What kind of side effects do you get and Xanax? My complaint (I'm exploring options with my physician for panic and insomnia) is that I feel all slow and hungover all morning. It seems to have a hold on me longer than for other people. OTC sleep aids, on the other hand (which can be mildly psychedelic, some are more sensitive than others) seem to only keep my down for about 4 hours if I need to wake up 4 hours later. My roommate is a mess the entire next day off these. Combine with alcohol to speed up the effect or combine with weed for CEV's if you have good bud.
As others have said, benadryl, tyPM, and sleeping pills like Sominex are the same thing: diphenhydramine. Dramamine was actually reformulated for a less sleep-inducing variant of this chemical. Take a calculator to the drugstore and figure out which is the best deal by the miligram (I'm detail-oriented like a meth-head even though I don't do glass...), which I've found, surprisingly, is the generic sleeping pills. Avoid TyPM because you can develop a tolerance for the sleep aid and you don't need to pump yourself full of the best (where best = worst) pain relief medicine you can get. Sominex is never a good deal, and Tylenol Simply Sleep is an absolute rip.