Sleeping Pills : Safe Use and Risks

Sleeping pills are certain types of medications that help in falling asleep faster, longer and easily. They are prescribed to people diagnosed with insomnia or any other sleep disorder. When the sleep schedule is affected by stress, travel or any other disturbances, sleeping pills can be taken to help with sleep. All these factors can be treated with the help of other techniques such as counselling, proper daily schedule (sleep schedule too), avoiding caffeine and exercising regularly.

Sleeping pills involve sedatives, tranquilisers, sleep aids, hypnotics. Sleeping pills are available over-the-counter (non-prescribed). The stronger sleeping medications need to be prescribed by a doctor.

Types of sleeping pills

If you are having long term problems with falling asleep or staying asleep or both – sleeping pills can be helpful. Your doctor will ask you in-depth questions about your sleep habits and patterns. They will order tests so that any other underlying medical condition can be eliminated. Sleeping pills can be in the form of oral spray, tablets, dissolvable tablets. You will be prescribed one sleeping medicine for a short period, to determine if that’s the best one for you.

Prescription sleep medications can be classified into the following 3 functions –

• Helps you to fall asleep
• Helps you to stay asleep
• Dependence

Over-the-counter sleep meds such as melatonin supplements and antihistamines can be useful. Prescription sleep meds are much stronger, and they can be antidepressants, benzodiazepines, etc.

Are Sleeping Pills Useful?

Research shows that sleeping pills are good for short term use – when a stressful life event has disrupted your sleep cycle. They do not result in good quality of sleep.

Effective treatment for insomnia and other sleep disorders involves psychological counselling (CBT) rather than sleeping pills.

Side Effects and Risks

Many people feel light-headed or dizzy after taking sleeping pills. They might experience muddled thinking and balance problems. These effects can impact the person’s work, attention, and movement in a negative way.

The side-effects of sleeping pills are as follows :

• Dry mouth
• Parasomnia – disruptive sleep condition, while asleep, person will do activities such as eating, driving, take meds, etc
• Constipation, diarrhoea
• Headaches
• Prolonged drowsiness
• Hallucinations
• Agitation
• Allergic reactions
• Muscle weakness
• Gas, heartburn
• Suicidal thoughts
• Memory problems

You can develop dependence on the sleeping meds if you keep on using them regularly. If you stop suddenly, your insomnia might come back and this is called rebound insomnia.

It’s important to stop sleeping only after consulting your doctor. The meds need to be tapered off. You shouldn’t mix sleeping meds with alcohol or any other substance or meds. It can lead to overdosing or some other dangerous outcomes. Some sleep meds (benzodiazepines) can lead to substance abuse. Sleeping pills are not safe for children. A person’s medical history of certain health conditions – such as kidney disease, seizures, low blood pressure, heart issues – will limit the options for sleeping meds. Sleeping meds will interact with other medications as well. Hence, it’s important to be very careful when using sleeping pills.

Precautions

• Following your doctor’s instructions will help you in using sleeping meds in the most appropriate way
• To prevent overdosing, consume the appropriate dosage of the meds, as instructed by the doctor.
• Take the sleeping pill just before going to bed. The effect of the pill can be instantaneous, and if you are not near the bed, you can injure yourself.
• Take the sleeping pill when you know you can get a full night’s sleep (7-8 hrs). If you have an important commitment the next day, and you are working late, do not take the pill.
• Avoid mixing alcohol or drugs with the sleep meds, it can lead to dangerous symptoms such as breathing issues and unresponsiveness.
• Stop the usage of the pill gradually and according to the doctor’s instructions.