Sleep Aid

[Bcblazer]

Hey guys,

I take the MCAT on the 8th at 8 A.M., and I'd like to get a solid night of sleep prior to it. The problem is, I have a cross country race the night before, and that will probably get me pretty worked up. I never take any sleeping pills of any sort, but I think it might be a good idea before the test. Do you all know of any good sleeping pills that won't make me groggy in the morning, or worse, make me sleep through my alarm?

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[RoadRunner17]

Keep it au naturale. It's too much of a risk to start taking sleeping pills when you don't know how they'll affect you in the morning. I'd go about eating a nice big pasta dinner and possibly with a glass of wine. Something that's very filling but not unhealthily so. Then by the time you get home, you're ready to sleep.

You can probably use this better than I, since your date is so early in the morning. I'm taking it Friday at noon, so while I'm going to do this, it's not going to be as important for me.

Funny you mention your XC race - when I run, I always feel tired later on. Must be different physiological responses =P

 

[J ROD]

If you are a male I say some form of ejaculation.

Bonus point: Which nerves control this?

 

[PreMD86]

Take half a pill tonight to see how it affects you. If you feel fine in the morning, do the same before test day.

I couldn't sleep the night before the first time I took it. Second time I took a sleeping pill, which made a big difference.

Good luck!

 

[SN2ed]

Read something you really don't like.

J Dub: hmm the sympathetic? Since increased heart rate, dilation of eyes, blah blah blah.

 

[J ROD]

Read something you really don't like.

J Dub: hmm the sympathetic? Since increased heart rate, dilation of eyes, blah blah blah.

Correct.

 

[elektroshok]

5mgs of ambien

 

[thechairman]

Correct.

erection/ejaculation is controlled by the parasympathetic system. only reason i know this is because i fell asleep in bio, and i woke up to a huge picture of a penis on the screen in the lecture hall.

 

[rjgennarelli]

erection/ejaculation is controlled by the parasympathetic system. only reason i know this is because i fell asleep in bio, and i woke up to a huge picture of a penis on the screen in the lecture hall.

if i'm not mistaken, erection is controlled by the sympathetic and ejaculation by the parasympathetic. I could be wrong, or it could be in reverse.

 

[HristosKaran]

I'm pretty sure its parasympathetic...the feed or breed response.

The actual erection may be sympathetic, but I'm not sure now...AND I TAKE THE MCAT IN LESS THAN A WEEK..THIS COULD BE A QUESTION!!

 

[brianoflee]

I second RoadRunner's opinion. Don't go with a sleep aid you haven't tried before - the MCAT's too important to risk feeling groggy the next morning (since you can't know how you'll react). I like the idea of having a glass of wine before bed, too

 

[pyromatic]

Point and Shoot

Melatonin is available otc and should do the job; I'd advise trying it tonight to see how much it affects you.

 

[mindquick]

a combo of melatonin and diphenylhydramine would work. the best way is to powder up the diphenylhydramine and snort it. sleep will overtake you quite quickly this way. otherwise taking a larger dose orally can make you feel sluggish the next day, which is bad.

 

[SpartanBlueJay2]

I'm pretty sure its parasympathetic...the feed or breed response.

The actual erection may be sympathetic, but I'm not sure now...AND I TAKE THE MCAT IN LESS THAN A WEEK..THIS COULD BE A QUESTION!!

It's the reverse (erection = para, ejac = symp). I remember teaching this in physiology. Someone asked me why ejaculation is sympathetic. I think my BS answer was that evolutionarily, if a guy was being attacked by some animal back in the day, it would be beneficial to the species for him to get his genetic material out there before he died.


And to answer the OP's original question... I was going to recommend my old standby, a half-dose of Tylenol PM, but I took some last night and had one heck of a time getting up this morning, so I would say that unless you've tried something before test day, don't try something new the night before the exam. You could do a trial run of Tylenol PM to see how it affects you before taking the night before the test. I'd start with a half dose, though. I am not a small person, and a full dose knocks me out pretty hard.

 

[makoto00]

Point and Shoot

Melatonin is available otc and should do the job; I'd advise trying it tonight to see how much it affects you.

point and shoot is correct

parasym for erections

symp for ejaculations

 

[J ROD]

thanks for having my back, peeps.

If I remember anything, it is how my "unit" works.

 

[wcbcruzer]

Don't take anything. Why did you schedule your MCAT the day after your race? Just take the test like it's any other test. Nothing special about it really.