Q. Recently while shopping for two different OTC products for two very different health issues, I discovered to my surprise that they contained exactly the same active ingredient.
Benadryl has 25 mg diphenhydramine.
Nytol and Sominex also have 25 mg diphenhydramine.
The Benadryl package describes this ingredient as an antihistamine. Nytol and Sominex both say it is a nighttime sleep aid.
The generic antihistamine costs about half as much as branded sleep aids. I'm pretty sure diphenhydramine is also the same ingredient in Tylenol PM and similar products, which can be even more expensive. It does pay (or in this case save) to read the labels.
A. It certainly does. The exact amount you can save may vary from one store to the next, but the house-brand generic diphenhydramine is much less expensive than brands that contain it. We found one house brand antihistamine for about 3 cents per pill. A brand name sleeping pill containing the same ingredient cost as much as 22 cents per pill.
Because this antihistamine can also be used as a sleeping pill, it should not be taken before driving, operating machinery or doing other tasks that require alertness.
