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Sleep Medications

After months or even years of disturbed (or nonexistent) rest, you might be tempted to look into a sleep aid. However, the plethora of choices in sleep medications can be confusing. Which medication, if any, is right for you? Some research and a talk with your doctor can clear up your questions.

Using Sleep Medication

The first step to determining which sleep medication is right for you is to figure out the cause of your sleeplessness. Sometimes, psychological difficulties such as depression can cause insomnia. Chronic stress can also play a role.

Other possible factors include physical causes, such as:

eating foods to which your body is sensitive
pain or illness
restless leg syndrome
sleep apnea (a breathing problem that causes loud snoring and brief respiratory failure)
your bedtime habits (your before-bed routine, lighting, etc.).

Sometimes, medications can also affect your ability to sleep. Over-the-counter allergy and pain medicine, as well as some prescription medications for high blood pressure, heart disease, thyroid disease and asthma, can all cause sleeplessness. Even prescription birth control lists sleep difficulties as a possible side effect.

Also, many women experience sleep problems during:

menopause
pregnancy
pre-menstrual syndrome.

Once all of these possibilities have been examined and modified, if you are still experiencing difficulties, medication might be an important next step. Insomnia can have serious effects on the sufferer’s life, so sleep medication might be a literal lifesaver. Talk to your doctor about sleep medication if:

you can't complete ordinary tasks during the day because you’re too tired
you don’t want to try anything else but medication
you know your insomnia is only a temporary problem
you only get insomnia due to a physical or medical issue, such as pre-menstrual syndrome, or when you are about to undertake a stressful endeavor, like international travel
you've tried other treatments like behavioral modification and they haven’t worked.

If your sleeplessness has lasted longer than three weeks, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor regardless of other factors.

People Who Shouldn’t Take Sleep Medications

Some people should exercise caution before taking prescription sleep medications or sleep aids of any kind.

Elderly people are more at risk for falls if they get up at night while under the influence of sleep medication.
Individuals with sleep apnea might find that their breathing problems worsen under sleep medication.
People who drink alcohol might have an accelerated reaction to both the alcohol and the sleep medication when they’re taken together, because they are both sedatives.
People who operate heavy machinery soon after waking up might still be partially sedated by the time they begin work, which means a greater likelihood of accidents.

People who have a history of drug or alcohol abuse might also want to discuss that factor with their doctor, although research shows that most people who use sleep aids don’t abuse them.

Choosing a Sleep Medication

Most prescription sleep inducing drugs fall into a category of medicines called hypnotics. Contrary to what their name might lead you to think, these medicines don’t cause hypnosis. Instead, they cause sleep to start and continue. Many hypnotics have been in use since the 1960s. Common hypnotics include:

Halcion
Restoril.

There are a number of other hypnotics that are commonly prescribed.

Different hypnotics are effective for different lengths of time. Also, different hypnotics have different effective doses. A patient who takes hypnotics should not increase the dose without talking to his or her doctor, since increasing the dose too much can cause insomnia to reappear more severely than before the medication.

However, hypnotics are generally considered very safe and effective, although they should be used for a maximum of four weeks before gradually tapering off use.

New sleep medications stay in the body for shorter periods of time than traditional hypnotics. These include:

Ambien
Ambien CR
Lunesta
Rozerem
Sonata.

These medications tend to target the central nervous system or work in conjunction with your natural sleep-wake cycle. They are even less likely to be habit-forming than hypnotics. However, they can, very rarely, cause allergic reactions or complicated behaviors like "sleep driving."

Other Medications to Address Sleep Disorders

If your sleep problems are caused by depression or anxiety, an antidepressant prescription might be more effective in the long run, especially in low doses.

Some over-the-counter sleep medications can also help people fall asleep. Antihistamines can cause sleepiness, although they might be dangerous if used with alcohol or other sedatives. There are also some over-the-counter medications made specifically to help people sleep, some of which include pain relievers as well. These are usually safe, although their effects can be longer-lasting than prescription sleep aids. Additionally, drug testing for over-the-counter sleep aids is sometimes not as intense as hypnotics’ testing.

Some herbal remedies have received attention as natural sleep medication. Valerian and melatonin both have reputations for inducing sleep. However, they have no required testing to meet government standards, and their long-term effects and interactions with other drugs are unknown at this point. If you decide to try these remedies, be sure to talk to a doctor or pharmacist to see if they will have a bad interaction with any other medications you take.

Resources

Goldberg, Joan Rachel (2007). Sleep Aids: All You Ever Wanted to Know…But Were Too Tired to Ask. Retrieved January 9, 2008, from the National Sleep Foundation Web site: http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.2421197/
k.2474/Sleep_Aids_All_You_Ever_Wanted_to_Knowbut_Were
_Too_Tired_to_Ask.htm.

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