# Bestest OTC sleep aid?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 9, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077 "2011-10-09T15:58:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/1 "2011-10-09T15:58:04Z")
What is the best over the counter sleep aid?
Thanks.
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### Author:  [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/2 "2011-10-09T16:23:51Z")
Nice user name/OP, btw.
Melatonin, melatonin, melatonin. I am about 230lbs, male in my fifties. I have always had trouble sleeping and have used everything from narcotics, to booze, to herbal and meditation techniques and hands down Melatonin is the best, most effective and most reliable. a single 3 mg pill, disolved under the tongue and 15 minutes later I am out like a light, for the night and wake up with no drug hang over or fuzzy mindedness.
It is the natural sleep hormone your body uses to shut down, its non habit forming, and doesn’t have problems with developing tolerance (I’ve actually reduced my dose from 5 mg to 3mg).
Its fairly cheap too, a 3 month supply is about $8-10.
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### Author:  [@ASanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASanders)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/3 "2011-10-09T16:28:07Z")
Another vote for melatonin. Trader Joe’s has a chewable version that’s actually yummy. I take just 500 mcg and it never fails me.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/4 "2011-10-09T16:29:27Z")
Try a product called Calms. You can get it though Amazon. My cousin turned me on to it. I was very pesimistic, but it works nice for me. I use it maybe a few times a month when things are going nuts and my brain won’t shut down.
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### Author:  [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/5 "2011-10-09T16:56:40Z")
I’ve never found melatonin to work for me. What I have found that does work great is doxylamine, or generic Unisom. Puts me right out, every time. It can be around $10 for 32 pills in some places, but I get it at Fry’s Food and Drug (a Kroger store) for $4 and change. Can’t beat that with a stick.
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### Author:  [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/6 "2011-10-09T17:03:02Z")
[Here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=579592&highlight=melatonin) another thread where we’ve discussed sleep aids and melatonin.
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### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/7 "2011-10-09T18:59:11Z")
For the rare occasion when I’m going to know I won’t be able to sleep (specific intervals of job-related stress), two benadryl knocks me right out. It’s not something I’d try for an ongoing problem, however.
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### Author:  [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/8 "2011-10-09T19:05:25Z")
Unisom or Benadryl work very well for me. Last night I took some Benadryl because I had about 8 times as much caffeine as I normally do in a day, and I knew I’d have trouble falling asleep. Worked like a charm. I have some Ambien CR, but I can’t really say it works better than the Unisom (doxylamine) for me. (I’m not one of those who collapses 30 minutes after taking Ambien. It helps me sleep, but I can still wake up if I need to.)
Melatonin seemed, if anything, to make things worse for both my husband and me. But we only tried it one night.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/9 "2011-10-09T19:38:12Z")
I’m sorry, but there is _no such thing_ as an effective OTC sleep aid. The closest thing, IMO, is Nyquil; and that is only because the stuff is basically liquor. 😃
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### Author:  [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/10 "2011-10-09T19:49:05Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> I’m sorry, but there is _no such thing_ as an effective OTC sleep aid. The closest thing, IMO, is Nyquil; and that is only because the stuff is basically liquor. 😃
Cite that there’s no effective OTC sleep aid? There are countless threads on this board with many posters stating that there are things that have helped them. If you haven’t found anything that helps you, fine, but you can’t just say that there aren’t any that help anyone.
And alcohol is\* not\* an effective sleep aid, as it has been proven to cause insomnia for many people.
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### Author:  [@industrialfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/industrialfish)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/11 "2011-10-09T19:53:29Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#):
>
> For the rare occasion when I’m going to know I won’t be able to sleep (specific intervals of job-related stress), two benadryl knocks me right out. It’s not something I’d try for an ongoing problem, however.
I use benadryl also, as needed. But I’ve found you can’t use it every night because your body builds a tolerance to the sedation effect pretty quickly if used a few nights in a row.
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### Author:  [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/12 "2011-10-09T20:16:03Z")
A few months back someone on the Dope mentioned taking a combination of melatonin and valerian root.
I swear by it now, it feels like the valerian root calms my nervous brain.
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/13 "2011-10-09T20:24:03Z")
Unisom works well for me, but I wake up with a headache.
Recently I have using Tylenol PM.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/14 "2011-10-09T21:50:45Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#):
>
> Cite that there’s no effective OTC sleep aid? There are countless threads on this board with many posters stating that there are things that have helped them. If you haven’t found anything that helps you, fine, but you can’t just say that there aren’t any that help anyone.
>
> And alcohol is\* not\* an effective sleep aid, as it has been proven to cause insomnia for many people.
I meekly ask for your forgiveness darling; I did indeed forget to include the disclaimer, “in my humble opinion” at the outset of my post. And I’m sure there are as many (if not more) _anecdotal_ tales of alcohol being an effective sleep aid as there are for OTC sleep aid being effective. But anecdotal tales are all we are talking about here.
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### Author:  [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/15 "2011-10-10T00:03:41Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> I meekly ask for your forgiveness darling; I did indeed forget to include the disclaimer, “in my humble opinion” at the outset of my post. And I’m sure there are as many (if not more) _anecdotal_ tales of alcohol being an effective sleep aid as there are for OTC sleep aid being effective. But anecdotal tales are all we are talking about here.
Strong alcohol is, in my opinion, as effective as any other over the counter sleeping aid - that is, it will work well for many people, not at all for many more, and actually prevent sleep for a few.
It’s much more pleasant than taking a tablet, so I’ll stick with it.
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### Author:  [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/16 "2011-10-10T00:08:17Z")
Melatonin doesn’t do a thing for me. Diphenhydramine only does if I take a double dose and even then it’s iffy. Doxylamine (generic Unisom) works every time I take it. Unfortunately, last time I bought some pills, I forgot which ones work. I now have 50-something Diphenhydramine. Ugh.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/17 "2011-10-10T00:22:26Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#):
>
> Cite that there’s no effective OTC sleep aid? There are countless threads on this board with many posters stating that there are things that have helped them. If you haven’t found anything that helps you, fine, but you can’t just say that there aren’t any that help anyone.
>
> And alcohol is\* not\* an effective sleep aid, as it has been proven to cause insomnia for many people.
> [@Steophan](#):
>
> Strong alcohol is, in my opinion, as effective as any other over the counter sleeping aid - that is, it will work well for many people, not at all for many more, and actually prevent sleep for a few.
>
> It’s much more pleasant than taking a tablet, so I’ll stick with it.
Ahem…As I was saying, _anecdotes._
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### Author:  [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/18 "2011-10-10T00:28:09Z")
Doxylamine also works well for me. Unfortunately, it works so well that it makes me drowsy the following day, which sort of defeats the purpose.
If Melatonin were legal in Australia, I’d give it a go. Local health food stores have tried to sell me homeopathic melatonin. They didn’t get it when I said I’d just have a drink of water instead.
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/19 "2011-10-10T00:38:42Z")
I’m sort of a connosiuer (Jesus, I hate that word, because I can NEVER spell it, OR its ONLY synonym, afficionado) of sleep aids. I _love_ the feeling of falling asleep, that feeling _right_ before I actually fall asleep, and especially the feeling of sort of being half-asleep and half-awake. There are many different varieties of pre-sleep feelings. I find that the best one comes from a combination of Xanax, Melatonin, and a _small_ dose of Nyquil with Dextromethorphan. You should ONLY do this if you do not have to do anything the next day, because you will sleep for a long time. Xanax, of course, is not over the counter though. But there are other ways to get close to the same effect. Several (3 to 5) capsules of valerian will produce a similar effect when mixed with a larger dose of Nyquil. Ambien (also not over the counter, I know) will give you very mild dissociative hallucinations if you deliberately stay up.
The best OTC sleep aid, in my opinion, is melatonin. I regularly take 3mg of melatonin before bed and have been doing so for years. I only mix it with the other stuff recreationally and only when the next day is clear.
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### Author:  [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bestest-otc-sleep-aid/599077/20 "2011-10-10T01:02:29Z")
Another vote for melatonin. It doesn’t “knock me out”, but if I take one at about 10PM, I’ll be asleep by midnight. Otherwise I’d have to wait until at least 8AM the next day to even start feeling sleepy, a time when I’m busy working with heavy machinery.
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