September 2015 Moms

Unisom & Benadryl

I normally sleep like a baby (bad reference, like a toddler?), but during this entire pregnancy I've had insomnia. I have no problem going to sleep, but I'm up at 1am, again at 3 (if I make it back to sleep), and 5am. I could set a clock by it. I tried Benadryl, and it worked the first night, and not so much for the next week, even when I tried to double the dose.

Then I saw my OB who suggested Unisom. I was so excited to get to take an actual sleeping pill! However, I was up at 1,3 & you guessed it: it's 5am! And I'm wide awake! I did take it a little early last night (8pm), but I was already falling asleep. Plus I wake up at 6am when my hubby gets up for work (I'm a SAHM this time around). My husband has already suggested taking it later, my thought is to try two tonight. Or maybe an additional one at 1am when I first wake up? Thoughts, suggestions?

Re: Unisom & Benadryl

  • The people who take sleeping pills must still be asleep! Lucky b*tches!
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  • I have had the same issues as you. Unisom helped me for maybe one night..but I didn't wake up feeling groggy. Benadryl in the past has made me groggy in the morning so I haven't tried it during pregnancy yet. I would say try taking 2 Unisom and maybe a little later wouldn't hurt either. I hope you can get some sleep! I-)
  • I had the same issue after 2 weeks of just being up lol .. I began to sleep a little. I do take Benadryl though now.. I had these bad headaches and it enables me to sleep calmly ..
    I get at least 7 hours a night on a work night
  • Unisom has worked wonders for me! In your case I would recommend a healthy dose of melatonin because your body doesn't seem to get what's going on. I think the highest dose in pregnancy is 3-5mg or something
  • Thanks @melewen but I was under the impression melatonin was a no-no during pregnancy. The internet says it could lead to birth abnormalities, but I will ask my OB, thanks!
  • For my first pregnancy I was told to take a dose of benedryl and a 1/2 dose of unisom.  I wet the bed and had a really hard time waking up.  But if you aren't waking to use the bathroom I would try it.  I only did it only because sleeping that hard scared me.  After that I switched to benedryl only and didn't take the unisom again.  Good luck!  Being tired is hard!
  • You wouldn't want to take the typical dosage, because they're quite high, but under 3 mg is fine
  • Costco sells a huge bottle of 3mg melatonin pills for like $6! I normally swear by that but I've been doing the b6/unisom combo for morning sickness. A full tab of unisom does make me a little groggy in the morning, maybe take it at like 9-9:30 tonight and see how that works? I would be wary of taking one at 1am if you have to be up at 6am.
  • Just so you are aware, the active ingredient in unisom tabs is different than in the gel caps. The gel caps have diphenhydramine (benedryl) as the active ingedient which might be why they didn't work for you. The tabs have doxylamine which also has the added benefit of being an anti nausea med. I've been taking 1/2 a unisom tab about an hour before I want to fall asleep and it works great. Diphenhydramine has the opposite effect on me plus it makes my heart race
  • @missliz53 Thank you! My hubby did get the capsules. Going to get tabs!
  • @PerkinsFam3 I assumed since you were already talking about Benadryl earlier you had used that in the past to make you drowsy! Haha. Some people do get super sleepy & knock out with Benadryl (hence why people joke about giving it to their kids prior to a long flight or car trip).
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