Are sleeping pills okay?
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Sleeping pills can be helpful for short-term sleeping problems when the cause of the problem is understood. Often, short-term sleeping difficulties are related to an emotional problem such as bereavement, or to serious illness. Sleeping tablets should not be used for more than three weeks, and preferably for no more than a week. It's also best not to take them every night.
Sleeping pills rarely help long-term sleep problems. Instead, doctors should investigate and treat the underlying problems. Sleeping pills may be used to try and break a bad sleep habit. In some instances, your doctor may be able to refer you to a specialist sleep laboratory, which would assess your insomnia and sleep patterns
Are sleeping pills ever dangerous?
There are some medical conditions that make sleeping pills dangerous to take. (This does not necessarily apply to antihistamines). These are:
* obstructive sleep apnoea (periods when breathing stops briefly during sleep; often associated with heavy snoring)
* breathing or lung problems
* heart disease
* severe liver or kidney disease
* myasthenia gravis (a serious illness affecting muscle control)
* psychotic states (when people are out of touch with reality and may have perceptions that are not shared by others, such as hearing voices).
In addition (as with all drugs) doctors are warned that they should always be used with caution for people who have liver or kidney disease. It may be possible to take a reduced dose if the condition is not too severe.
You should not use sleeping pills if you are pregnant, unless (rarely) the doctor decides that the possible benefits to you outweigh the possible risks to your child. There is some evidence that taking benzodiazepines during pregnancy may be linked to problems in the newborn baby, including breathing difficulties, poor muscle tone, cleft palate, low birth weight and signs of addiction. Sleeping pills should not be used while breastfeeding, either, because they may get into the breast milk.
There are particular concerns about older people taking sleeping pills, since the drugs tend to remain in their system longer. This can lead to feeling tired and sedated during the day and may cause confusion and affect the memory. (For more information, see Mind's factsheet on Older people and mental health.)
All sedative drugs carry a warning about driving and operating machinery, and it's very important to take this seriously. A recent study has shown that users of benzodiazepines and zopiclone were more likely to have a road traffic accident. Research into a number of different studies of benzodiazepines suggests that the short increase in sleep time they offered was not worth the increased drowsiness and dizziness that followed, and the increased risk of road accidents and
How you can improve my sleep without pills?
There are some simple steps you can take to begin with:
* Make sure your bed and mattress are comfortable.
* Think about whether the level of light suits you (some people like it really dark; others sleep better with a light on).
* Make sure that you are not going to be disturbed by noise.
* Go to bed only when you are feeling tired. If you don't sleep within about 20 minutes, get up and relax in another room for a while before going back to bed.
* Don't read or watch television in bed. These activities will only encourage you to stay awake.
* Avoid coffee, tea, and other caffeine-containing drinks in the evening. A hot, milky drink may help you to sleep.
* Get enough exercise during the day; fit people sleep better.
* Don't eat a large meal too late in the day. Eating gives you an energy boost, which may keep you awake.
* Try to relax before you go to bed, so that you are not preoccupied with daytime concerns. Yoga and meditation could prove helpful.
* Avoid alcohol! Although alcohol is sedating and may help you get to sleep initially, it interferes with sleep later on in the night. Because it's a diuretic (increasing urine production) it may cause you to wake up to use the toilet or because you are thirsty. After long-term use, it disturbs sleep patterns and causes insomnia.
1 or 2 sleeping pills wont do any harm, but taking them in excess might cause death. you want to consult your doctor though.
It depends i wouldn't take them every day. Some people need to because they have such an active brain they cant fall asleep, that's why the doctor had me on them for a while. He thought that might have been the problem with me. I hated them but i needed them. Found out the reason i really couldn't sleep was because i had a problems with my heart. So if you cant sleep at night i would get that check if its really becoming an everyday thing. Its a sign that something is wrong. If you cant fall asleep on your own and your really trying i would talk to your doctor. It could be something simple like a messed up thyroid or something. Well anyways good luck! If you need them every once in a while for rest that's no big deal at all. As long as you don't need them everyday! Plus if you take them too late you will have a hard time getting up in the morning.
They are ok, but they can be addictive.You shouldn't take them all the time.Find out why you can't sleep and treat that.
No; see insomnia treatments, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris... on page 3.
Short term is okay. They can become habit forming if you take long term and they also become less effective with time.
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