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.

The Dangers Associated with Sleep Medications

The number of people with sleep disorders, such as insomnia, is on the rise. In parallel to this, prescriptions for sleeping pills are going up year on year too. Taken in small doses over a short period, and under the supervision of your family doctor, they are normally very safe. But any medication carries a risk and the worst of these is developing an addiction to sleeping pills.

Ambien is one of the most common types of sleep medications, but it is intended for only short term use. However, since the medication masks the problem rather than dealing with the underlying cause of insomnia, patients often find their sleep troubles resume once they quit taking it. So they take more pills in search of that longed for night's sleep.

Side effects of Ambien can include hallucinations - even without an addiction - as well as well as an unusual sensitivity to noise and bright lights. In the case of a dependency, the person may be all consumed by getting their next sleeping pill dose. Friends and family may notice them becoming atypically moody, anxious or aggressive.

Other types of medication can cause similar problems. Sonata and Lunesta are among the newest types of sleep medications, and are supposedly none addictive. But while the risk is lower, there are still reported cases of patients developing a dependency. Often this is because the body starts to develop a resistance after only a couple of weeks of use, and the taker may up their dose to get the same impact. Withdrawal symptoms from these drugs include shaking, tremors and emotional disorders such as depression or anxiety.

Sleeping pills are beneficial when taken under carefully controlled conditions. But it should always be with advice from a doctor and the underlying causes of sleep problems should be considered.