No matter how hard I work in the daytime, I can't stop my head from racing at night so I get bad sleep. The last thing I was prescribed was benadryl and thats what I take noe. Its pretty good for giving me some of the good sleep back that I need but I still take a couple hours of kicking around to fall asleep and still wake up too early, tired.
Can anyone suggest an OTC sleeping pill that works for them? I know there are a lot that do not work. I don't have insurance so I dont want to go ask for a prescription for $$$ reasons but will do if nothing OTC works.
I'm looking for a real magic pill. Maybe I need valium?
Thanks for the Rxes guys. Sorry, I know you guys all come here to talk about nursing, not to nurse and doctor other people off the job. I really appreciate it.
I've made a plan to sleep better and here's what I'm planning to try in this order:
1) tylenol pm (cheapest and easiest to find)
2) valerian root(two people attested to it and its otc)
3) dig into emergency money to go to the doctor and ask for a generic brand sleeping drug (the ambien or dramamine)
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I am a very stressed person, so I went to the doc and got the miracle drug....Ambien (10 mg). You can take it a while before you go to bed and you still get a good nites sleep w/o the "hangover in the morning" If you don't have insurance it's kind of pricy (95 bux for a months supply - but well worth the money). I have used Tylenol PM, NyQuil and Sominex and they worked for a bit, but started acting like caffeine to me (I'm talking an entire pot of caffeine = and it appears w/ all of the above with the exception of ambien, there seems to be a 15 minute window of opportunity in which you can fall asleep , if you pass that window you can hang up getting to sleep)
I also find taking hot showers to relax your muscles prior to getting in bed (sometimes i end up taking like 10 just to get my muscles from tensing and my brain from going ninety to nothing while I try to relax.
Hope all goes well and you get a good nights sleep!
Tylenol PM works great for me. I use it when I work evenings and then need to be up fairly early in the morning. Most of the time I don't have that "hangover" effect. The key is to take it 30-45 minutes before your ready for bed. Don't take it and climb in bed right away and expect to fall right to sleep.
Nurse Ratched, RN
2,149 Posts
Hope you get some rest soon, Susanna. :) (BTW, the sleep agent in Tylenol pm is benadryl.)