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How long after drinking until I can Nyquil myself to sleep?

SeeksSeeks Registered User regular
edited March 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
Title pretty much says it all.

Got a bit drunk last night. Three beers plus approx 35-40% of a fifth of vodka.

Didn't wake up until about 4 PM, didn't feel like moving until about 7 PM (laziness, not hung over... stopped feeling all effects from the alcohol at 4). I need to wake up at about 6:30AM tomorrow or my entire week's schedule is fucked, knowing my sleeping habits. And so, enter Nyquil.

Or at least, that's what I want. If it'll kill me, I guess I can hold off and just live with a shitty sleeping schedule.

What do you guys think?

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Seeks on
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  • AvicusAvicus Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Man it should be fine. If you're not drunk anymore your liver has processed the alcohol out of your blood stream. The only problem with taking the medications together is that Acetaminophen and alcohol together can cause liver problems. And maybe respiratory depression but thats normally only a problem with more powerful hypnotics, benzos, and opiates.

    You should be in the clear.

    Avicus on
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  • SeeksSeeks Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Awesome, thanks.

    Seeks on
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  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Oh, for fuck's sake, don't drink Nyquil just to sleep; buy some Benadryl (generic name is diphenhydramine) and take that with a beer.

    By taking Nyquil, you're getting the sleep aid along with a bunch of stuff you don't need. Benadryl and a little booze gives you the sleepiness effect without the other bullshit.

    Thanatos on
  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    edited March 2010
    In fact, don't even do that. While we're on the subject, don't take anything to help you sleep that wasn't specifically designed for that purpose, and don't then wash it down with alcohol.

    I've rowed that boat before and it ain't pretty.

    ceres on
    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • Monolithic_DomeMonolithic_Dome Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    OTC Sleep aids:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxylamine_succinate (NyQuil, Unisom, generics)
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphenhydramine (Benadryl, Simply Sleep, generics)

    Monolithic_Dome on
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  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    ceres wrote: »
    In fact, don't even do that. While we're on the subject, don't take anything to help you sleep that wasn't specifically designed for that purpose, and don't then wash it down with alcohol.

    I've rowed that boat before and it ain't pretty.
    Diphenhydramine is a sleep aid. It's even marketed as a sleep aid.

    It just happens to also be an antihistamine.

    Thanatos on
  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    You don't really even need medicine to get to sleep. Eat a can of cat food, huff a little glue, and drink some beer. It makes you feel extremely sick and tired, and you're able to fall asleep!

    PolloDiablo on
  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Doesn't NyQuil contain acetaminophen?

    That's bad news bears when combined with alcohol. Like a vicious nut-kick to your liver.

    Edit: Aaaand... I totally tl;dr the thread.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
  • TheSuperWootTheSuperWoot Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    You don't really even need medicine to get to sleep. Eat a can of cat food, huff a little glue, and drink some beer. It makes you feel extremely sick and tired, and you're able to fall asleep!

    Careful about ODing on the glue.

    TheSuperWoot on
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I have a feeling that the next recommendation will be heroin.

    Pretty sure you need a larger clearance between alcohol and acetaminophen than that.

    Darkewolfe on
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  • DisrupterDisrupter Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    As someone who discovered they are allergic to shrimp on new years eve, I can tell you this:

    Beer and Benadryl will put you to sleep.

    You will wake up much earlier then other drunks, and you will feel like you didnt even drink.

    Your girlfriend will also realize that she probably shouldnt have given you that Benadryl, and that you could have died.

    But yeah, 1 beer and Benadryl probably wont kill you, and will probably knock you out.

    10-20 beers and Benadryl will do the latter, but I cant guarentee the former...I may have gotten lucky.

    Disrupter on
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  • saltinesssaltiness Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Smoke some weed or something. What the fuck. This is stupid.

    saltiness on
    XBL: heavenkils
  • SeeksSeeks Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Beer and Benadryl? I'm kind of leery about mixing stuff, but I might research this a bit.

    Most OTC stuff doesn't work, and I knew someone who was a little... too into Ambien. Kinda scared me away from getting involved with that particular drug. I know Zanax doesn't work, at least not in recommended (or slightly more than recommended) doses.

    Nyquil works, or getting drunk works. I don't like smoking, but if not for that, a weed high would be almost perfect. Anyway, this isn't something I'm doing every night in any case. I can usually time it so that I'm sleepy when I need to be.

    Seeks on
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  • XaquinXaquin Right behind you!Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    they make tylenol simply sleep for this exact purpose I think.

    or maybe it's just called simply sleep.

    either way, it's OTC and works great

    Xaquin on
  • SeeksSeeks Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Is it new? I've tried lots of OTC stuff before, nothin' doing for the most part. It's been a few years, though.

    Seeks on
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  • musanmanmusanman Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    You don't really even need medicine to get to sleep. Eat a can of cat food, huff a little glue, and drink some beer. It makes you feel extremely sick and tired, and you're able to fall asleep!

    certainly not on topic, but always sunny is so amazing

    also, second what these guys are saying nyquil is adding a bunch of shit you don't need

    musanman on
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  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Seeks wrote: »
    Beer and Benadryl? I'm kind of leery about mixing stuff, but I might research this a bit.

    Most OTC stuff doesn't work, and I knew someone who was a little... too into Ambien. Kinda scared me away from getting involved with that particular drug. I know Zanax doesn't work, at least not in recommended (or slightly more than recommended) doses.

    Nyquil works, or getting drunk works. I don't like smoking, but if not for that, a weed high would be almost perfect. Anyway, this isn't something I'm doing every night in any case. I can usually time it so that I'm sleepy when I need to be.
    You know what Nyquil is? Alcohol, an antihistamine, Tylenol, and a cough suppressant.

    What I'm telling you is that you don't need Tylenol and the cough suppressant; they are, in fact, bad for you, especially when taken with alcohol. I'm not telling you to mix more drugs; I'm telling you to mix fewer, and just take the part of Nyquil that makes you sleepy, without the part that makes you not-sick.

    Thanatos on
  • SeeksSeeks Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Fair enough.

    Assuming you've experimented (maybe quite the assumption, I don't know), how would you compare a beer + benadryl to, say, 25%-30% a bottle of Nyquil? More effective, less effective?

    Seeks on
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  • MushroomStickMushroomStick Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    An overdose of acetaminophen can cause damage to your liver. The maximum amount of acetaminophen for adults is 1 gram (1000 mg) per dose and 4 grams (4000 mg) per day.

    Maybe drinking 25% - 30% of a bottle of Nyquil isn't such a great idea.

    If you want benadryl to put you to sleep fast, get the capsules, open a dose worth up and pour the powder into a glass of water, and then chug it. I'll be impressed if you make it all the way to bed after that.

    MushroomStick on
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    25-30% of a bottle of Nyquil, also known as sippin on sizzurp, is goddamn retarded. Like, monumental levels of stupid. Your liver hates you.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
  • SeeksSeeks Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Hmm. I always thought Sizzurp was a mix of stuff.

    Live and learn.
    If you want benadryl to put you to sleep fast, get the capsules, open a dose worth up and pour the powder into a glass of water, and then chug it. I'll be impressed if you make it all the way to bed after that.

    So you're suggesting I not mix it with anything? Would mixing it with beer be a bad idea?

    I do imagine I'll test it without any alcohol first in any case, but I'm just trying to gather opinions/ideas here. So far I'm getting that Nyquil is evil and that Benadryl is awesome. My goal is something that knocks me out quickly once in a while, not something that I need to take often.

    Seeks on
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  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Just to be clear: Nyquil isn't really evil, it's just something to be taken when you're sick. It helps you sleep, contains a cough suppressant and a pain reliever. Taking it in anything more than the recommended dosage is a bad idea. Taking it when you're not sick is also a bad idea.

    Drinking 25-30% of a bottle of Nyquil is sending your liver a delivery of pure hate.

    And no, Nyquil is most definitely not what people refer to as "sizzurp." There's way to much other stuff in there along with the dextro.

    Beer and a Benadryl also isn't great for you, but if you need to use it to sleep once every few weeks, no biggie.

    Thanatos on
  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I disagree entirely with the mixing thing. Purchasing a generic sleep aid from your local drug store would do the trick without any possible complications that might ensure from mixing these items. Like Thantos says, its not great, and it may work on the occasional "need to sleep" situations, but you would be better served by a drug specifically created for this purpose.

    That said, I would highly recommend not using this on anything but a once a month or rarer case. As someone who ended up unable to sleep without assistance for several months, it is a dangerous path to go down and it would probably be best to avoid it altogether. There are several teas that are marketed for this purpose that have very low addiction rates, and would probably be the best bet for continued use should you have these situations more frequently.

    Enc on
  • RobmanRobman Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Uh you definitely do not want to drink to sleep, the alcohol fucks up your sleeping patterns and leaves you fatigued. Talk to a doctor.

    Robman on
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Thanatos is right, any of the first level anti-histamines are usually great for sleep aids.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • RobmanRobman Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    bowen wrote: »
    Thanatos is right, any of the first level anti-histamines are usually great for sleep aids.

    No no no no fucking no. Do not self-medicate sleep aids.

    You are not a doctor. You do not have Internet Dude, M.D. as your credentials. Sleeping aids are incredibly dangerous to fuck around with, and are extremely notorious for creating a dependency.

    Talk to a doctor.

    Robman on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Robman wrote: »
    bowen wrote: »
    Thanatos is right, any of the first level anti-histamines are usually great for sleep aids.
    No no no no fucking no. Do not self-medicate sleep aids.

    You are not a doctor. You do not have Internet Dude, M.D. as your credentials. Sleeping aids are incredibly dangerous to fuck around with, and are extremely notorious for creating a dependency.

    Talk to a doctor.
    Okay, no one is telling him to get a prescription drug and abuse it.

    He was going to take Nyquil (an over the counter drug) to help him sleep. I advised him to instead take the two drugs from Nyquil that would help him sleep, and take those instead.

    As an occasional thing, this is not a big deal. At all. What you are suggesting is the functional equivalent of "you have a headache?! Don't take aspirin! See a doctor! You shouldn't be using pain killers to medicate yourself!"

    Thanatos on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Robman wrote: »
    Uh you definitely do not want to drink to sleep, the alcohol fucks up your sleeping patterns and leaves you fatigued. Talk to a doctor.
    A beer is not "drinking to sleep." It's just a catalyst for the Benadryl. Which is pretty much exactly what Nyquil uses as a sleep aid (alcohol + antihistamine).

    Thanatos on
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Robman wrote: »
    bowen wrote: »
    Thanatos is right, any of the first level anti-histamines are usually great for sleep aids.

    No no no no fucking no. Do not self-medicate sleep aids.

    You are not a doctor. You do not have Internet Dude, M.D. as your credentials. Sleeping aids are incredibly dangerous to fuck around with, and are extremely notorious for creating a dependency.

    Talk to a doctor.

    We're talking about an antihistamine here, not ephedrine or oxycodone. You'd be worse of taking acetaminophen(tylenol) in terms of ODing.

    And unless you're elderly or on your deathbed, drinking a beer is going to do nothing more than activate the particular antihistamine present faster.

    Thanatos isn't advocating him to pop 40 antihistamine pills and drink a 6 pack either.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • RobmanRobman Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I'm not talking about the dude OD'ing from a beer and a single pill/teaspoon of cough syrup, I'm talking about the OP establishing a dependency on chemical aids to fall asleep. Even if this is truly a one time thing, it's still an important message to get across - don't force your body to sleep, or you'll lose the ability to fall asleep on your own.

    Robman on
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    As far as I can tell, Diphendydramine does not have dependency issues. Of course IANADY, but, the drug fact sheet makes no mention of dependency forming. No more than advil or tylenol anyways. A few "sources" even mention that it's non-habit forming too.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • travathiantravathian Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    The stupid in this thread is truly baffling.

    While you're down at the drug store ask to talk to the pharmacist, explain the situation and get a recommendation. Print this thread out and take it with you, the pharmacist will get a good laugh out of it.

    travathian on
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Go to the doctor and tell him you're having a hard time sleeping and see if he writes you a prescription for 50mgs of an first level antihistamine too.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • rfaliasrfalias Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Oh jeez...
    Everyone gets a restless night once in a while. Taking something to help ease you in is not going to turn him into a sleepless zombie for ever. Jesus H Christ stop being such a silly goose.

    He's also not going to die from a failed liver if he took some tylenol PM and drank a beer one time. It's not like it makes your liver explode it's going to take a while to do.

    They also have to be at the same time, the combination of the two being there concurrently is what is the worst. Once the tylenol is out it's out. Do you stop drinking for a week after you take a tylenol because you had a headache? How many people take tylenol after a night of heavy drinking? You don't see that many dead college kids because of their livers exploding.

    You will be fine for fucks sake.
    This is some serious fear mongering in here.

    rfalias on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    bowen wrote: »
    As far as I can tell, Diphendydramine does not have dependency issues. Of course IANADY, but, the drug fact sheet makes no mention of dependency forming. No more than advil or tylenol anyways. A few "sources" even mention that it's non-habit forming too.
    Pretty much every sleep aid has dependency issues. Taking Benadryl once, however, is not going to cause them.

    If the OP was complaining about chronic insomnia, my advice would be entirely different.

    Thanatos on
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Also true.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Back in college, it took me about two months of increasing use to get dependent on sleep aids to fall asleep. I had shifted to a 2:00 am to 12:00 pm shift at a local bakery and was not at all prepared for it. After the first month of taking sleep aids about every three or four days, I found I wasn't able to sleep at all unless I took sleep aids, and then after about another month I was taking one every night or essentially not sleeping at all unless it was for an hour or so of passing out from sheer exhaustion.

    So, yeah. One night won't hurt you, nor will sometimes use. These days I wouldn't go near it even when I have insomnia. I do take some chamomile tea occasionally when I find myself struggling with insomnia, which usually works after an hour as well as sleep aids do. Most supermarkets have some variety of it in the $3.00 range.

    Just something to consider.

    Enc on
  • SeeksSeeks Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    No doubt. I can see how easy it'd be for sleep aids to become habit forming. As mentioned, I knew someone who basically became an Ambien addict. I don't know if Ambien is especially bad, but I know I'm staying away from it.

    Anyway, I appreciate the info so far everybody. Whatever I do, it's not something I'm going to be doing every night. I won't go into details, but I've only somewhat recently managed to attain a normal sleeping schedule, and I don't plan to fuck that up.

    Seeks on
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  • rfaliasrfalias Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Seeks wrote: »
    No doubt. I can see how easy it'd be for sleep aids to become habit forming. As mentioned, I knew someone who basically became an Ambien addict. I don't know if Ambien is especially bad, but I know I'm staying away from it.

    Anyway, I appreciate the info so far everybody. Whatever I do, it's not something I'm going to be doing every night. I won't go into details, but I've only somewhat recently managed to attain a normal sleeping schedule, and I don't plan to fuck that up.

    As an aside,
    Ambien is especially bad.

    rfalias on
  • AvicusAvicus Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Wow this really blew up way after he had already gone to sleep.


    Doxylamine is a antihistamine. It is also the strongest antihistamine/hypnotic that you can buy over the counter. Stronger than diphenhydramine. For the people saying to get benadryl instead, it really isnt a big difference.

    You can get it in formulations that have doxylamine succinate as the only active ingredient but the other ingredients in Nyquil, DXM and APAP, in small doses will have no negative effect on someone.

    The fact that the alcohol was already out of his system (because if it wasnt he would still be drunk) means that the APAP will have no negative effect (unless he already has liver damage).

    There is no reason not to take OTC antihistamines/hypnotics as long as you take the responsibly. On the packages it should tell you the dosages to take (make sure you follow these) and not to take them for more than 3 or so days in a row. If you take them too long you will have difficulty getting to sleep without them.

    Zolpidem (active ingredient in Ambien and Stilnox) is a very very weird drug. Think of it as a benzodiazepine but without some of the effects. It has the same abuse potential as other sleep aids but there is the side effect that if you try to not go to sleep you have vivid hallucinations. The next morning the user wll not remember a thing. MY dad takes Stilnox occasionally and god its awful. "Kristiiiiiiine, the palm tree is looking at me funny" (palm tree was a desk lamp)

    Avicus on
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