antihistamines

Occasionally I take a Benadryl to help me fall asleep. If I am dealing with minor anxiety, it helps. Anything more than minor anxiety, and Benadryl does not seem to work. (Xanax does, but I am extremely careful about that and only use it a couple of times a year).

I am thinking about trying doxylamine succinate (marketed as Unisom and some other brands). This is also an antihistamine but a somewhat different one than Benadryl. Any experience taking this? How did it work? Any comparison to Benadryl?

If this does not work, I will probably try either Lunesta or generic estazolam, by prescription. But thought I would try OTC first.

I don't need these things every night. Maybe just once a week or thereabout.

First experiment tonight (probably). I will let you know. I just have to figure out whether I want to take the full recommended dose or cut the pill (it is scored) and try half.

Yup, a "school night" -- so to speak. I took only half the pill - 12.5 mg. It made me tired but not tired enough to sleep well. Having some issues between me and my wife, and that is an anxiety trigger. I was up most of the night. Well, I probably got a few hours sleep. The good news (if you can call it that) is that I have been sleep deprived enough nights that I am adapting to it and learning to function OK even without enough sleep. Yes, I realize that is not really 'good news' -- but it is what it is. And to make up for it (sort of), when I am not feeling stressed and can sleep OK, I sometimes get 9 hours or more of sleep. I can be late to work if I want -- no boss to tell me when to be where. So that helps. I guess next time I will take the whole 25mg dose and see how that does. I think it will knock me out. I realize I may be sleepy the next day. I guess that is a risk, and I will just have to see how it goes.  I know many of you have worse problems than I do, so I should not whine too much about a bit of anxiety and some loss of sleep. Best wishes, Medved

MV,

I think if you take the Unisom at 9:00 Pm and plan on going to bed by 10:00 PM you will do fine.  I am just making  a suggestion - only you can decide what dose to take.

I have to comment here re SC's post - she is so kind and wonderful and she phrases her comment so politely - " Interpersonal difficulties are always a trigger for me as well."  I am the same as you and SC - knock down, drag out fights cause me high anxiety    I couldn't help myself - giggle.

In reality if I have a difficult confrontation with my hubby in the morning it takes me hours to let it go as hurtful things get said even when we don't mean them. Bedtime comes and I find myself crying so practicing forgiveness and letting go are things I need to work on.

I wish you a sound sleep tonight.

 

Kitt

 

I have had some issues in my marriage for many years. Day to day it is usually fine. But the issues are there, and we have never really confronted them. We plan to start couples counseling. I am a little bit apprehensive about that because it will dredge up all sorts of issues and past events that are not so easy to deal with. I have resisted it, for that reason, for many years. But the "head in the sand" approach has not worked so well. Also, I know that some couples counselors tend to push for dissolution of the marriage, which is not my preferred outcome. Hopefully the one we are going to will take a more constructive approach. I guess we will see....