OTC Sleep Aids

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CarrieH

CarrieH

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I usually use Ambien or Lunesta to sleep. This has been going on for the past 7 years. I'm under the care of a doctor who knows all my medical history.

I'm interested in getting off the RX meds and trying OTC Sleep Aids. I noticed many contain Benadryl, which I know can cause problems for us. Does anyone know of an OTC Sleep Aid here in the USA that is safe for us to use? I've tried Melatonin several years ago, but I'm not sure on the safety of even that. I recall someone talking about Nyquil causing problems too. I would rather NOT get into Nyquil due to the alcohol and the fact you have to take like 3 tablespoons of the nasty stuff.

Thanks!
 
Your neurologist would be the best person to consult. Your pharmacist may be able to help too. There are a lot of different sleep aids out there, and they can interact differently with anti-seizure medications, and/or lower your seizure threshold.
 
As Nakamova said I'd ask your dr about it first before you hop into anything.

For me I usually only have problems sleeping are when I have a migraine after a seizure and when my back is acting up pretty bad (I've got lower back problems).

I'll take some type of pain reliver that helps you sleep, Advil pm or something like that.

Is there something that you can do in general that could help you sleep at night. Doing something energetic? Some type of excrcise or something like that?

I always read when I get in bed, it put's me to sleep after about half an hour.
 
Heh, depending on the book reading can actually keep me awake. I get so into what I'm reading that I tend get really interested and want to know what happens next.

I tried everything OTC and even though it worked for a few days at a time it always ended up with me not sleeping again. I tried swapping between them and it still didn't work so well. Plus I was getting really bad migraines and some weird siezures. Like the others said, I would ask the doc. Especially if your working with one who knows all of whats going on.
 
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