benidryl every night, melatonin and aleve and advil (I need to get this worked out)

[kaye222]

I am 52 and over the years have had a harder time sleeping.  So for a long while now I have taken a coctail of many things at night.  Melatonin, two benidryl, three advil and two aleve.   I had my check up and my liver came back two points mildly off.  And talking with the health person I realized I had been taking two of the same kind of pain killers.  SO I STOPPED that right away.  I also think it is the cause of many of my issues lately, headaches, stiff neck, aches, problems with my skin, eyes and even ringing in the ears.  I am wondering how long it will take for those to go away (or will they never?)  So no more pain stuff, I will suffer if it means I am messing up my liver.  But I have still been taking melatonin and benidryl and sometimes a couple tylonal.  I also take a claritin every morning.  Wondering now if the two benidryl at night have side effects long term??? anyone know if taking them religiously ever night to help knock you out is a problem? I still wake up early morning hours.  I guess I just want to detox what I can out of my body and see if all these aches and pains, head aches and night sweats (hot and cold) can have to do with what I have been taking every night and day.

[toourlady89]

Hello, Kaye,
You will find that several of your symptoms would be on this Ebook.  This is a short , few pages but Dr C Dean has "The Miracle of Magnesium" book that's amazing. You will be surprised to learn how true miracle Magnesium is. I just found it myself 6 months ago. It helped me sleep better, more relaxed, my memory is better, etc.  She is also on YOUTUBE.. and there are so many other info re Mg once you're there. Here is the link for the Magnesium Ebook

WHO NEEDS MAGNESIUM   http://www.nutritionalmagnesium.org/listmessenger/public/Magnesium_ebook.pdf

I take Mg Glycinate 3 caps a day per directions on the bottle. This does not cause loose stools unlike other kinds of Mg, such as Mg oxide. I hope it helps.

[silverfox67]

Instead of Benadryl, you might try Black Elderberry.  It works almost as well, and is natural. - My mom and I take it first thing in the morning to stop the hacking, coughing and runny nose that so many people have upon arising.

Seems to work all day for us.

[allmymarbles]

I have had insomnia from the time I suffered serious sleep deprivation. Since my wiring was damaged there is no real cure. I keep changing my sleep supplements (and sometimes meds) because they cease to be effective after a while.

Lately I am making do on camomile tea with honey, ashwagandha and Benadryl. I need the Benadryl anyway because I have asthma/allergies. (The second generation of anti-histamines are not nearly as effective.) If I wake up after two or three hours I take 1/2 of a .25 Xanax pill. I can keep myself from escalating with the Xanax because I use it erratically. Keep that in mind as you wean yourself off it. I do think, though, that it is a marvelous medication when you need it. The tiniest dose will stop a panic attack dead. As a side effect, it makes you drowsy. Oh, joy!

[Dalubaba]

I take Alprazolan 1mg. and zolpidin 5mg. as sleeping meds. I had started with 0.25 mg. of alpraazolam in 1991 and reached to 2mg. a year back. To reduce the dose of alpro i started taking zolpidine. I am trying to reduce the dose of alpro further by slowly tapering off. The above combination given me sleep up to 5 hours. my another problem is I have to go to bathroom 3 times after 4 am.Now I am taking some aurvedic drug for reducing urinary frequency. Any suggestion by way of medicines, exercise, yoga, acupressure or any holistic therapy.
I read a lot about cold showers. I am taking cold showers since last 2 months which does give me some alertness in a day time. I hope it helps me in getting a reduced dose of sleep medicines.

[Paxiled]

Somebody mentioned milk thistle.  Keep in mind this is a liver cleanser, and as such if you're on medication it has the potential to stop the full working of the medication because all medications are to an extent liver toxic.  There are liver aids that are better for daily use, such lipoic acid and other types of herbs, but milk thistle is generally used when the liver needs to be cleansed, not on a regular basis.

[17mthssober275]

Antihistamine drugs are bad, get off those. My man was using them for sinuses and to help him sleep and they had a rebound effect. They're to be used temporarily. They will end up plugging you up worse and cause mood swings and being not alert during the day. Same thing with the pain drugs, they are going to harm you, go off it all and see how you feel after a week. I bet you will feel better. Exercise, go for physio, or chiropractor. Read at night, that helps to put you to sleep. Keep in a relaxed atmosphere, and go off the drugs, don't hurt your liver. Keep calm and get happy!! Life is good, so just enjoy it!!

[evewisewoman]

Hi kaye,
I just finished reading your post. I'm in my fifties as well, a few years older than you. I have trouble sleeping too so I sympathesize. I agree with some of the other posters who say you have been over medicating yourself.
I'm referring to your mention of "cocktails" that you take to help you to sleep. I've tried a number of different sleep aids during the years. Then I stumbled onto Melatonin. Melatonin is the only thing I take at night. I
myself take 2 3 milligram tablets of fast dissolving Melatonin. I've tried a few brands of Melatonin from the health food store. Lately I've been buying Jamieson fast dissolving Melatonin. There are 100 tablets in a bottle and it lasts a long time. I also play classical music at night on the radio. I set the radio to play about 20 minutes and I'm usually asleep before it goes off.
I find sticking to homeopathic and natural remedies are better than advil or tylenol because I've heard they are not good for your liver. Another member suggested Milk Thistle tablets which are available from the health food store. I try and take one every day with a meal. You could also try
herbal teas at night to help you relax and don't watch the news at night.
I find it too upsetting sometimes. One herbal tea I like is called " Sleepytime" tea made by a company called Celestial Seasonings. It has ingredients in it like Chamomile flowers, spearmint leaves, lemon grass,
tilia flowers, blackberry leaves, orange blossoms, hawthorn berries and rosebuds. Makes me sleepy just writing down the ingredients of the sleepytime tea. You say you take a claritin tablet every morning. Do you have allergies? If you don't have a humidifier in your bedroom, you might consider getting one. They're helpful. I have allergies too. I don't know if you're aware of this but alleve is actually naproxen which is an anti inflamatory and I believe so is advil. If anything I've written here is helpful for you, I'm glad. Take good care, kaye. I think if you stop taking so much advil, tylenol or alleve, your liver will recover. You've been over medicating yourself and your body is rebelling. Go natural as much as possible. It's much kinder to your body and just as effective.
tea  

[Paxiled]

Only added that, by the way, because low carb diets are hard on the kidneys and liver if used for an extended period of time, and many people don't know that veggies and fruits are also largely carbohydrates.  Beans are very good for you, high in fiber and protein, but also contain carbs.  Lots of carbs are very good for you.  It's highly refined carbs such as white flour that are the big culprit when they are a problem, not all carbs.  

[Paxiled]

Just to state, veggies and fruits are carbs.  

[Caryopteris]

Be sure you stop the Tylenol completely if your liver is damaged.  That's very taxing on a damaged liver.  In future, please do not combine medications without checking with your doctor or pharmacist.  That's the danger of having OTC meds available to people who don't take the time to learn what can and can't be combined.  I've always been concerned about the way companies just add Tylenol to every cold medication and anything else they can think of.  It makes it too easy for people to accidentally double up.  

It sounds like you might have food allergies from the symptoms you are describing.  Start eating lean sources of protein like chicken, fish and small amounts of red meat and pork.   Lots of vegetables, whole fruits.  Few carbs unless they are high in nutrition or fiber.  No dairy.  See how you feel on that diet.  

[Paxiled]

The problem is you haven't tried to figure out the problem, you're just medicating it and medications often stop working after awhile, so you have to up the dosage, and then when you try to quit them they're both habit forming and sometimes addictive.  The dosage of melatonin might be a problem, as lower dosages than what most people take are better -- 1mg is usually better than 3 for most people, for example.  But melatonin really is a body clock setter, and if your body clock is fine it won't keep working.  All the pain killers you're taking are liver toxic -- the worst is actually the Tylenol.  They also can mess up the stomach (not the Tylenol, the ibuprofen).  Pain killers aren't sleep aids, they're pain killers.  Benadryl is an allergy med with the unwanated side effect of making people sleepy, so while many take it to help them sleep that's a drug problem the manufacturer would rather it hadn't had but has used to make more money.  But it's still not a sleep medication.  What you need to do is discover the why of the not sleeping, then you can attack the source of the problem.  If you want to continue medicating it, it's safer to do so with natural remedies assuming they're strong enough for you, such as valerian.  There are many herbal relaxants.  The strongest is California poppy, but it makes people drowsy, but with what you've been doing it probably wouldn't for you.  I don't sleep well because I suffered a rare thing called protracted withdrawal when I went off Paxil, and since nobody knows how to treat it I don't know how to fix it.  I take melatonin and a homeopathic remedy called Calms Forte, but I still wake up after a couple of hours because that's how my brain is wired now.  With you, there's probably something bothering you, but who knows?  As for cleaning your liver, yes, after you stop the pain meds you should do a good liver cleanse.  This would involve a milk thistle based formula, and there are many available.  You can research this by buying a good herbal.  But if you're on any medication keep in mind they're all liver toxic to an extent, and these liver cleansers can wash them out of the system before they have a chance to act, so be careful there.  You might want to look into therapy to see if there's some underlying emotional anxiety at work, or do some relaxation techniques such as meditation and exercise that might rework your system so it can relax and sleep.  Good luck.