Understand the 6 Risks to Know About Before You Take Sleeping Pills Every Night

When you’re struggling to get a good night’s rest, prescription sleep aids may seem like the perfect solution but You Take Sleeping Pills Every Night You simply take a pill and slip into slumber. While sleeping pills have some legitimate uses, they come with a lengthy list of significant risks and side effects people must be aware of, according to John Cline, PhD, a Connecticut-based licensed clinical psychologist specializing in sleep medicine and a diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine.

If you’re grappling with a major life stressor, such as job loss, divorce, or a death in the family that’s keeping you up at night, your doctor may prescribe sleeping pills for a week or two to help you get much-needed rest, Dr. Cline says.“Sleeping pills are a temporary fix. They’re a bridge — something to help break a pattern and help people get back on track,” he says.

They can also be taken to help with insomnia, jet lag, or another temporary issue that’s keeping you up at night, according to the Sleep Foundation.Before you turn to medication to help you sleep, read up on the following risks associated with sleeping pills.

You Can Quickly Build Up a Tolerance

According to Preeti Devnani, MD, a staff physician at the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center, your body will get acclimated to the medicine if you take prescription sleeping pills over a prolonged period of time. This will cause your body to become less sensitive to the effects of the medication.In essence, you’ll have to take ever bigger dosages in order to get the same level of sedative effect.
“It is not recommended to use sleep aids for an extended period of time. “They ought to be taken on a ‘as needed’ basis and, if at all possible, not scheduled to be taken every night,” explains Dr. Devnani.

According to Cline, you shouldn’t use sleeping drugs for a period of more than two weeks at the very maximum. They are designed to assist you in returning to your regular rhythm of sleeping and wakefulness. You can consider using a sleeping medication to assist you in adjusting to your new bedtime routine if, for instance, you are having difficulties falling asleep at the hour that you have determined to be optimal for sleep. After that point, you need to discontinue using them.

You May Have Trouble Weaning Off Sleeping Pills

If you continue using sleeping pills for more than two weeks, you run the risk of becoming dependent on them to go to sleep, which is one of the reasons why physicians won’t prescribe them for longer than that. It’s possible that if you run out of the medication prescribed to you, your insomnia may return much more severe than it was before.

According to Cline, if you are overly reliant on you take sleeping pills every night, you may need to work with a physician to gradually taper off of them. This involves lowering your dose in increments of 15 to 25 percent so that your body can gradually acclimate to having less and less of the medicine. Cline advises that if you are too dependent on sleeping pills, you may need to carefully taper off of them.

Side Effect of Taking Take Sleeping Pills Every Night

Some patients are sent to a psychologist for treatment in order to address the underlying problems that are linked to their insomnia. Alternatively, your doctor may put you in touch with a sleep expert in order to help you learn about proper sleep hygiene and improve your nightly routine. “It can be really scary if you spent months or years basically depending on medication for your sleep,” adds Cline.

Devnani points out that withdrawal symptoms may also be experienced by persons who abruptly cease using sleeping drugs after having been taking them regularly. According to the website InformedHealth.org, which is a publication of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care that is reprinted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), some of these symptoms may include restlessness, anxiety, shivering, and nausea.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issues a warning that these uncomfortable side effects might set off a “vicious cycle,” in which the individual takes sleeping drugs again in order to alleviate the symptoms of withdrawal.

You Shouldn’t Mix Sleeping Pills With Other Substances

When it comes to sleeping medications, it is very necessary to pay attention to the dose. When you take sleeping pills in the evening, you should avoid taking any other prescriptions that might cause you to feel sleepy, since this could interfere with the effects of the sleeping pills. According to Cline, this category of medicines includes antihistamines, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety drugs that may have a sedative effect.

This also applies to the use of alcohol. Drinking alcohol while taking a sleeping drug is not recommended, according to Devnani. Combining two or more substances that have a depressant effect on the central nervous system might result in a reduction in respiratory rate and potentially mortality.

Before adding sleeping pills to the mix, you should discuss it with your primary care physician if you are already taking other prescription medicines to address a medical issue.

According to the Sleep Foundation, you should see your physician before using any sleep aids if you have a chronic lung condition such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) since these medications might further decrease your breathing.

You’ll Feel Drowsy and Less Alert

According to Cline, the morning after using sleeping medicines, individuals tend to wake up feeling groggy, disoriented, and less cognitively sharp than they were the night before. You can refer to it as the “morning after” effect. If you don’t allow yourself a window of rest of at least eight hours so that you can sleep off the effects of the drug, or if you end up taking another dosage in the middle of the night, these symptoms will be very severe for you.

According to a poll conducted by Consumer Reports in 2018, over forty percent of people in the United States who use over-the-counter sleep drugs reported feeling sleepy or foggy the following morning. Another thirty-two percent of people who take prescription sleep aids also reported experiencing similar symptoms.

In addition to that, they had issues with constipation, dry mouth, and difficulty peeing.

In order to fight this, medical professionals advise adhering to the prescribed dosage and avoiding taking a second dose of the medication. Be sure to set aside at least eight hours of rest to be devoted to sleep so that your body has the opportunity to recover from the effects of the drug by the time morning rolls around.

 You’re at Risk of Erratic Behavior

According to Cline, using sleeping drugs puts you at a larger chance of being involved in an accident due to unpredictable behavior. This may include sleepwalking and forgetfulness.

According to the Sleep Foundation, sleepwalking, sleep talking, sleep eating, and sleep driving are the four most prevalent types of parasomnias, which are defined as strange actions that individuals engage in while they are sleeping. Because these side effects are more likely to occur at higher doses, it is critical to adhere strictly to the medication’s dosing instructions.

Take a look at the kind of sleeping drug your doctor has recommended for you: Orexin antagonists, such as Suvorexant, may induce side effects such as odd dreams or excessive daytime drowsiness, according to Devnani. Z-class medicines, such as Zaleplon or Zolpidem, come with side effects such as next-day sedation, dizziness, lightheadedness, and memory difficulties.

When you wake up, you could find that you have no memory of the unpredictable conduct you exhibited while you were asleep. Because they depress the brain, sleeping medications hinder your ability to think clearly and remember things. “It’s the same as waking up from surgery after having been put under anesthetic. “You’re just not aware that you’re uncomfortable or that you’re waking up throughout the night,” Cline explains.

You May Be Prone to Falling Down

According to a study that was published in the Journal of Contemporary Pharmacy Practice in the year 2020, older persons who use sleeping pills every night have a significantly increased chance of falling and suffering injuries such as broken hips or bumps and bruises. This information was gleaned from the results of a research project that was conducted.

Devnani cautions that not only are younger individuals at danger of falling during the middle of the night or in the early morning hours, but that older persons also face a significant risk of injury from falling during these times.

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Conclusion:(Take Sleeping Pills Every Night)

When it gets to be the middle of the night, everyone is very sleepy, and sleeping medications just make this feeling worse. “Be careful when you get up to use the restroom since you run the risk of tripping, falling, and hurting yourself. There is no question that this is an issue,”

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