If you are scouting everywhere to find some of the best sleep medicine, which are available over the counter, the first thing you need to do is to decide which type would suit you the best. Most over-the-counter (OTC) options for the best sleep medicine fall into any of these three main types: herbal remedies, antihistamines, and melatonin.
The basic difference between the three types of some of the best sleep medicines that are available over the counter are as follows:
Herbal remedies – These pills have a lighter effect.
Anti-histamines – These pills have the strongest sedative effect.
Melatonin – It helps in regulating disrupted sleep after shift work or jet lag.
Given below are some of the most popular and best sleep medicines that are available over the counter:
KIRKLAND Signature Sleep Aid
In the antihistamine group, you would find this to be most effective and powerful over the counter sleeping aid. The active ingredient, doxylamine, is an antihistamine. It is known for its strong sedative effect. Thus, as soon as you take this pill you would feel drowsy both mentally and physically which is what you are exactly looking for in a sleeping pill. The best thing about this variant of sleeping pill is that it is not addictive like any other prescription pill. You would not feel the need of upping the dosage every night thereafter. This is a very effective option if you are looking for the best sleep medicine to help you get through the night peacefully.
Unisom SleepGels
This variant contains diphenhydramine hydrochloride, another type of anti-histamine found in sleeping pills. This product has three versions of itself—SleepTabs, QuickMelts, and SleepGels. The difference lies in how quickly these are absorbed in the body. This is best for those who want a good night’s sleep without having to feel its effects the next morning as well. You may feel a bit groggy when you wake up in the morning depending on how your body reacted to them. If you are trying anti-histamine for the first time, this is probably the best sleep medicine available over the counter. However, always go for the lighter one when you start with it.
Zenwise Labs Sleep Support
It is one of the stronger and best sleep medicines available over the counter. It has some of the most interesting and impressive ingredients, and it can be expected that a couple of them would do the trick. It contains melatonin, magnesium, L-Theanine, L-Taurine, Chamomile, I-Ornithine, 5-HTP, Valerian, and GABA. This product claims to be 100% natural. All the ingredients are believed to offer sleep or relaxation, either of the one, which aids the other. If you are wary of taking a pill with such a high dose, take half of it, and you can skip the dose the next night if you do not find it comfortable to use every day. This pill probably would not give you any after effects and help you keep asleep throughout the night.
Luna
Luna has a lot of ingredients to boast of. These are L-Theanine, magnesium, chamomile extract, valerian extract, lemon balm extract, passion flower extract, vegetable cellulose, hops extract, vegetable magnesium stearate, melatonin, and GABA. It is believed to be all-natural and vegan. It contains an interesting mixture of all the ingredients that are used to make bedtime teas. This sleeping pill would not knock you out right away rather you would start to feel relaxed after 30 minutes of intake. It would not give you much effect if you are feeling active during the night. It can give you the desired result only when you are a bit of a tired yourself. However, it would not cause any side-effect or grogginess the morning after. This is a suitable option for those who do not want to use animal products and prefer natural remedies to chemical ones to help with sleeping.
Berry Sleep
It contains melatonin and is non-addictive. It would not make you feel groggy when you wake up in the morning. If you are not keen on having strong pills or anti-histamine, you can opt for this one. Melatonin is not as powerful as other prescription pills or anti-histamine sleep aids. It actually works in a different way and is supposed to be effective for certain sleep related problems. It would not make you fall asleep but it would work towards boosting the hormones in your body that are responsible to induce sleep and maintain a regular sleep pattern. Thus, it is promoted as a more natural sleeping aid than other antihistamines and prescription pills. The melatonin in this drug comes from berries, passion fruit extract, tart cherry extract, and goji berry extract. Melatonin helps in sleep problems due to jet-lag, delayed sleep phase syndrome, and shift work. It helped some people with insomnia as well. It is useful for those whose sleep pattern has been disrupted badly and hence want to get that back on track.
It is fine to take a sleeping pill once in a while. However, if the problem with sleeping persists and becomes chronic, it is extremely important to visit a specialist immediately.