Sleep aid the night before my exam?

[OnCloud9]

Hello,

My sleep cycle is pretty abnormal and combined with the stims I take make it hard for me to sleep several hours before an exam.

I have three drugs to assist, but I fear some if not may reduce my cognitive performance even into the am hours. (when my exam is)

I have access to clonzepam, seroquel(25mg) and diphenhydramine. Which one if any would be the best to use here?

Thanks,

OC9

 

[Cuzie]

Best thing to do, imo, is consult a doctor about your sleep issues.

But if you must take a sleep aid, I recommend giving one a test run for a day or so to get a feel for how it affects you. Try studying or going over example problems to see how you perform. Recreat your testing environment to the best of your abilities. I did something similar (with temazepam) leading up to a job interview. Made sure that I was able to perform the morning after and got a good feel for the right amount to take.

I have no experience with seroquel, but I personally respond better to clonazepam than diphenhydramine.

 

[T. Calderone]

You didn't say whether you have ever taken clonazepam or Seroquel before. Sometimes it takes quite some time for clonazepam to kick in for me, so it may not help if you take it late at night. Seroquel makes me very lethargic the next day, especially in the morning. Your mileage may vary though.

 

[OnCloud9]

You didn't say whether you have ever taken clonazepam or Seroquel before. Sometimes it takes quite some time for clonazepam to kick in for me, so it may not help if you take it late at night. Seroquel makes me very lethargic the next day, especially in the morning. Your mileage may vary though.

I have small tolerance for both as I've used them several times, more so clonazepam. It is now about 11 hours until my exam.

 

[T. Calderone]

So you already know sort of what to expect. I would use either diphenhydramine or clonazepam then. Good luck tomorrow!

 

[OnCloud9]

Well I was just asking if anyone knew the drug with the least negetive affect on cognition.

Would you still recommend diphenhydramine after reading this study? http://biopsychiatry.com/antihistamines.htm

I'm guessing the stims I have would overide the sleepiness somewhat in the morning? But I guess ill just have to experiment a bit and see what works best here.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

That one study is almost fifteen years old. It shouldn't affect your ability to think after sleep, but assuming that you've taken benadryl before you should be most aware of how it affects you. As for medium-long acting benzos such as clonazepam, they will affect performance the next day. Seroquel would too; it has anti-chollinergic action. Seems like you may have already had your exam, but in the future exercise, deep-breathing, a small dinner followed by a big breakfast, and maybe some herbal tea (kava, valerian, passionflower) should allow you sleep of much better quality than simply trying to bombard yourself into unconsciousness.

 

[Hippie Slay]

Hello,

My sleep cycle is pretty abnormal and combined with the stims I take make it hard for me to sleep several hours before an exam.

I have three drugs to assist, but I fear some if not may reduce my cognitive performance even into the am hours. (when my exam is)

I have access to clonzepam, seroquel(25mg) and diphenhydramine. Which one if any would be the best to use here?

Thanks,

OC9

Clonazepam >> Seroquel >> Benadryl

But if you take Klonopin or Seroquel you will be groggy the next day, I wouldn't recommend unless familiar with effects.

One thing I like to do is make a cocktail of ZzzQuil (diphenhydramine, or benadryl) and Valerian Root (can be bought cheap from local drug/grocery store). Just pour a shot of ZzzQuil and put in 2-3 valerenic acid capsules and you will be out (hopefully)


You may be different, though, I've seen a guy who needed 2-3 Temazepam (Restoril, strong stuff!) just to tranquilize him enough to be calm and carry on throughout the day.

 

[OnCloud9]

That one study is almost fifteen years old. It shouldn't affect your ability to think after sleep, but assuming that you've taken benadryl before you should be most aware of how it affects you. As for medium-long acting benzos such as clonazepam, they will affect performance the next day. Seroquel would too; it has anti-chollinergic action. Seems like you may have already had your exam, but in the future exercise, deep-breathing, a small dinner followed by a big breakfast, and maybe some herbal tea (kava, valerian, passionflower) should allow you sleep of much better quality than simply trying to bombard yourself into unconsciousness.

Yes, this study is old, however more recent studies have similar results. Take this study for example from the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology in 2010.

The journal article states that "In the present study, the relatively high H1RO of diphenhydramine, that is, 45% at 12 hours postdose suggests a predominant residual sedative effect the next day and therefore increased possibility of cognition decline or impaired performance. Therefore, activities demanding a high degree of alertness, such as driving, should be avoided because of the hangover effect of sedating antihistamines. This is of highly clinical relevance because many physicians still believe that giving sedating antihistamines at night is helpful because the patient will benefit from having a good sleep and, afterward, can be fully active again. This is obviously wrong because we have already known that sedating antihistamines altered the rapid eye movement sleep.31 We further confirmed that the sedating antihistamine, diphenhydramine, may have a long elimination half-life in human brain with consequential hangover effect the next day"

I didnt use any sleep aids that night, just excerised and read which was enough to get me a few hours of sleep. I still think diphenhydramine is probably the best choice although I think it may be better to use a drug that doesen't effect your REM sleep, atleast before exams or tests.