Diphenhydramine (Benedryl) Habit; an After-Action Report.

[erkevin]

Around 2000, I developed some pretty significant sleep issues. Up most of the night, wandering the house. Always exhausted. It was the usual suspects: money, career, life. Went to a doctor and was told Ambien. I was against that as I knew once you were on it, you had to stay on it (and i think at the time, it was pretty darn expensive).
I tried Tylenol PM and it worked. Later, figured out that is was the diphenhydramine that made you sleepy, so I switched to generic benedryl. And that continued for the next two+ decades. Two diphens every night about 6:30 PM. Obviously became psychologically hooked and it created significant anxiety if I did not take them on time or we were out and I forgot to bring them.
Fast forward to retirement in 2016. Now is the time to quit, right? Nope. Completely lacked the courage to try. Last September, I decided it was time. If I don't sleep initially, it was going to be ok. I didn't have to wake up for anything and if I am tired all day, so be it. I quit cold-turkey. Yes, I laid in bed for an hour or three each night, but very little anxiety. Over Sept and October, it slowly improved; falling asleep more quickly (unfortunately, I get up 3-5 times due to BPH but that's a different thread!)
Now five months benedryl-free, I feel I have beaten my nearly 25-year habit.

 

[stepford]

I sympathize. While I'm (probably) not an addict I do take diphenhydramine 2-3 times a week when the weather is not conducive to cycling. During the warmer months when I can get to exercise I (mostly) stop, but use it and some other sleep aids if I travel.

 

[braumeister]

Congratulations on that achievement. I take a half dose of it when I can't get to sleep in a reasonable time. Maybe 5-6 times a month. Never developed any sort of dependency, so it doesn't worry me. Very effective stuff.

 

[GenXguy]

Went to a doctor and was told Ambien. I was against that as I knew once you were on it, you had to stay on it (and i think at the time, it was pretty darn expensive).

Just to clear up some misinformation. That is absolutely false about Ambien. It's actually intended for short term use, not to stay on. However, some people, including myself, have taken it much longer and then stopped. I took it nearly every night for close to 3 years before my doctor took away my prescription and put me on Quviviq (at my request). My problem wasn't falling asleep at bedtime, it was waking after 4 or 5 hours and not being able to get back to sleep. I would let a bit of an Ambien pill dissolve under my tongue, and that would get me back to sleep in about 20 minutes. I wish I still had a prescription for Ambien, because Quviviq max dose doesn't work well enough on its own to keep me asleep near morning, so my sleep gets pretty broken up in the last hour or two. Ambien wasn't expensive for me. I think it was under $10 co-pay, and I made one refill last a few months by breaking up the pills for my sublingual usage (I actually got that idea from a member of this forum who was doing that.)

I tried Tylenol PM and it worked. Later, figured out that is was the diphenhydramine that made you sleepy, so I switched to generic benedryl.

I rarely took it, so I couldn't have tolerance, but Diphenhydramine, Doxylamine, Hydroxyzine, Trazodone, Melatonin, and various other supplements, white noise machines, and all the sleep hygeine and worn out sleep tips don't touch my insomnia, which is from severe tinnitus.

Now five months benedryl-free, I feel I have beaten my nearly 25-year habit.

Congrats.

 

[UpQuark]

Now five months benedryl-free, I feel I have beaten my nearly 25-year habit.

Congrats! Were there any bad effects during the 25 years? I am currently psychologically addicted to the half dose size (the ones sold as 'sleep aid'), and since November I've added a second one that I take when I wake up during the night.
I'm hoping there isn't any bad health effect, but I'm sure there would be bad health effects to lying in bed awake stressing over things I have no control of.

 

[frayne]

Sleep becomes a precious commodity as we get older. My philosophy is simple: whatever it takes to get a good night's rest, as there’s nothing worse than feeling like a zombie the next day after a sleepless night. I may be a bit more sensitive to this than most, having worked swing shift for over 70% of my thirty two year career in the petrochemical industry.

 

[braumeister]

I may be a bit more sensitive to this than most, having worked swing shift for over 70% of my thirty two year career in the petrochemical industry.

Plenty of folks in that group. Many in the military learn quickly that you sleep whenever you can.

 

[plsprius]

Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is in a class of drugs called anticholinergic drugs (look it up online). This class of drugs can have some bad side effects in older folks, so it's best to limit their long-term use.

But I still use Benadryl when I really need to get to sleep, such as when traveling between time zones. For that use I find half a dose is usually enough to keep me from feeling too drowsy the next morning.

Books on tape (eg. from Audible, etc) are a great sleep aid for me (smile).

 

[erkevin]

diphenhydramine has been associated (not causal) with dementia. I never had any recognizable effects of long-term use.

 

[stepford]

diphenhydramine has been associated (not causal) with dementia. I never had any recognizable effects of long-term use.

Several sleep aids have been associated with dementia, but then dementia has been associated with poor sleep hygiene and those who have poor sleep hygiene are usually the ones who use sleep aids. So I'd be more concerned about insomnia than any drugs used to treat it.

 

[GenXguy]

Several sleep aids have been associated with dementia, but then dementia has been associated with poor sleep hygiene and those who have poor sleep hygiene are usually the ones who use sleep aids. So I'd be more concerned about insomnia than any drugs used to treat it.

Anything anticholinergic, for that matter. This includes more than meds used for sleeping.

See: Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden Scale

ACB Calculator

A tool for finding the ACB Score of commonly prescribed medicines, and for calculating the Anticholinergic Burden for your patient

www.acbcalc.com

 

[freedomatlast]

Mainly due to work pressures years ago, and not being able to turn off my mind from thinking at bedtime, I started taking Benedryl. I was doing one pill a night for about 2 years and one day decided not to continue. So I quit cold turkey. It was rough for awhile but got better over time. Now that I don't have the pressure at work anymore, I rarely take Benedryl. If I ever can't sleep three nights in a row, I take one for one night to catch up on sleep, but I don't allow myself to take it anymore two or more nights in a row.

 

[TheWizard]

I'm retired 12 years going on 13.
I don't need to get up to go to work any time in the morning.
So if I don't sleep too well one night, I might take a longer NAP the following day.
It werks fer me...

 

[GrayHare]

NAP = noggin at pillow?

 

[reneeh63]

diphenhydramine has been associated (not causal) with dementia. I never had any recognizable effects of long-term use.

Is it not known to be causal or has it actually been shown to NOT be causal - important difference to keep in mind since there's a lot of things that haven't been adequately researched that we need to be cautious of.

 

[stepford]

Is it not known to be causal or has it actually been shown to NOT be causal - important difference to keep in mind since there's a lot of things that haven't been adequately researched that we need to be cautious of.

How exactly does one prove something to be non-causal when it is correlated.

 

[Gumby]

Plenty of folks in that group. Many in the military learn quickly that you sleep whenever you can.

I can still sleep almost anywhere at anytime.

 

[surprising]

I'm trying Hydroxyzine for occasional anxiety related sleep issues. Mostly anxious/nervous about something going on the next day like a flight or something new. The anxiety can keep me up literally all night. I've tried OTC sleep aids and they don't work, the anxiety seems to overpower it. Doc says hydroxyzine should calm the anxiety and help with sleep, so hopefully it works. Tested it once but wasn't anxious about anything, but it did put me to sleep. Woke up groggy though.

 

[Amethyst]

I can still sleep almost anywhere at anytime.

Me too (lots of shift work during career) but it's naps, not long sleeps. I'm like everybody else, I wake up with worries and can't go back to sleep. When it gets too bad, I get up and do things. Sometimes I can go back to sleep after an hour or so.

During the final year or so of Mr. A.'s life, I would wake up around 3 a.m. and walk to the beach, where I'd do intermittent jogs and study the stars. Taught myself about 100 star names. Still can point to and identify around 15.

 

[Koolau]

I can still sleep almost anywhere at anytime.

I'm blessed. Rarely have problems sleeping unless I'm ruminating on some problem.

 

[DrRoy]

Before RE I regularly needed help to get or go back to sleep. I cycled between a couple OTC's and lorazepam thinking that I would not become resistant to any one in particular. Half a dose was usually enough. Later I added valerian root to the mix. Melatonin was too weak to help. Now I do not need aid very much. Just occasionally I will have a short bout of difficulty. It is important that I maintain my routine, and it is better if the screens go off an hour before bed and I just read. It is more difficult when we travel, but I can get back to normal when we are home.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I never had any problems sleeping until I was 66. It’s common and both my parents and 2 older siblings experienced this. They can’t sleep longer than 6 hours at the most.

I won’t take anything and if I don’t get much sleep one night I’ll be more tired for the next night. Nobody in my family took sleep aids and no one had dementia.

 

[sengsational]

Twice a week, roughly, I awake and stay awake for an hour, roughly. I don't use drugs for it. I might listen to a talk or meditate, but I don't get up.

The reason I don't take drugs is that most of them don't allow for all phases of sleep in the healthy proportions. Matthew Walker (recognized sleep expert and author) asks if you "slept" 8 hours straight after getting whacked in the head, is that a "good night's sleep?" The bottom line is that sleep is far from a passive thing. It's a chance to rinse out debris of the day. And unless you go through the cycles, you're not getting the benefits. According to Walker, in order to be approved as a sleep aid in the US, a molecule must produce a set of brain waves that are similar to getting knocked over the head. I'm not sure antihistamines have that characteristic or not. I'd urge people to read Walker's book. He and Attia have done podcasts too, and those might be queued-up and ready for your next wee-hours waking event

 

[Livefree]

I've been taking Magnesium Glycinate at bedtime with good results.

 

[momoney]

I sympathize. While I'm (probably) not an addict I do take diphenhydramine 2-3 times a week when the weather is not conducive to cycling. During the warmer months when I can get to exercise I (mostly) stop, but use it and some other sleep aids if I travel.

I too have found that rigorous exercise is key to sleeping all night.