Mom with dementia now prescribed an antihistamine to help her sleep at night. Does anyone have any experience with this?

My mom and I both take Benadryl (spelling) and a very low dose of Xanax (.12) about a half hour before bed. It relaxes my mind enough for me to drift off to sleep most nights.

Yes! Benadryl is an excellent sleepy medicine for older people...I speak both from my prior life as an RN and my present life as a caregiver. Once in a while I even take some myself when I get behind on my sleep but can't relax enough to rest.
It doesn't build up in your blood, rarely interacts with other meds, and there's little to no risk of allergic reactions since it is the med often used to treat allergic reactions. Plus it is cheap and available over the counter everywhere.

I wonder about the use of Benadryl for sleep. I've been reading more and more about it being not recommended for older adults. My own doctor even ordered me to quit using it as a sleep aid even though I would only use 1/2 caplet maybe once a month or so if I was struggling to get to sleep. It always seemed to work for me.

I forgot to add to my original post that I've yet to find an answer, even from my own doctor, as to why Benadryl should not be used by the elderly. Anyone here have any answers?

Ferris told me it can cause memory problems-hope you don't mind me sharing this Ferris. I took it because my eyes were bothering me and she warned me against using it. I did feel foggy in the mornings but worse-after a few days of using it , though my eyes cleared up, I had horrible stomach pains. I looked up Benedryl and side effects and , sure enough, stomach pain was a common one. I do tend to have a sensitive stomach anyway but , man, it hurt! It did help me sleep though. But not worth the pain.