which is stronger: doxylamine succinate or diphenhydramine?

Benadryl is proven to cause greater complications the following day, greater then drinking to much alcohol. Stupid, fuzzy, un coordinated, and forgetful- effects build greater w usage and tolerance.. mixed w alcohol creates a spacey feeling, and then elevated results following day etc.. doxy succinate is more a tranquilizer, less of a zone, feeling, and more a knock out.. mixed w alcohol, can cause periods of black out, and memory loss of actions late in the evening... so honestly- folks are trying enjoy the zone, or shut down an active metabolism, or anxiety.. get honest. Pay attention to daily routine and the hours, and daily habits

NyQuil is diphenhydramine not Doxylamine Succinate. Unisom is the only OTC that has Doxylamine.

Be careful people that use sleep meds die 3.5 times sooner then those that don’t at just 18 does a year.

Firstly, I have to thank everybody for their inputs (no matter how crazy they may or may not sound!), as I've lived with insomnia since I was a kid (though definitely worsening through adulthood), as have my entire dad's side (seems there may be a genetic correlation which all GP's and specialists alike doubt irrationally, considering the presenting evidence and lack of thorough long-term study). I do also suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) which runs on both sides (affects only one individual besides myself on each side), and so experience the common inability to seemingly turn off my brain.

Ineffective therapies I have tried include meditation (mindfulness and visualization approaches); limiting electronics; First Nations'/Native American sleep music (very soothing in conjunction with other therapies, however ineffective on its own); and herbal remedies (magnesium, chamomile, L-Tryptophan, passionflower, save melatonin which helps ever mildly and I continue to take in conjunction with other therapies).

Effective therapies thus far include Seroquel (as said, prescribed initially for OCD panic attacks, yet not supposed to be taken as a sleep aid (however highly effective) for the side effects (especially for the brain fog and neurological spasms, nevermind the inevitable vital organ damage (kidneys & liver)); Trazodone (moderate effectiveness, yet caused severe dehydration and destroyed my stomach, leading to chronic diarrhea); marijuana (prescribed CBD and THC indica-heavy oils and flower - highly effective); and doxylamine succinate (Costco's Kirkland Signature brand with mild effectiveness).

That being said, I too have never received any of the stimulating effects of caffeine/coffee, yet seem to always feel sluggish and sleepy (ironically) after consumption.

I can't thank the initial poster and everybody else confirming their own experience with this, as crazy as it indeed sounds to the norm. I however have been also misdiagnosed with ADHD in the past and prescribed Dexedrine, which exacerbated my restlessness, so can't confirm it has anything to do with that illness.

Thanks again to everybody for their inputs, and keep on fighting the good fight (despite the common willful ignorance & malpractice of our physicians)!

Forgot to cover the possible myelin sheath damage aspect. I have been experiencing off and on neurological auto-immune like symptoms for the past 6 years, which my physicians have failed to so far accurately diagnose (previous diagnosis was Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which has lasted much, much longer than is purportedly typical). Multiple Sclerosis does run on my dad's side as well, so very much hoping it's not that, however much it might play into these theories of paradoxical reactions.

Very useful info. Thanks for sharing

Are you drunk? I have awful insomnia (wake every 1 hr or 30 min) and i dont spell like you.

Very true, but as an antihistamine Benadryl is the WEAKEST on receptors and is also not as sedating as doxylamine or hydroxyzine. Mirtazapine and Quetiapine are the most sedating Then Hydroxyzine is the most sedating then doxylamine, then some of the others. However, Promethazine is the STRONGEST in terms of antihistaminergic activity.

be extremely wary of "well meaning" advice online. "Oh, seroquel, it's great"..... BS. My doctor put me on it, i'm still trying to lose the 20+ pounds that it packed onto me because seroquel causes insane weight gain. Yeah, you'll sleep, you'll also start looking like a blimp. Now, i've always been an in-shape person with a good shape, so this is depressing AF. Also, if you take seroquel for a fair length of time, you can become dependent on it. I'm hoping that, by this time, you've tried the doxylamine and had some success. I've had some success with prescription trazodone, but again, there are things to beware of : it too can give you withdrawals if you take it too long. Suffice to say that, for very short term, or intermittently, it WILL cause sleep. Sometimes you have to take two, maybe three, dunno. Right now, i'm going to pick up my prescription Vistaril (an antihistamine / anticholinergic). It too will put you to sleep, but i gotta say that "as directed" is pretty much c**p; one of those does nothing. I end up taking three or four. Please hold all those "oh, how could you, that's so wrong" comments. You're not a cop and you're not my parent. I am old enough to make informed decisions on my own, thanks. And, total compliance is a lie (in terms of prescriptions); human nature is a huge variable, lots of people are not gonna follow the directions, this is just a fact. Yeah, insomnia is the WORST. Hope you've found a solution. In terms of the prescription things, probably best to mix it up : if you're on trazadone, take it only several times a week, the more benign things (like vistaril) can be for the other nights. the last thing you need is to fix one problem and cause another (possible prescri;ption med dependency). Feeling your pain, more than you know. Best wishes.

I was just looking for the differences here at and happened to found two Unisoms one with doxylamine and one with diphenhydramine hcl. Go figure. Thanks everyone :)

THanks for that. I thought I was crazy because benadryl always kept me up - now I know.

When I take zzzquil with diphenhydramine. I wake with such a dry mouth but not with doxylamine

I'm not being facetious, and I'm not sure what happened, but Army boot camp cured a lifetime of insomnia. I went in late (27) and didnt re-up, but for some reason insomnia wenr away and Never came back. 30 years of easy sleep since.

Seroquel will def keep you down, but I find that I have no motivation to do much of anything after waking up after 7 hrs, and thats like 5mg. I'm usually a very active person.. I switched to benadryl.