Question by COblonde: How easy is it to get hooked on sleeping pills? I’m going through chemo & take Tylenol PM to sleep?
I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep without them if I take them too frequently?
Best answer:
Answer by GAgirl
if you are taking chemo then getting hooked on sleeping pills should be the least of your worries.
What do you think? Answer below!
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Most sleeping pills are based off a substance called Benzodiazepines.
Touted as much safer depressants with far less addiction potential than barbiturates, today these drugs account for about one out of every five prescriptions for controlled substances.
Although benzodiazepines produce significantly less respiratory depression than barbiturates, it is now recognized that benzodiazepines share many of the undesirable side effects of the barbiturates.
Prolonged use can lead to physical dependence even at doses recommended for medical treatment. Unlike barbiturates, large doses of benzodiazepines are rarely fatal unless combined with other drugs or alcohol.
It’s only Diphenhydramine…which is Benedryl. It’s not addictive. Now, if you THINK you can’t sleep without it, then that’s a psychological addiction, not physical. Your body can certainly live without it, but in your mind-you can’t.
Talk to your oncologist about your sleep problem. I have been through chemo and they gave me something non-addictive called Trazodone. It’s an anti-depressant, but when given in small doses (50-100 mgs.) it’s a wonderful sleeping pill. It worked much better than Tylenol PM.
Good luck!
there are a lot of sleeping pills out there that carry a risk of dependency, but Tylenol pm is not one of them. The pharmacist also suggest benadryl as a good sleeping medicine without being hooked. You can take the tylenol pm w/o worry of getting hooked however long term use of tynelol itself does carry risk. If you are going to be taking these over a month, I would probally stop and ask my doctor for something mild w/o the tylenol. God Bless~
They gave my father-in-law the same thing while he had chemo. No chance of addiction, it is simply an anithistemine.
Good luck with your chemo!
A good alternative to sleeping pills is Melitonin. You won’t wake up groggy or anything like that.
Thats good but they are not sleeping pills.
I’m sure the doctor has told you what to take so I wouldn’t worry to much about it.
I read about this old lady going thru chemo, she couldnt eat cus of nausea and she couldnt sleep at night doctor gave her many medications but none work then one day she called the doctor that she couldnt take it any more, he asked her to ask one of her grandsons how to roll a joint, her Family couldnt be any happier now
Tylenol PM is not a sleeping pill. You can ask your doctor for a better alternative like Zolpidem.
Tylenol PM is not addictive, Don’t Worry and Best of Luck!!!
Keep the face of the clock away from your sight, and go to your nearby vitamin shop and find an hearbalistic way to go to sleep, the Vitamin Shoppe has Snooz-In Plus with melatonin.
Good luck, go natural and God Bless your recovery
better use melatonine