Several nights a week, I have trouble sleeping. It’s nothing I would consider serious enough to see the doctor about and most of the time my insomnia can be taken care of by using an over-the-counter sleep aid. This mild insomnia has been going on for several years and as a result I’ve tried just about every over-the-counter sleep aid on the market. Out of the many I’ve used, my two favorite sleep aids are Excedrin PM and Tylenol PM.
Both of these medications include a pain-reliever as well as a sleep aid. Usually it’s recommended that they are used when your sleeplessness is accompanied by a headache or muscle pain, but in my case I find I have trouble sleeping much more often than I have headaches or muscle pain, so I use both of these products mainly for their sleep aid qualities.
The ingredient Excedrin PM uses for a pain-reliever is acetaminophen, which is a non-aspirin pain-reliever. Since Excedrin PM does not contain aspirin, it is safe to use if you have an aspirin allergy. If you are suffering from a headache or muscle pain with your sleeplessness, Excedrin PM is a good choice of all-in-one medication since it’s a fairly strong over-the-counter pain-reliever. The ingredient Excedrin PM uses for a sleep-aid is diphenhydramine, a common ingredient in over-the-counter sleep aids. While it is generally accepted that diphenhydramine is not addictive, I find that if I take Excedrin PM for several nights in a row I have trouble falling asleep on the first night I do not use it. Usually I fall asleep rather quickly (within 45-min of taking the pills) and sleep pretty deeply. The first night I use Excedrin PM I usually awake refreshed and alert in the morning. On the other hand, if I have to use Excedrin PM for several nights in a row, I find that I wake-up feeling groggy each morning and not even going back to sleep helps me to feel more awake.
The pain-relieving ingredient found on Tylenol PM is paracetamol (a form of acetaminophen) which is similar to the pain-reliever included in Excedrin PM. Although they use similar ingredient to relieve pain, I find that Tylenol PM is not as strong a pain reliever as Excedrin PM. If you are having milder pain with your sleeplessness, Tylenol PM maybe the way to go. The sleep-aid found in Tylenol PM is diphenhydramine, the same ingredient found in Excedrin PM and many other over-the-counter sleep aids. In addition to having a seemingly milder pain-reliever, I find that it takes me a little longer to fall asleep using Tylenol PM when compared to Excedrin PM. After taking Tylenol PM and falling asleep, I find that occasionally I will awake during the night, but usually have no trouble falling back to sleep without having to take more medicine. I rarely experience the morning grogginess associated with having taken several nights of Excedrin PM when using Tylenol PM even for several nights in a row.
I have found that both Excedrin PM and Tylenol PM helpful in relieving the occasional nighttime aches and pains as well as for helping to relieve sleeplessness. Excedrin PM is definitely the stronger of the two both in terms of pain-relief and sleep-aid. If you are not feeling sleepy at all during the time you are supposed to be asleep, want to take a sleep-aid once to get your sleep schedule back on track or are having severe pain or a migraine with your sleeplessness, Excedrin PM would be a good choice for you. If you have experienced several nights of mild insomnia (feeling tired, but not quite able to get off to the land of nod) or are experiencing a mild headache or muscle pain, Tylenol PM may be more your speed.
