Sunday, July 18, 2010

Sleep apnea and benadryl

As you probably know, sleeping pills and sleep apnea isn’t a good match. In fact they make the situation worse by relaxing the muscles in the back of the throat. It is also advisable not to take any kind of antihistamines like benadryl.


What is an antihistamine?

Usually when people hear of antihistamines they think of allergies. Over the counter medicines like benadryl help folks with their allergies and they also help them go to sleep. Other allergy medicines with antihistamines in them are Dimetapp, Claritin and Zyrtec. What antihistamines do is block a chemical called histamine which blocks the nasal passage and can affect your breathing.

Antihistamines are also found in over the counter sleep aids as well. Nytol, Sominex and Unisom are a few of the sleep aids that contain antihistamines. There has always been controversy with the idea that sleeping pills actually help especially in the long run. These types of pills are taken usually for short term insomnia. They can be considered effective for a little while but overtime they lose there effectiveness.

The dilemma with benadryl and sleep apnea patients is that many who have OSA also have problems with allergies and sinuses. Do you take the benadryl? In my case I have and it does help with the allergies, but I find that my sleep apnea pattern of sleeping gets much worse. It is probably a good idea to talk to your doctor if you have sleep apnea and allergy problems to find out what is right solution for you.



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5 comments:

  1. Interestingly, last night I took benadryl, because I was stung by a yellow jacket, and I didn't want any reaction. My husband said my breathing was normal, and I wasn't snoring. I thought I had sleep apnea. Maybe that's not the problem.

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  2. Hi Mary,
    I would still have it checked out anyway by a doctor. thanks for the comment!
    David

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  3. weird because my 18 month old toddler has been suffering with waking up every 5 minutes or so gasping for air unless he is placed on his back with a rolled towel behind his neck to lift his chin and open his airways..he has a doctors appointment we have been fighting with this for a while now..i was up until sun up the other night just positioning him right so he could breath correctly and get a good nights sleep..if he rolls to his side it gets worse..we gave him a childs antihistamine and he slept a lot better ond on his own

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  4. Good luck Bill, I know my wife and I had similiar problems with my son
    David

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  5. Taking an antihistamine when you have sleep apnea makes the muscles in the throat relax. If you are on CPAP, a relaxed throat is a good thing. If you are NOT on CPAP, then it is not. This information is based on my sleep doctor's advice to me.

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