It’s more of a placebo than an actual sleep aid. It’s not harmful though. If you want to take it, don’t worry. If you think it helps, then in some small way it does.
But if you NEED to fall asleep in the next hour 25-50mg of diphenhydramine, 1-2 normal Benadryl or Advil/Tylenol/Motrin PM(with they’re active ingredients) does a pretty reliable job if you let it. You have to get in bed and give it a shot at working but I find little failure with it. You will however be somewhat groggy in the morning, drink water.
It’s most useful to take 2-3 hours before bed to reset your circadian rhythm. Essentially it mimics the melatonin you make at sun down to prepare your body for sleep. You only need 1-2 mg to do this.
I even think 1 mg is too much. It’s active in microgram doses. Also read the Wikipedia page, it’s poorly regulated and pills can contain upwards of 4x what they say.
Can you expand on that? I take melatonin every day, have I been poisoning myself?
It’s more of a placebo than an actual sleep aid. It’s not harmful though. If you want to take it, don’t worry. If you think it helps, then in some small way it does.
Awesome, thanks!
But if you NEED to fall asleep in the next hour 25-50mg of diphenhydramine, 1-2 normal Benadryl or Advil/Tylenol/Motrin PM(with they’re active ingredients) does a pretty reliable job if you let it. You have to get in bed and give it a shot at working but I find little failure with it. You will however be somewhat groggy in the morning, drink water.
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It’s most useful to take 2-3 hours before bed to reset your circadian rhythm. Essentially it mimics the melatonin you make at sun down to prepare your body for sleep. You only need 1-2 mg to do this.
I even think 1 mg is too much. It’s active in microgram doses. Also read the Wikipedia page, it’s poorly regulated and pills can contain upwards of 4x what they say.
I’ve heard of people developing a dependence on it when taking it regularly. Especially kids.
I use it a couple times a year for the occasional restless night and it seems to work for me.
It’s not inherently harmful afaik but it could disrupt your sleep if for any reason you have to stop taking it.