Anyone use tylenol PM as a Sleep Aid ?

[DannyPh]

I use Melatonin ( 3 mg ) as a sleep aid now and I was wondering if anyone uses Tylenol Pm as a sleep aid and if so are the results better than Melatonin ? I have been taking Tylenol Extra Strength for knee pain along with the Melatonin. If the Tylenol Pm helps with the sleep I can stop the Melatonin.

[LoQ]

Tylenol PM has benedryl in it, in addition to the Tylenol. I don't think that is your best choice of sleep aids.

I generally take 2.5 mg melatonin, but I sleep better when I take only 1 mg. of melatonin. I don't know what your reason for wanting to stop taking the melatonin is, but if it's working for you, I think I would stick with that over the Tylenol PM.

[slaaplekker]

I need a couple of knee replacements and just about every other joint in the body hurts too, so I usually take Ibuprofen or naproxen since they work better on joint pain. Add a heating pad and that normally helps me enough to deal with the pain.

For sleep I add two Melatonin and two Diphenhydramine (genric for Benadryl). I have really bad allergies so the Benadryl helps some and adds the sleepiness component as a bonus.

If you look at the active ingredient in Tylenol PM besides acetaminophen you will see it is Diphenhydramine. Much cheaper to just buy that instead of Tylenol PM. I usually pick Diphenhydramine up at Costco for something like $4 for 300 tablets.

Melatonin besides helping your Circadian rhythm ( Sleep/Wake Cycle) is a powerful anti-oxidant. Since both of those are good things I can't see any reason to give up Melatonin except to save a few dollars. Tylenol PM doesn't have those positive attributes.

If you don't need to the PM part of Tylenol PM the I would stick with the Melatonin/Tylenol combination if it is working for you. If you need to add something else to help sleep then Diphenhydramine to Tylenol or Ibuprofen/naproxen (works for 12 hours) would be the way to go.

just my 1.5 cents worth
John

[Julie]

You should be very careful with Tylenol as it eventually has a "backlash" effect, e.g. you will develop headaches (the kind you try to get rid of when you normally take just a couple for headaches). Plus it's definitely not good for your liver on any long term basis.

[rubymom]

I occasionally take tylenol pm (actually a store brand equivalent). I tend to wake up alot in the night to roll over and this helps to minimize that, I assume because it minimizes my pain/discomfort that ultimately leads me to want to roll. I do find that it only lasts about 6 hours. I also find that after three nights or so, it doesn't work as well. So I take a break for a few nights. At my last visit with my sleep doctor, I asked him if it was ok to take this every night. He said it is fine. (I don't take it every night though--maybe a couple times a week).

I've never taken melatonin so I have no comparison to offer on that.

[bearded_two]

I have fibromyalgia and take 1,000 mg generic tylenol and 100 mg tramadol every four to six hours with my doctors' (GP and rheumatologist) blessings. I asked my GP about possible liver damage from the tylenol; he asked me how much alcohol I drink (none) and he told me there is no problem. I recently had a CBC and my liver function is good.

It may make a difference that I am over 6 feet tall and weight 250 pounds (I am both fat and fairly muscular)

[jdm2857]

Antihistamines are not the best sleep agents because they can affect the normal stages of sleep. Many sleep docs prefer Ambien because it does not do that. But Ambien is prescription only.

[breakfast]

I asked my GP about possible liver damage from the tylenol; he asked me how much alcohol I drink (none) and he told me there is no problem.

That's not entirely true. Abstaining from alcohol reduces the risk of hepatic damage from Tylenol but it does not entirely eliminate it with long-term use.

[BlackSpinner]

FDA says tylenol pm has no benefits

The FDA reports that patients taking the drugs did not fall asleep significantly faster than those who took only acetaminophen or the sedative, known as diphenhydramine citrate.

[rubymom]

Well certainly everybody is different. For me, I don't have trouble falling asleep. It's the staying asleep that is generally my issue. When I'm very stressed out or have an ache or pain somewhere, it helps me to stay asleep. And that's good enough for me.

[jdm2857]

If you don't have problems falling asleep, regular Tylenol would probably be just as effective for your aches and pains. Better yet, don't pay J&J for their advertising and use generic acetaminophen instead.

[LoQ]

If you don't have problems falling asleep, regular Tylenol would probably be just as effective for your aches and pains. Better yet, don't pay J&J for their advertising and use generic acetaminophen instead.

I assume that when you use the phrase "regular Tylenol" you are opposing that to "Tylenol PM." I just wanted to point out that regular strength Tylenol (650 mg. dose) will probably not make even a tiny bit of difference in pain level for the vast majority of adults. I think this is the chief reason why so many people will say that Tylenol doesn't work for them---because they took the regular strength and it didn't work. Of course not. It's not enough. Most adults are going to need 1000 mg. So buy the extra strength, and as jdm suggests, generic acetaminophen is just as good but costs significantly less.

If you have the regular strength already, don't throw it away. Just take 3 tablets instead of 2, and you'll get a therapeutic dose.

If you tried Tylenol in the past and think it didn't work, try it again at the right strength. After all, acetaminophen is the actual pain-reliever in a great many narcotics prescribed for pain. The narcotic element is more of an enhancer to the acetaminophen than a pain reliever, though it does do some of pain relief. But acetaminophen is the workhorse. Acetaminophen also DOES work on inflammatory pain, and many times it is much better for pain relief than NSAIDs. However, it is not an anti-inflammatory and will do very little about the inflammation, which is the cause of the pain. NAIDs attack the cause and are a good long-term strategy; acetaminophen attacks the pain and an excellent immediate strategy for dealing with the pain.

I broke my leg and when I started walking again, the pain was unbearable, even though I was taking 800 mg (4 tablets) of ibuprophen every 4 hours. Once I started alternating that with 1000 mg. of acetaminophen every 4 hours, but 2 hours out of phase with the ibuprophen, I could walk relatively pain free. It was amazing how much better acetaminophen was at killing inflammatory pain.

[jdm2857]

Yes, I was using "regular" to differentiate "Tylenol" from "Tylenol PM", not to refer to dosage.

[Danoncpap]

I to used the 3mg Melatonine and Kava tea as a combination. I only used Tylenol PM on weekends. I stopped using everything 3 months into it and I'm now trained to go to dreamland once I feel the pressure on my face. I cant believe that I put off my treatment for years in lieu to my current huge quality of life improvements: weight loss, increased energy, not so grumpy any more, working out on a regular basis, not falling asleep behind the wheel, enjoy going out without notice, off the couch and out of the house allot more. I do have issues, when I have one to many beers or glasses of wine (I snore again under these times) easy fix.... until next rare party. Hope this helps
Dan