I was wondering if any Straight Dopers have tried either of these products to deal with insomnia. If so, what were your results? Did the product actually put you to sleep quickly? Did you sleep soundly all night? Were there any last effects after you woke up the following morning?
It’s really expensive Diphenhydramine aka Benadryl, which you can buy generic for $2 per hundred.
But yeah, it works OK, not too many side-effects, GRAS.
The active ingredient in ZZZquil is exactly the same as ordinary Benadryl.
Benadryl: Active Ingredient (in each tablet):Diphenhydramine HCl 25 mg
ZZZquil: Active Ingredients (in each 30 mL dose cup or 2 tablespoons)
Diphenhydramine HCl 50 mg
I’ll stick with ZZZweiser. 
And yeah, having worked in the pharmacy industry, it’s amazing how they take a simple medication and dress it up to be some fancy “new med.”
Yeah, I just watch a thing on the news not too long ago. They were comparing Excedrin vs Excedrin migraine.
Despite Excedrin migraine being like $2.50 more, they were unable to determine any differences between the two after lab tests results. The company declined comment.
as has been said, zzzquil is just an antihistamine (Benadryl.) same reason regular NyQuil has a reputation for knocking you the fuck out; though it uses a different antihistamine (doxylamine succinate) which is offered as a sleep aid as Unisom. generic versions are cheap as shit.
The “Neuro sleep” stuff just has some melatonin in it; you can get melatonin tablets for cheap at the drug store.
I’ve been using Alteril - works great! It contains L-Tryptophan, Melatonin and Valerian. I sleep soundly, but not so soundly that I wouldn’t be able to wake up in the event of an emergency. I wouldn’t suggest combining it with alcohol, because that makes me way too groggy in the morning.
One thing to remember about taking Diphenhydramine is that the sleep-inducing effects tend to wear off after repeated use. Tolerance builds up rapidly so that by the third day you may not notice any effect at all. Tolerance to daytime sedative effects of H1 antihistamines - PubMed
The reason ZzzQuil works nicely (one of my relatives swears by it, at least when she’s awake) is that a dose contains (in addition to diphenhydramine, a soporific antihistamine) a nice little shot of alcohol.
Then you should tell her to buy some (cheaper) diphenhydramine and down it with a shot. 
Ok I’m confused now. I was told-here on the board as a matter of fact-that the alcohol content was a “non-active ingredient” in the Nyquil (not ZzzQuil, but I still have the question about Nyquil, which is what you are really talking about), therefore it didn’t contribute to the effectiveness or the potency of the medicine.
I took diphenhydramine for years until I read that it can give you dizzy spells the following day.
Oh!, thought I, that’s why I’ve been having those little momentary brain-zaplike episodes! I quit dyphenhydramine and haven’t had dizzy spell since. However, the other major over-the-counter sleeping aid (I forget the name) doesn’t work as well. Maybe I’ll try the natural stuff again.
Jack DanielZZZ when needed.
At least these fan-dancers have some real pharma at the core of what they’re selling, unlike zinc-based cold remedies and the increasing amount of homeopathology on store shelves.
Huh. I’ve been using it off and on for bouts of insomnia (1-2 weeks) for years. The effects have never worn off for me. Knocks me clean on my ass every time. Hydroxyzine did the same thing, with ever so slightly less cottonmouth.
It’s also the only antihistamine that ever actually worked for hay fever and hives and so forth, which occasionally makes it tricky to stay conscious during allergy season.
I have been knocked unconscious by both Doxylamine succinate (unisom) and diphenhydramine hcl. The latter worked slightly better for me. Though, I was up and about in about 5 hours. It’s not as if one tablet will knock you out cold for 8-10 hours, which is considered a “normal” night’s sleep.
Melatonin and L-tryptophan never worked for me.
I need to point out to the drinkers that alcohol is terrible for sleep. Anything more than a glass of wine will make your sleep crappy. Don’t drink & dream.
Alcohol is not approved for OTC use for sleep (or anything else that I know of other than perhaps topical use for killing germs(that might be a different type of alcohol though)). There is no doubt that some people find it effective. This probably depends on the person, but last study I read was something like it helps to induce sleep, but decreases quality of later part of sleep.
Never the less - it is the same type of alcohol that is in - well alcohol you drink. So if a shot of bourbon + headache medicine helps your headache - NyQuil is likely to do so as well (last time I checked NyQuil was 25% alcohol) - so 50 proof.
There are only two FDA approved OTC ingredients for sleep - so even if a manufacture INTENDS for melatonin, valerian root, or whatever to be used for sleep - they CANNOT be listed as active ingredients. Even if they have studies to show it works.
I’m pretty sure they aren’t allowed to CLAIM the alcohol helps you - but they have to list on the label - and people are aware of it - and can make any inferences they like.
FWIW: NyQuil liquid is 25% alcohol and ZzzQuil is 10%
I’d like a cite for this. I was under the impression NyQuil was 10% alcohol and ZzzQuil was alcohol free.
Nope. I have a bottle of it in my hand. ZzzQuil says 10% alcohol.