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Sleeping Pills - Temporary Solution
According to the latest evidence, the medical profession is becoming increasingly conservative in prescribing sleep-promoting medications. Over the past decade, prescriptions filled in drugstores have dropped from 42 to 21 million. Only about 10 percent of people with insomnia receive prescribed sleeping pills. Another 5 percent buy over-the-counter sleep compounds that don't require a prescription. Still others use drugs intended for other purposes--for example, daytime sedatives, antihistamines, anticholinergic drugs, and tranquilizers. None of these drugs should be used without consulting a physician first. Their misuse or outright abuse poses a danger. All sleeping medications should be used sparingly, for the shortest possible time, and in the smallest effective dose.
Prescribed Sleeping Pills
All brands of prescribed sleeping pills are hypnotics--that is, drugs that depress the central nervous system and put users to sleep. A variety of hypnotics are now on the market, including barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and several classes of drugs generally referred to as the nonbarbiturates/nonbenzodiazepines.
The barbiturates usually lose their effectiveness within 2 or 3 weeks of daily use. Doctors today tend not to prescribe the barbiturates. Most prefer to treat their patients with one of the benzodiazepines or a variant class of drug, which are considered less addictive and safer in overdose than barbiturates. The benzodiazepines are still very toxic, however, when taken in combination with alcohol, overdoses are taken or when respiratory disorders. Benzodiazepine drugs sometimes can aid sleep for up to 30 days. The benzodiazepines are not all alike, though. Some work faster than others, some produce effects that last longer, and some are eliminated from the body sooner.
Which type of sleeping pill is prescribed depends on a person's particular problem and needs. One pill might be right for problems falling asleep and another for problems in maintaining sleep or insomnia associated with anxiety.
Do Sleeping Pills Help
When taken For a brief period and under a doctor's guidance, prescription sleeping pills may help you sleep better. But insomnia cannot be corrected with pills. At best, sleeping pills have only limited usefulness. They provide a temporary solution to insomnia. Thus, only when a person's health, safety, and well-being are threatened should drugs be sleep-promoting considered and then only after the doctor takes a medical history and does a physical examination. He or she might identify conditions that should not be treated with sleeping pills and weigh other risks drug treatment.
Hazards
Although temporarily helpful, sleep promoting medications can eventually cause disturbed sleep, side effects, a sleep "hangover" during the day, and dependence on the drug. Further more, once the drugs are stopped, sleep problems return, at least temporarily, and may be even more severe than they were before the medication was First taken. Clearly, the regular, long-term use of sleeping pills should usually be avoided.
Sleeping pills can be fatal when taken in combination with alcohol or other drugs. Even when not fatal, combining drugs and alcohol can be perilous to driving and the use of other machinery. Long-acting sleeping pills, by themselves, may also impair driving performance the day after they are taken. People who are taking sleeping pills should never drink for a couple of days afterward.
Sleeping Pills for Elders
Many people over 60 are dissatisfied with their sleep. While they make up about 14 percent of the population, they consume about 20 to 45 percent of all sleep medications.
Toxic (poisonous) drug reactions occur more frequently in the elderly than in the young. In addition to their frequent use of sleeping pills, many older people also take other medications prescribed by their doctors. Combining sleeping pills and other drugs poses an increased hazard for the elderly because of changes in bodily functioning that accompany aging. The elderly tend to absorb and excrete all medications more slowly than younger people and usually require smaller doses. Their nervous systems may also be more sensitive, which, in turn, may increase the effects of combining drugs.
Sleeping pills may cause older people to stumble or fall, feel groggy or hung-over, or appear forgetful and senile. Before turning to sleep medications, older people (like people of any age) should consult their doctor and first seek help to the underlying cause of the sleep problem.
Sleeping Pills and Pregnant Women
Pregnant women should be aware that sleeping pills may be harmful to their infants. If a woman is pregnant or intends to become pregnant, she should ask her physician whether it is safe or advisable to use any drug.
She also should learn about the effects of every drug, including cigarettes and alcohol, on her and her unborn baby.
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