[sw...] Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 I looked into it thoroughly and couldn't find any indication that there were either long term consequences or withdrawal issues for using either benedryl (a total of 3 pills a night, counting middle of the night redosing) or melatonin (again, a total of 10mg a night counting middle of the night redosing). I have long been weirded out by my total dosage being so much more than anyone else typically would need/take on a nightly basis for so long, but have been repeatedly assured that it's safe. I'm trying just stopping and seeing where I stand. Has anyone else taken either or both of these things for a prolonged time and then stopped? I'm not worried about anything like benzo withdrawal symptoms, but what I'm mainly trying to understand is how to interpret my results. For example, if I go a few days and my sleeping is still in the toilet, should I interpret that as where I'm really at, or should I allow a week or two or more for my body to adjust before assessing my real situation without them? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Be...] Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 I don't have any experience with the doses you describe but I did have several nights of difficulty falling asleep when I quit 25mg Benedryl which I had taken for nearly a year. I didn't notice much when I quit the melatonin. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest [Be...] Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 I used to take an occasional antihistamine for sleep (not Benadryl but similar) and it caused me to be very depressed. I've also taken a low dose of melatonin, no more than 1 mg and stopped this without a problem. In fact I sleep better now without anything. P.s. just noticed you're on a huge dose of melatonin so don't stop this suddenly. Better find someone else to advise as I only took one tenth of this amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[pr...] Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 i do take only benadryl when i get a headache from an odor or chemical. i don't take anything for sleep and i don't sleep through the night yet as i am just where i am at with basically no sleep during the morning hours yet. but i have stopped benadryl suddenly after taking about 25mg nightly for long periods of time and don't notice any wd types of symptoms from it. i stopped tkaing the melatonin at this time so don't have anything to offer about that. i would taper from that one for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[sw...] Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 Thanks for the input. If anyone is curious how things worked out, I largely went without either melatonin or benedryl for a little over three weeks. I wanted to give it at least that long just to ensure that whatever I was dealing with was the real situation and not some sort of rebound issue. Basically, there wasn't any noticeable withdrawal except for a delay in sleep onset that was most pronounced for the first 3-5 days, but wasn't the end of the world, either. I mainly just held my previous pattern of taking a while to fall asleep and waking in the middle of the night for a few hours before falling back to sleep (though sometimes I never made it back). Basically, a lot of it was life as usual, but there is no question that it was a lot harder to fall asleep and that it was where I really am. I went back to the melatonin and dropped the benedryl and seem as good as I was before this experiment, so I'm sticking with that arrangement, so I definitely came out ahead from testing things out. I am really glad to be on half of what I was, before, and look forward to dropping the rest as soon as my body can handle things on its own. On the plus side, although it was extremely minor, I did notice that I was a bit more capable during the day. Nothing major like it was really holding me back, but I guess I just felt a little more crisp (though that's still in the context of dealing with benzo symptoms). I plan to hold here for a while, no less than several months, and then try dropping or cutting down on the melatonin. I definitely still have serious sleeping issues, but I'm glad to see that they've improved to where I need less. I look forward to the day that I don't need anything. Best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Be...] Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 So glad it went well. I, too, noticed feeling a little "thick" the day after taking Benedryl but never noticed any residual effect from 3 mg melatonin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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