Not so fun fact: Benadryl™ and similar drugs have been linked to dementia in older patients. I found this out when my doc told me to quit taking it as a sleep aid.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/common-anticholinergic-drugs-like-benadryl-linked-increased-dementia-risk-201501287667

[–] stranger@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

It's crazy because zzzquil uses diphenhydramine as its active ingredient and you wouldn't know it unless you read the bottle; in that case, you could just get a bottle of generic diphenhydramine tablets and use those, but as you said it's linked to dementia and is not good to use frequently (which also isn't stated on any of these sleep aid packages). It just feels like they're trying to subtly hide that fact

[–] Ghoti@geddit.social 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Maybe I’m a minority here, but do people typically buy medicines and not read the ingredients?

[–] evistre@possumpat.io 2 points 1 year ago

That does seem to be the case.

I was trained early since reading medicine labels is a good way to find a nearby generic that's cheaper... but most of my partners have looked at me funny for doing so.

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