NEVER take a prescription medication and an OTC medication at the same time - many people have died from this combination!

When my daughter was just an infant, I laid her down for her nap. My allergies were really bad that day, so I took 4 benadryls. Then I lay down on my own bed to wait for them to work. She woke up and started screaming, I could barely get out of bed and come to her side. Luckily she was fine. But I never forgot the fear I felt. What if she was hurt and I hadn't been able to force myself awake?

Carolyn, when I was admitted to the hospital a few years ago the doctor actually gave me xanax and benadryl (the PM part of your tylenol PM) together for the sedating effect. Worked very well, I was more than a little dopey but I couldn't tell you how much I had of each.

With those little doses, you may be more sensitive to the combination so I know you'll be more careful in the future, or ask your doctor if the two are appropriate for you given the experience you had last night. The problem might be the two both acting as respiratory depressants, stopping breathing is not a good thing :)

I hope you're feeling better today, and have a more naturally rested night tonight!

I already knew I shouldn't take a whole tylenol pm cuz they knock me out.. and a half is just right for me to sleep really well and wake up perky... You can rest assured I will be more cautious in the futue.. and in fact am going to cut severel xanax and several pm's in half and never take them close together again...For sure

I really dislike combination medications, just for this reason. Get rid of the Tylenol PM and instead buy plain tylenol and plain diphenhydramine, which is available as both allergy med as 25 mg dosage (Benedryl is one name, also generic) and sleep aids (also generic) which is 50 mg dosage. Read the small print, buy your OTC meds separately and know what it is that you are taking!

Thanks for posting this thread, Carolyn. I would never have thought that the combination could make you sleep so long or be dangerous. I know I learned a lesson here and probably a lot of others, too. I don't take many meds and if I do, you practically have to sit on me and force it down my throat.

Thanks Sushi pup.... The reason I take Tylenol pm is for my stenosis and bulging disc.. My legs hurt so bad and I take hydrocodone for that, but I take the bare minimum ... just enough so I can handle the pain but still hurts some.. When my legs ache and I am uber tired, I do the pm...

But the xanax makes me sleepy on it's own after about an hour.. so I should just have gone on to bed...

Lesson learned....

Carolyn

Please be very careful about mixing Tylenol with other medications as Tylenol can cause liver damage if taken incorrectly.

The liver damage issue is from taking too much acetaminophen. The part to be careful about is certain medications also include acetaminophen - Vicodin and Percocet for instance, so you have to add them in too.. The new recommendation is to limit to 3000 mg/day

I take a Tylenol pm and a .5 Zanax alote of the time when I know I won't be able to sleep. And I sleep like a baby. The only thing is I snore. But I really feel fine from taking them meds.

That's what I did Gloria.. and it slammed me.... and I waS not much more than a slug for the remainder of today until late this evening.. now I am off to bed.. late, but getting sleepy as can be on my own..