I have not weighed in on this as I was away. You have received some
information from others already so here is my two cents.
Tylenol PM has diphenhydramine (Benadryl) which as you have been advised
can dry up mucus and cause drowsiness (surprise!). But it is only 25 mg
and should be out of your system by 6-8 hours after taking it so unless
you plan to sing first thing in the morning, it should not affect your
voice.
My real concern is that you are apparently under the impression that
taking a medication to help you sleep when the apparent reason is you
can't sleep is your roommates - apparently it's a noise issue?? Sleep
medications should be used rarely in unusual circumstances, such as, a
trip across several time zones, an illness or stressful life event or
difficulty sleeping in a new environment. Chronic use of sleeping meds
can result in long term disruption of normal sleep cycles.
We rely on regular cues to allow our brains to begin the process of
inducing sleep. If we always add a medication, we will become dependent
on the medication. Please understand that diphenhydramine is NOT
addictive. Our brains get used to having the medication at the time of
sleep so we find we must take it or something more potent to get to
sleep.
The safest thing is learning to relax and allow sleep to happen. We
have discussed relaxation in the past and there are sources of
relaxation training in bookstores. Even Valarian and melatonin in my
opinion should be used rarely.
Your roommates and you should discuss mutual respect for each others'
sleep needs.
Without adequate sleep, you can have excessive daytime drowsiness, poor
learning, poor memory and potentially increased risk of illness.
John
John Messmer, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Family and Community Medicine
Penn State Hershey Medical Center
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dolphin aura [mailto:dolphin_aura@y...]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2002 6:15 PM
>> I've recently started taking tylonel to help me sleep.
> I almost absolutly need to take it as I live in a
> dorm and my roommates go to sleep about 4 hours after
> I would like too.
> Anyway, will taking them effect my voice at all?
>
|
