Cracking...The Sleep Code

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Common Sleeping Aids - What They Are

Everyone has a rough night of sleeping from time to time, or at stretches of time during one's life. That is a normal occurrence and things will resume back to normal, although it may not be a quick as we like at times.

For people who are continuously bothered by sleepless nights that interrupt their daily functions, help is needed. As a first step, people will turn to looking at what may be the cause for the sudden shift in problems in getting to sleep or in staying asleep at night.

Anything from diet, timing or types of intake, stress, daily exercise or not keeping things to a routine may be sources of sleeping issues as well as many more. Adjusting these things in life will help a person to find better sleep most of the time if not almost all of the time. However, there still seem to be some that require a little help to re-establish the normal sleeping habits. Many do not want heavily sedative medications like what physicians can prescribe, but go for medicines that are over-the-counter and not quite as strong.

Taking one of these medications should be considered with one's doctor before taking, even if it is not a prescribed medicine.. Why? Because these sleep aids can cause numerous problems when taken with certain medical disorders or medications already being taken. Sleep is important, but taking any medicine wisely is more important. Sleep aids available without a prescription are generally made to work through an antihistamine and occasionally also with a pain reliever. The pain reliever works to ease any aches and pains that may keep you awake and the antihistamine works to combat the histamine, which the body makes naturally to send signals to the brain for wakefulness.

Sleep aids come as two major varieties, although there are others. Diphenhydramine and Doxylamine are two of the most commonly used sleep aid products, also known as Sominex or Nytol and Unisom, respectively. None of these medicines are recommended for use while pregnant or breast-feeding, so alternatives will need to be found.

The Diphenhydramine, or Sominex and Nytol, may give the user side effects of dry mouth, dizziness, a groggy feeling lasting into the following day. This medicine is also not recommended for those who have glaucoma, heart conditions or an enlarged prostate in their medical history. The Doxylamine, or Unisom, may also cause sleepiness into the following day and should not be used if you have or have had problems with asthma, bronchitis, glaucoma, peptic ulcer or an enlarged prostate.

It is suggested that if you try any sleeping aid, that it be done using the smallest dosage and only making the dosage larger if needed, but not to exceed the maximum amount listing in the directions. Also, a good idea when trying a sleep aid is to do it on the night before one has a day off.

This is for two reasons - one, is that you are able to get a full night's sleep with the medication, which is considered to be at least seven to eight hours of sleep, and two would be that in the case of the listed side effects do bother the user, work or driving, etc. will not need to be performed while effected.