There is nothing worse than laying awake at night, wishing you could fall asleep. People often turn to over-the-counter or prescription medications to help them fall asleep and stay asleep. Nyquil and melatonin are common sleep aid medications used to help treat insomnia. While they are both generally regarded as safe, you should exercise caution if you are thinking about taking them together.
Melatonin is a hormone that is produced in the pineal gland and helps to regulate your immune system, sleep-wake cycle, and mood. Melatonin levels are usually highest at night and drop during the day.
People with sleep-related disturbances like insomnia, jet lag, and shift work sleep disorder often take melatonin supplements to help them fall asleep and stay asleep.
The body usually produces more melatonin when it is dark. People who have trouble falling asleep at night may benefit from taking melatonin before they go to sleep. Those who are blind, live in locations with strange sunrise or sunset times, or work night shifts often have problems with melatonin production.
Antihistamine medications are usually used to treat allergic reactions. They include drugs like Benadryl, Zyrtec, and Claritin. Many cold and cough suppressant medications like Nyquil also include antihistamine ingredients.
When the body is exposed to an allergen, it has a histamine response that can cause a runny nose, inflammation, coughing, and sneezing. Antihistamine medications block the histamine response to prevent these symptoms.
Besides preventing symptoms of allergic reaction, first-generation antihistamines can also cause drowsiness. Because of this, many people use drugs like Nyquil to treat both their cold symptoms and to help them fall asleep.
While there are no specific studies about mixing Nyquil and melatonin, most doctors recommend against taking the two medications together.
When you take two sleep aid medications at the same time, you may experience double the drowsiness and have a hard time waking up. This can lead you to feel sluggish the next day, or even cause you to sleep through alarms and emergencies.
Experts say that the active ingredients in antihistamine medications can actually make sleep disorders worse over the long term. Mixing melatonin and Nyquil may cause sleep walking or make insomnia worse.
Nyquil and melatonin both cause central nervous system depression. Central nervous system depression can lower blood pressure and heart rate to dangerous levels.
In addition to lowering blood pressure and heart rate, sedative medications and sleep aids can cause respiratory depression.
Respiratory depression is a potentially dangerous condition where a person’s breathing slows down significantly. It is usually caused by drug interactions or overdoses.
Sleep disorders are problems with the amount, quality, or timing of sleep. They often lead to daytime drowsiness, irritation, trouble concentrating, and poor immune function. Sleep disorders include insomnia, shift work sleep disorder, sleepwalking, narcolepsy, and restless leg syndrome.
Taking nyquil and melatonin together can have an additive effect that causes extreme sleepiness, respiratory depression, and sleep disorders. When they are taken together over long periods of time, they can disrupt a person’s circadian rhythm.
Taking melatonin with Nyquil is not recommended. Taking the two drugs together may help you sleep for a single night, but can have long-term negative effects.
If you struggle with getting quality sleep at night, using a nootropic might be a good solution. Nootropics use all natural ingredients to help regulate your circadian rhythm, ensuring that your sleep-wake cycle follows a healthy pattern.
Using a nootropic can help you avoid insomnia while avoiding sedative effects and other negative side effects that are so often associated with sleep aids.
Zero In is a nootropic that is specifically formulated to help you sleep more peacefully at night while feeling alert and focused during the day. Their ingredients include velvet bean, turmeric, and pine bark extract, all of which can sharpen your mental acuity during the day while helping you sleep better at night.
Many people in the United States have problems with sleep and turn to over-the-counter medications for relief. Unfortunately, this can lead to worsening sleep problems over time and dangerous conditions like central nervous system and respiratory depression.
Taking Nyquil and melatonin together should not be used to treat insomnia or other sleep disorders. Using a natural supplement like nootropics is a safer, healthier option for people who need a little help falling asleep and feeling alert during the day.