Sleep Medications And Their Effects

 

Sleep deprivation can be one of the most disruptive, not to mention dangerous ailments. It can affect all areas of life, and comes with significant risk and potential dangers. Those who suffer from insomnia are best advised to see a doctor for help rather than self medicating with over the counter sleep medications.

Having said that, there are also significant dangers when taking prescribed medications. Prescribed sleep medications like Ambien, Sonata and Lunesta are described as non-benzodiazepine hypnotics but have the same long term usage dangers as drugs in the benzodiazepine category.

Although Ambien, for example, is highly effective for the treatment of insomnia, it is only suitable for short term use, and at times when waking early is not an issue. Zolpidem (Ambien) can be addictive and can cause physical withdrawal symptoms if the dosage is ceased too quickly after prolonged use.

The regular use of sleeping medication over a long period of time can lead to an addiction to sleeping pills. The danger is that this can happen without the person being aware of it. It’s important to take great care with these medications, and to take them for the shortest period of time, and always under the guidance of a doctor.

When sleep medication has been taken daily for a long period of time, and is then suddenly stopped, some of the withdrawal symptoms that may occur are depression, anxiety, vomiting, stomach cramps, irritability, fatigue and sweating.

A tolerance can be built up to many of these pills. For example, Sonata can lose its effectiveness on insomnia when it is used over a prolonged period of time. In addition, after stopping the daily dose of Sonata, there can be a period of relapse insomnia, where the person has trouble getting to sleep for a few nights before they return to normal.