Update: Click here to read our Vicks ZzzQuil review
You know how on the packaging for NyQuil there’s a warning to let people know they shouldn’t be operating heavy machinery after taking it. Well, the folks at Vicks NyQuil have a new product that shouldn’t be taken before operating any heavy machinery — ZzzQuil.
I’m not making that name up. That is what this new over-the-counter sleeping aid to help occasional sleeplessness is called.
The active ingredient in ZzzQuil is diphenhydramine HCI. According to the ZzzQuil website, the diphenhydramine acts as an antihistamine blah, blah, blah… Ugh. That explanation is so boring, it’s putting me to sleep. I guess ZzzQuil is so powerful that explaining it makes me drowsy.
While ZzzQuil comes from the same folks who brought us the sleep inducing, NyQuil, it doesn’t help with colds or the flu like NyQuil does. ZzzQuil comes in a berry-flavored liquid version and in LiquiCap form.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. just tell me how to make this into methamphetamines & shut up.
BENADRYL!
It’s just generic diphenhydramine with a fancy name & a high price. At Walgreens (and other drug stores) they sell generic diphenhydramine as both allergy pills & sleep aids. The packages are different, but the pills in the box are identical.
I can’t wait to hear the narrator of a commercial for this embarrass himself pronouncing the name.
Yes, the main ingredient in a lot of mild sleep aids is the same as what you’ll find in benadryl. ZzzQuill is double the strength, and god knows how much you’re taking of it.
I don’t think I’d take it just based on the fact that it’s older brother NyQuil gives me horrid dreams. And also, diphenhydramine doesn’t do anything for me. Allergy or sleep wise.
i bought a bottle to try it out and it knocked me out but i didnt stay asleep long, also made me achy and sore
Omg I bought a bottle too and I knocked me out right at 1st then I woke up I’m the middle of the night sore, also I didn’t take any the second night and my whole body aches and I didn’t sleep at all I rolled side to side all damn night long! I don’t usually have a problem & ive never felt like that…..
*it knocked me out after taking it. *I usually (don’t) have a problem getting to sleep, but the 2nd night not taking any at all I felt veryyy achey & sore too! What is up?
Same here. Knocked me out, but woke off and on in a dazy feeling. When I got up I feel terrible, achey, sweating profusly, just didn’t feel right at all. I don’t think I will take this again. Hate the feeling after word. Sore and Achy for sure.
Has 10% “alcohol” no good for kidneys. May as well take a shot of liquor; this explains your daze feeling and sweating. LOL!!!
This is the same amount of active ingredient as Benedryl. It is the same dose, same everything. The only thing that is not the same is the price. You can even get generic that is the same exact active ingredient. Don’t make the same mistake twice and pay many times what a generic or Benedryl brand would cost!!
Nyquil knocks me out but it takes half a day to get my head straight. So thought Id try this stuff , Ive taken it twice and each time I toss and turn and dont get much sleep at all or if I do its not restfull sleep I think I’ll go back to nyquil and feed the crapper the rest of this crap!
Better known as “Benadryl”!
This stuff is great. It gave it to my cat and it slept for 3 days straight! I was actually able to sleep then as the god damned thing usually keeps me awake by running around like a wild animal. Thanks nyquil.
wtf is wrong with giving this shit to your cat??? o.o
Don’t give that to your cat! I hope the ASPCA catches you!
Vets give diphenhydramine to animals all of the time, the APSCA can’t do crap. My dog’s vet recommended diphenhydramine for our insomniac German Shepherd and it is what the vet recommends for all animals before travel (especially by plane) or trips to the vet if the animal doesn’t like to go.
This is just diphenhydramine, the same stuff that is in Benadryl, Unisom, and the PM in Advil PM & Tylenol PM.
This is just generic Benadryl at about 10 times the price. Great marketing, though.
I tried zzzquil a couple of weeks ago because a friend recommended it to me. She said it worked for her, but she could only take one pill or she felt groggy the next day. Unfortunately I tried it two nights and was more wide awake than if I had taken nothing.
Later learned that the main ingredient is something elderly people should definitely not be using because it can cause delirium.
I will never use it again.
Not just diphenhydramine… 10% alcohol for “warming”. So take 2 generic Benadryl and a shot of your favorite tequila. Still cheaper than this stuff.
Zzzquil does NOT cause drowsiness! It is useless—totally useless as a sleep aid.
Total waste of money. The Nyquil will make me sleep but that Zzzquil was USELESS! I called the company’s toll -free number, 877-881-5813, and complained about it, and the woman with whom I spoke promised to send some kind of kit that would allow me to get a full refund (less taxes). This was more than three weeks ago, however, she lied by promising it would be out in two weeks. I have yet to get this so-called kit for applying for a refund.
I was awake all night long after taking this medication. Let me explain that I have insomnia so it’s not strange for me to be awake all night, but I sure didn’t expect to be up all night after taking a product that claimed to help with sleep problems.
Potential customers need to save their money and the danger of any possible side effects. Don’t buy this product. It’s not worth risking having side effects and still not get any sleep from taking the medication. This product needs to be taken off the market. It’s a scam and scheme that doesn’t work, and Zzzquil is not a cheap product either!
Moron,
It is not for insomniacs.
It is sleep aide not a cure.
Thanks for the heads up. I won’t be taking it.
ALL the sleep med’s now are diphenhydramine. Even Unisom switched to it. They used to use another drug. Is there ANY sleep aid out there that WORKS?? My body is so used to it , that Im taking quadruple doses for a very MILD effect. PLEASE….Doz anything actually WORK for any of you??
Doxylamine succinate is the only OTC sleep med that has worked for me (it’s what’s in Nyquil, and it’s what SHOULD be in zzzQuil).
I tried ZzzQuil twice and was up all night wired both times. I didn’t read the bottle and assumed it was the more effective Doxylamine.
Thanks Buddy , i’ll give it a try.
if you really want to sleep try a nice heavy indica such as white widow. you will get real sleep and feel fine in the morning. im just saying…
I tried this stuff and found that it greatly reduced the amount of REM sleep I get. I use a sleep monitor made by ZEO that measures brainwave activity while sleeping and it showed a huge reduction in REM sleep.
There are negative side effects from not getting the correct amount of REM sleep, as noted from this website: http://www.sleep-problems.org/Disorder-Of-Rem-Sleep.html
“A person lacking REM sleep will show all the general symptoms of sleep deprivation, such as reduced productivity in the workplace, daytime sleepiness, and not handling stress well. Losing REM sleep makes people more sensitive to pain, too. In addition, REM sleep seems to be necessary for verbal skills. A lack of it will cause a person to not be as creative in using language, and they will not do too well on language tests.”
Additonal comment from the above posted website:
“Sleeping well and getting plenty of REM sleep as well as the other deep stages of sleep requires good sleep hygiene. Taking a pill to get to sleep can backfire, because while it may increase the amount of total time you sleep, you probably won’t spend much of that time in restorative REM sleep.”
I’ve had the same issues as most of the posters above. This does a great job of putting me to sleep but I wake up a couple hours later feeling awful. Then I toss and turn for hours.. Never taking this stuff again!
I tried zzzquil last night. I was already tired but I knew I wouldn’t stay asleep so I took it and passed out for about 3 hours. Therefore, after ten pm I was up until I had to be at work. It didn’t do anything!!
I have taken it and love it. Usually I don’t even have to wait a hour before I’m ready to call it a night. The bad thing for me is like the reading saying it won’t last a full 8 hours. I usually take it and wake up 4-5 hours later. I then take some more and fall right back to sleep. I haven’t experienced the soreness that people have complained about thank goodness. However I am a little upset that its just a expensive version of Benadryl. I will continue to take it however because at the moment it works for me. 🙂
it made me itch all night
ZzzQuil has worked wonders for me, I am an ex opiate/meth addict and have always had problems sleeping without some type of opiate in me. I found ZzzQuil to make me fall asleep at night without anything else except a little marijuana (which works great as a sleep-aid too). I see alot of negative remarks about this drug but I’ve taken the “Generic” version of diphenhydramine also have tried Benadryl. Neither have worked as well as Zzzquil. I know they are the same, not sure why they dont work as well but they dont.
I love this product my man snores really bad this product has saved my relationship I can get to sleep and get up feeling just like hi happy
Its the SAME thing as benedryl lol
Save your money!! Same active ingredient of Benadryl which can be bought much cheaper!!!
You’re absolutely right! ZzzQuil has Diphenhydramine HCI 25 mg as active ingredient and so Benedryl
There no liquid benydyl
There has been liquid benadryl forever. I use to give it to my children twenty years ago.