To Your Health: Pharmacist advises caution when using sleep aids

Melatonin is one of the most popular non-prescription options. Pallot notes that our bodies naturally make this supplement.

“There’s not a lot of great evidence for it helping, but it’s not going to cause any harm to most people,” she said.

Pallot also wants people to know what’s actually in many over-the-counter sleep aids.

“The other over-the-counter sleep aids, they all contain Benadryl,” she said.

Pallot explains that these products work by making people drowsy, which can be problematic, especially for older adults.

“We try to avoid Benadryl because it can lead to falls,” said Pallot. “We don’t want people breaking their hips.”

Instead of just thinking about sleep medications, Pallot suggests people should check if another health issue is affecting their sleep.

“A lot of the time, there’s probably something else underlying that might be causing the difficulty sleeping,” she said.

Pallot says pain can make it hard to stay asleep, and stress or anxiety can keep people up at night.

She believes that identifying and treating these problems can help people sleep better than using sleep aids alone.

“Let’s talk to the doctor and get a plan on board for that,” said Pallot.

Pallot encourages anyone having trouble sleeping to think about what might be causing it before reaching for over-the-counter products.

“It’s always good to look at, is there something else going on that might be affecting my sleep before kind of reaching for the sleep aids?” she said.

by Dave Branco

To Your Health: Pharmacist advises caution when using sleep aids

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