lemonflavor Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 http://www.tylenol.com/page.jhtml?id=tylenol/pain/subpss.inc on this page it says Simply Sleep (Diphenhydramine-same as Benadryl) is non-habit forming. Is the the same thing as not building up a tolerance? I was surprised to see this. Is it the same with Doxylamine succinate (Unisom)? These are names in the USA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirMarshall Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Lemonflavor, Both Diphenhydramine, and Doxylamine are strong antihistamines. A major side effect is that they are very sedating. Tolerance is where the drug loses effect and increasing amounts are required to obtain the same effect. Anti-histamines as a class do NOT have this problem. Habit forming relates to the physical or mental need for a drug (addiction). Again, anti-histamines do not have this tendency. So in short, these two drugs are an excellent choice for an over the counter sleep aid. They are very safe, are very hard to overdose on. If you can get adequate sleep with these, rather than going to a prescription aid, so much the better. BTW, the cheapest route is to buy generic diphenydramine tablets. I use a pill splitter to adjust how much I take, based on how much I need. *Warning* Be sure that you are not using OTC meds that incorporate acetominophen, like Tylenol PM, which contains Tylenol and Benadryl. Acetomenophen is very hard on the liver and we should all minimize its use whenever possible. a.m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaloGirl66 Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 *Warning* Be sure that you are not using OTC meds that incorporate acetominophen, like Tylenol PM, which contains Tylenol and Benadryl. Acetomenophen is very hard on the liver and we should all minimize its use whenever possible. a.m. AMEN! I hate those stupid Tylenol PM ads that sell it as a sleep aid. Stop think tylenol my ass. Its irresponsible. But I digress, a.m. is right on the money. If you find that diphenhydramine works for you, great. The best thing to do is go to a place like Costco or Sams Club and buy one of the bulk bottle of their generic diphenhydramine/benadryl stuff. Very cost effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemonflavor Posted June 3, 2006 Author Share Posted June 3, 2006 I remember taking a generic Diphenhydramine and could have sworn I built up a tolerance after a week. But maybe that was a (bipolar) cycle. And for Doxylamine succinate I need two and a half or three tablets for it to work, so it's kind of expensive in any case. But I will experiment with these more. Thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemonflavor Posted June 3, 2006 Author Share Posted June 3, 2006 And why can't they make benzo type drugs that aren't habit forming? Is it more complicated than putting a man on the moon? Nothing helps anxiety for me than these. To be more on topic, what is the advantage of Ambien or Lunesta over Doxylamine succinate or Diphenhydramine? I've yet to try Ambien or Lunesta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 I don't know if it's considered "tolerance," but the sedating effect of diphenhydramine tends to go away after a week or two of consistent use. I say that tolerance may not be the right word because I don't think increasing the dose brings back the effect. I've been on Ambien for three years and have not developed a tolerance. Definitely get the rebound insomnia when I try to discontinue, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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