Sleeping aids

As some of you know, sleeping throughout the night with UC can be extremely difficult.. Me myself I haven't slept throughout the night in months, whether it's night sweats waking me up, urgencies, or maybe just the medication I'm on (prednisone 60mg and asacol) I haven't touched any NyQuil or anything yet because idk how my system will react due to the disease, but I'd love to try some tonight.. Any experiences you guys can share? Does most of our digestive systems cope with sleeping medicines decently?

I took ambien almost the whole time I was on pred. I didn't take it nightly of course but I took it as needed. I don't think I would have gotten much sleep without it.

Wish I knew. Benadryl does nothing for me. I have a few Ambien but it really only helps me sleep for 3-4 hours which isn't enough. I constantly feel tired from lack of sleep.

Generic Benadryl is the cheapest and most effective for me. Been taking it nightly for years with no ill effects.

It's available as an on-the-shelf generic in many drugstores under many names (Wal-Dryl for example) just look at the ingredients for Diphenhydramine 25 or 50 mg. It's sold as a sleep aid or an antihistamine because it lowers histamine response and a side effect is drowsiness.

I buy mine at WalMart or Walgreens but here's an example of low cost generic online

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GB1IQ8/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001UWNBRQ&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=19Q49J0MPAPDW7Q46RD7

Note: there are many medications that have diphenhydramine along with other pain relievers such as acetominophen but I prefer to take the sleep aid without any other meds.

Post Edited (imagardener2) : 2/9/2013 7:42:03 AM (GMT-7)

I wish benadryl worked for me! I tried OTC unisom too. It didn't work either.

I was on ambien on and off the last year. It stopped working. I can't sleep at all on pred (no matter what dose). I'm on 15mg right now. I just switched to Lunesta this week. I have only taken it two nights but I slept both nights.

I use trazodone, and have been taking it probably ten years. It helps me stay asleep. It is not real strong or addictive and I never feel woozy even if I have to get up extra early. It's an antidepressant that is not very effective at that but helps with sleep.

When I don't take it, I wake up in the night and stay awake for hours, guaranteed.

I'll be trying the NyQuil tonight considering its all I have in the house.. Hoping for at least a 4-5 hour timeframe of shut eye

Nyquil is a good quick fix, but you don't want to take too much too often because of the acetaminophen...can cause liver damage & with all the medications we take for UC that already keep the liver busy....just best to stay away as much as possible.

I take 1 Benedryl every single night to fall asleep and sleep well, but not everybody can take it. Some people will have the opposite effect. If my nephew or aunt take it, it acts like caffeine does to me. My aunt likes Ambien instead. I'm afraid to take it because I've been known to sit up and talk in my sleep and I've gotten up and walked around in my sleep. I'm afraid I might trip and fall down the stairs or worse fall over the edge where the railing is currently not there because it's being refurbished in the workshop.

My husband tried melatonin once & it gave him horrible night terrors. I asked him to try it again a week later & it had the same effect. I threw away the bottle.

My GI says there is nothing wrong with taking 1 Benedryl each night, every night. And I buy mine at Sam's Club. I get a bottle of 400 tablets for less that $5.

I've always used melatonin as a sleep aid.  I find that I wake up less "fuzzy" than with other stuff like Tylenol PM.  I only use it maybe 1 or 2 per week and an hour or two before bed.  Mary