like to think of myself as a smug person, but I do keep this little gem under a pillow in my heart; taking it out to lovingly polish in melancholy moments.

 

[Kris1984]

Benadryl is an antihistamine and Seroquel is an antipsychotic/mood stabilizer, so they are definitely nothing alike. The dosage for Seroquel is not to exceed 800mg a day, you will usually not see a dose under 200mg unless we are weaning a person onto or off of the meds. Typical Bipolar maintenance dosing is between 400-800 mg. For Benadryl all you need is 50 mg 30 minutes before bed for it to act as a sedative/hypnotic and we often give this to patients in the hospital to help with sleep.

Seroquel acts by blocking dopamine and serotonin receptors, but it also blocks H1 receptors which makes it relate to Benadryl. However Benadryl does not block any receptor other then the H1.

Benadryl does not cause night terrors, so that would have to by a paradoixical effect.

Hope that helps!

 

[Sandra]

Benadryl doesn't make me sleepy. I only take them when my allergies are really acting up.

 

[hoping-to-heal]

Wow, I can't believe I am not the only one who does this! I am liking the switch-a-roo method too! Thank-you!

 

[punch]

I use to take it, but I quickly developed a tolerance for it. Soon it was 4 to get to sleep then 6 then 8. Except most of the time I still couldn't sleep and spent all night and most of the next day in a zombie like state. When I would try to sleep I'd end up recalling just about everything that has ever happened in my life for hours on end.