Tylenol PM is an over-the-counter medication indicated to alleviate sleeplessness and mild to moderate body or head pain. This medication contains two active ingredients: diphenhydramine, an antihistamine and sleep aid; and acetaminophen, a pain...
According to the "Merck Manual Home Health Handbook," sleep can be disturbed by many things such as stress or diet. Lack of sleep makes people tired throughout the day and unable to perform optimally. Over-the-counter sleep aids help...
A restful sleep is important to good mental and physical health, according to the National Sleep Foundation. But with stress, changes to daily activities or aging sleep patterns are disrupted. Taking longer to fall asleep or inability to stay...
Excedrin PM is an over-the-counter medicine that is used to relieve symptoms of cold , flu, fever and allergy. It also reduces pain and aids in falling asleep. The active ingredients in Excedrin PM are the analgesic acetaminophen and the...
Medicines that contain "PM" in their name are usually intended as sleep aids. Brand-name drugs such as Tylenol PM, Excedrin PM, Advil PM and Midol PM all have diphenhydramine as a common active ingredient. Diphenhydramine HCl, or citrate, is...
During allergic reactions—including both reactions to seasonal airborne allergens like pollen and reactions to food in sensitive individuals—immune cells secrete a chemical messenger called histamine. This chemical causes the classical...
Excedrin PM is an over-the-counter (OTC) medication indicated for the relief of symptoms caused by pain with sleeplessness in patients older than age 12. This medication contains two active ingredients: acetaminophen (analgesic) and...
Sometimes it doesn't matter how tired you are, how comfortable your mattress is or how warm and cozy you are, insomnia still has its way of wreaking havoc with your sleep schedule. For some, this condition happens occasionally; for others, it...
Benadryl is the brand name given to the drug diphenhydramine, most commonly used as an antihistamine for those suffering from allergy symptoms such as runny nose, itchy eyes and a sore throat. However, the drug is also used to help reduce...
Advil PM is an over-the-counter (OTC) oral medication intended to alleviate symptoms associated with sleeplessness and minor aches and pains. This medication contains two active ingredients: a nighttime sleep-aid (diphenhydramine citrate) and a...
Excedrin is an over-the-counter drug that acts to temporarily treat pain due to various causes. Manufactured by Novartis Consumer Health, Excedrin contains a combination of medications, and is available in several different strengths and products...
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Midol is an over-the-counter oral medication manufactured by Bayer HealthCare that is indicated for the alleviation of symptoms associated with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). There are five...
Choosing the best over-the-counter sleep medicine depends on how well it works for each individual. OTC sleep medications affect the body in different ways, and experimentation with the various types of sleep aids will help make the decision as to...
Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) is an allergy medication, though children may take it for coughs, as a sleep-aid, for motion sickness and as an addition to epinephrine in a severe allergic reaction. It is an H1 antihistamine, which means that it blocks...
Acetaminophen, commonly known as Tylenol, has both fever lowering and pain relieving capabilities. Although popular and widely used, it has its trade-offs when used on a regular basis. Tylenol.com reports that each 500 mg gel cap contains 500 mg...
Tylenol PM is comprised of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine. These ingredients are used as a pain reliever and sleep aid. Tylenol PM relieves pain that can cause sleeplessness. Individuals only seeking assistance in getting to sleep should opt...
Being unable to sleep makes all of your other problems and stresses worse. But a study of diphenhydramine, the most common over-the-counter sleep aid, published in the October 2002 "Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology," found that by day four...
A product called Tylenol Elixir was introduced in the United States in 1955 as the first aspirin-free pain reliever. Designed for children, it required a doctor's prescription. Since then, manufacturer McNeil Laboratories has made over 40 health...
Advil is the brand name of a line of over-the-counter medications. Specific medications sold under the Advil label include Advil PM, Advil Liqui-Gels, Advil Cold and Sinus, and Advil Allergy. Although the ingredients in Advil products are...
Over-the-counter sleep aids are some of the most common medications found at pharmacies and grocery stores. They are regulated by active pharmaceutical ingredients and differ from natural and herbal sleep aids. The most common ingredients found in...
Sleep aids are over-the-counter (OTC) remedies and prescription medications designed to promote sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), 48 percent of Americans report occasional insomnia and 22 percent experience insomnia often....
Antihistamines work by restricting the body from producing a chemical called histamine. The release of histamine in the body causes common allergic reactions such as sneezing, hives and an itchy throat. While antihistamines are primarily used to...
Chicken pox is caused by the highly contagious varicella-zoster virus. Spread through inhaling the virus after an infected person has coughed or sneezed, through direct contact with the virus shed from a chicken pox lesion, or through oral...
Two common medications used as sleep aids are diphenhydramine and zolpidem. Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine that causes sleepiness and fatigue; it is the active ingredient in the over-the-counter allergy medicine, Benadryl. Zolpidem is the...
There is, as yet, no cure for Alzheimer's disease, but there is treatment to help alleviate symptoms and try to slow the development of new ones. Treatment comes in two main forms: behavioral intervention and drug therapy. Both are integral parts...
A variety of over-the-counter sleep aids are available, usually with the antihistamine diphenhydramine as the active ingredient. Beside treating allergies and the common cold, the drug can be used as a treatment for rashes, itching, insect bites,...
Alzheimer's disease affects 5.5 million people in the United States, and the numbers are predicted to rise as more people live into old age. Treatment is usually a combination of cognitive and behavioral interventions, drug therapy specific to...
The symptoms of a cold can make a child feel very uncomfortable. Many parents are inclined to help their child feel better using cough and cold medicines. However, there is no evidence that over-the-counter cough medicines actually help children...
Tylenol PM is a drug used to reduce pain and discomfort that make getting to sleep difficult. Tylenol.com points out that it can be used temporarily to improve such symptoms, but the drug should not be used to treat sleeplessness that is not...
