Elizabeth Higdon, community pharmacist and instructor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences campus in Colchester, Vermont, discuss the basics of sleep aids sold at your local pharmacy with WRVO listeners.
Although diphenhydramine is used at a much higher dose in over-the-counter sleep aids, not everyone suffers from the drowsy side-effects of the drug.
“They don’t experience the drowsiness,” Higdon says. “Some people actually have what’s called a paradoxical effect, this is typically seen more in children, but it makes them excited and they get a lot of energy, which is not something you’re looking for from a sleep aid.”
