5 Sleep Remedies That May Not Work (and Could Do Harm)

Are you struggling with getting to sleep at night? Most people experience insomnia from time to time, but some remedies that are purported to help you get more rest may not work — and could even be harmful.

Here’s what experts have to say about alcohol, allergy medications, sleep trackers and apps, cannabidiol, and prescription sleep medication.

A glass of wine or shot of whiskey may help you relax before bed and allow you to fall asleep faster. The problem is, you probably won’t stay asleep: “Alcohol makes sleep more fragmented, so you wake up more often during the night,” says Jamie Zeitzer, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences (sleep medicine) at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

Alcohol can also worsen obstructive sleep apnea, a sleep disorder that causes pauses in breathing while you sleep and can result in poor sleep and extreme daytime fatigue, says Sheila Tsai, MD, professor and section head of sleep medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver. Weak muscle tone in the upper airway can cause sleep apnea, and alcohol further reduces muscle tone, which can make sleep apnea worse, Dr. Zeitzer adds.

Over-the-counter allergy medicines like Benadryl contain diphenhydramine, an antihistamine that’s used to treat sneezing, runny nose, hives, watery eyes, and other cold or allergy symptoms. Diphenhydramine is also known to cause drowsiness.

Sleep apps and trackers like WHOOP and Apple Watch may sound like helpful tools to improve sleep, but for the most part, they only tell you how well you slept (or didn’t), as opposed to pinpointing possible reasons for your insomnia.

“If they were able to give more targeted feedback, then they would become useful,” Zeitzer says. For example, it might be helpful to learn that your bedroom was too hot, or that you exercised or ate too late in the day.

CBD, an active ingredient in cannabis (aka marijuana), is known for its calming effects, and there is some research that has examined whether it can help people with insomnia.

For one thing, many prescription sleep medications come with dangerous side effects. “I encourage people to limit their use of prescription sleep aids, which have been associated with various side effects, including sleepwalking, next-day grogginess, falls, and increasing airway collapsibility with sleep,” says Dr. Tsai.

Prescription sleep aids also come with a risk of dependency. “While most prescription sleep aids don’t have significant potential for physical addiction, people can become psychologically dependent on them fairly easily,” says Phil Gehrman, PhD, professor of clinical psychology in psychiatry at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Eventually, you may feel like you can’t get to sleep without medication.

Some people may also notice that, over time, the sleep medications become less effective, or that they require higher dosages to be effective, Tsai adds.

“They are generally recommended only for short-term use, one month or less,” Dr. Gehrman says. For help with maintaining a good sleep routine during a time period of temporary stress (a common cause of insomnia), prescription sleep aids may be a good short-term solution, he notes. But remember, as goes for all prescription medications, they should be used only under the direction of your doctor.

Consult your primary care physician or a sleep medicine doctor if your sleep problem persists and is affecting your work, school, mental health, or personal relationships, says Tsai.

• Short-term insomnia is common, but many popular sleep remedies haven’t been proven to work, and some may even be harmful.
• Drinking alcohol may help you fall asleep, but studies have shown that it will make your sleep quality worse overall, particularly in the second half of the night.
• Allergy medicine may make you feel drowsy, but it hasn’t been shown to significantly improve sleep.
• There is some evidence to suggest that CBD products may be helpful for insomnia, but more research is needed.
• Talk to your doctor if you’re experiencing insomnia, and ask if taking short-term prescription sleep medicine could be right for you.