Doxylamine

Category: sleep

Aliases: Unisom, Restavit

Pharmacological Mechanism

First-generation H1 antihistamine (ethanolamine class) with strong sedative effect. OTC sleep aid; significant anticholinergic burden — not preferred long-term in elderly.

Half-Life (t½)

PO: 10h

Dosing Guidelines

• PO: Typical 25 mg (Range: 12.5–25 mg)

Target Organ Systems

• nervous

Pathways It Modulates

• Histamine receptor pharmacology (inhibitor) — H1 (1st-gen)

Chemical Identifiers

• PubChem CID: 3162
• Formula: C17H22N2O
• Molecular weight: 270.37 g/mol
• InChIKey: HCFDWZZGGLSKEP-UHFFFAOYSA-N
• SMILES: CC(C1=CC=CC=C1)(C2=CC=CC=N2)OCCN(C)C

References

• PMID 2743704