Over the counter sleep aids

About sleeping aids

Over-the-counter sleep aids or supplementscan be helpful when different reasons are preventing you from falling asleep. However, if you are experiencing greater difficulties with insomnia, theright cure usually requires changes in your life habits.

If you lead a healthylife and if you work out on a regular basis, don’t drink coffee and don’t sleep duringthe daytime, and you shouldn’t have any problems with sleeping. But, there areindividuals who have difficulties despite that, and in those cases you shouldconsider taking sleep aids that can be bought without a prescription. When sleepingdifficulties are prolonged, you should consult your doctor.

Over-the-countersleeping aids are useful but only if your problems are not constant and areappearing from time to time. The negative side of using these aids is that theycan make you feel sleepy all day long.

Common over the counter sleep aids

Over-the-countersleeping aids have substances called antihistamines and they are what makes you feel sleepy. They can be purchased in almost every pharmacy, but theyare less expensive in store brands. It is important to ask your doctor whetherto use these aids or not, especially if you are already using antidepressantscalled MAOIs or medications for Parkinson’s disease. You should also know that medicines thatcontain antihistamines can help you currently, but when it comes to long-lasting insomnia, they are not efficient. Well known over-the-counter sleep aids are Diphenhydramine, Doxylamine (Unisom), Melatonin and Valerian.

Diphenhydramine can cause dryness of your mouth, lightheadedness,lethargy and memory issues. If you are nursing a baby, then you shouldn't takethis medication and the same goes if you are expecting a baby. There are someother conditions where this medicine should be taken with precaution such asglaucoma, heart diseases or problems with prostate.Doxylamine can alsoresult in longer inertia and also shouldn’t be used if you are breastfeeding orare pregnant. If you have problems with asthma, bronchitis, glaucoma, pepticulcer and prostate, you should use this medicine with precaution.Melatonin is considered to be less effective than the other medicines of thistype, but it is an artificially made type of natural hormone. Individuals whoused this product complained of sleepiness during daytime, headaches, and vertigo.Valerian is a plantthat can help you to fall asleep faster. This plant is safe to use but it cancause some unwanted effects such as headache, irritability and tension. It isalso not recommended to use it if pregnant or breastfeeding.