Histamine is, among many other things, the “be awake” neurotransmitter. Block histamine in your brain and you get sleepy. The non-drowsy medications don’t cross the blood-brain barrier, so they don’t have that effect.
There’s a thriving market for stuff that makes you sleepy, so Benadryl and Unisom aren’t going anywhere. Even if they probably should, since they might be slowly giving people dementia.
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