{"id":3803,"date":"2019-12-09T16:17:26","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T15:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disturbmenot.co\/?p=3803"},"modified":"2020-06-05T01:02:19","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T23:02:19","slug":"prescription-sleeping-pills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disturbmenot.co\/prescription-sleeping-pills\/","title":{"rendered":"Prescription Sleeping Pills: What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
Seeking ways to ensure a good night\u2019s sleep has been humanity\u2019s quest since the dawn of civilization. Ancient physicians used a variety of <\/span>natural sleep remedies<\/span> to calm their patients and ease their restless nights. The tranquilizing and hypnotic effects of roots, leaves, fruits, and other extracts have been used for millennia. In time, their therapeutic potential was carefully perfected.<\/span><\/p>\n The expansion of pharmaceutical research in the 20th century gave birth to many fascinating sleep aids\u2014some are even still in use today. According to the <\/span>CDC<\/span><\/a>, about 4% of the US adult population uses <\/span>prescription sleeping pills<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Sleep medications<\/span><\/a> are used for acute and chronic insomnia, helping people both fall asleep and stay asleep. Several drug classes are prescribed today. They\u2019re classified based on their chemistry, how they affect the body, their strength, and how long they last. They all act on different levels of the central nervous system (CNS) and can produce serious <\/span>side effects<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The main <\/span>controversy<\/span><\/a> regarding sleep medication is simple: there\u2019s a very thin line between them being your best friend or your worst enemy. In some cases, one sleeping pill will spare you the trouble of late-night sheet creasing and make your next day much easier. In others, patients tend to develop high tolerance levels, which lead to overuse and addiction. Therefore, control mechanisms need to be in place when prescribing, dispensing, or using <\/span>prescription medication for sleep<\/span> disorders.<\/span><\/p>\n There are many substances that can affect sleep, and not all of them are originally sleeping pills. As long as the main acting compound can travel through the blood-brain barrier and mediate an inhibitory neuronal signal, it should affect a patient\u2019s state of wakefulness.<\/span><\/p>\n A pharmacy will have a variety of sleep aids that can be natural or synthetic in origin. <\/span>Natural sleep aids<\/span> come as liquid extracts or in solid dosage forms, such as tablets, capsules, or powders. Valerian root, lemon balm leaves, passiflora flower, and hop plant have been commonly used as tranquilizers, but in stronger doses could be used as sleep remedies. They can be acquired without a prescription and are used to treat patients with mild difficulty falling asleep.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Most recommended <\/span>non-prescription sleeping pills<\/span> are first-generation antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine and doxylamine. In low doses, they quickly induce drowsiness, and in higher doses can cause sedation, making it easier to fall asleep. However, in most cases, they don\u2019t ensure a prolonged duration of sleep nor do they necessarily produce a high quality of sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n On the other hand, some over-the-counter medications out there can be used to treat both sleep duration and quality of sleep. <\/span>Melatonin<\/span><\/a> effectively treats non-organic sleep disorders. Fast-acting melatonin is more popular than the common, slow-acting option. <\/span>Studies<\/span><\/a> have shown that oral sprays are twice as effective as regular tablets. Plus, with <\/span>melatonin,<\/span> the <\/span>side effects<\/span> are rare and temporary. They include daytime drowsiness, feelings of depression, irritability, and headache.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As a rule, prescription drugs are more efficient than <\/span>over the counter sleep aids<\/span>. To be more specific, hypnotics are medications used in the treatment of sleeplessness that are both efficient in inducing sleep and prolonging the duration of sleep. They\u2019re related to sedatives but are technically high-potency psychoactive drugs. They represent the <\/span>most effective <\/span>type of <\/span>prescription sleep aid<\/span> and are used in the treatment of mild, moderate, and severe insomnia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, they carry a high risk of dependency and abuse and are potentially life threatening. Therefore, their dispensing regime is <\/span>prescription only. <\/b>This means sedative-hypnotics can\u2019t be bought without a prescription, and they can\u2019t be prescribed without a medical examination.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sleeping problems can occur for a variety of reasons. Primary insomnia is usually caused by psychological stress, due to trauma or socio-behavioral problems. It can also be induced by questionable lifestyle choices, such as excessive caffeine intake, smoking, overeating, and <\/span>alcohol<\/span><\/a> consumption. Secondary insomnia usually follows another pathology, such as neurological and psychiatric disorders, hyperthyroidism, or menopause.<\/span><\/p>\n As a result, there are a few different options among the more commonly <\/span>prescribed sleep meds<\/span>. Depending on the cause, a doctor will prescribe sleep medication from a <\/span>diverse group of pharmaceuticals<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n Barbiturates are an old drug class, introduced to medicine about 150 years ago. For a century, they were the <\/span>most effective sleeping pills<\/span> by <\/span>prescription<\/span>. During the first two-thirds of the 20th century, barbiturates were prescribed for headaches, epilepsy, sleep disorders, anxiety, and even depression. They were high in popularity during the 1950s, when a wave of illicit misuse caught the US. As a result, barbiturates were the main pharmacological cause of death for almost two decades.<\/span><\/p>\n Barbiturates are CNS depressants. They prolong the action of inhibitory GABA receptors deep within the brain\u2019s structure. Regarding insomnia treatment, barbiturates act quickly and can have a long-lasting effect, prolonging total sleep time and reducing REM sleep time. Barbiturates are possibly the <\/span>strongest prescription sleeping pills<\/span>, but due to their narrow therapeutic range, they can easily induce coma or cause death.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They stay in the body for a long time, therefore enhancing the effects of depressing the central nervous system. And a repeated dose is more likely to result in an overdose. Their use is consistent with strong withdrawal symptoms. Today, they\u2019re prescribed only in the case of severe insomnia or excessive tension headaches, or they\u2019re used in general anesthesia.<\/span><\/p>\n The main criteria in differentiating barbiturates from other sleep aids are based on how long they stay in the body.<\/span><\/p>\n Due to their <\/span>safety issues<\/span><\/a>, barbiturates are rarely prescribed today. Their place as the most popular <\/span>prescription sleep aids<\/span> has been usurped by benzodiazepines.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Since they were first introduced in the 1960s, benzodiazepines have transformed medical treatments worldwide. Today, these drugs are prescribed as anxiolytics, mood stabilizers, sleep aids, anticonvulsants, antihypertensives, and myorelaxants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to the <\/span>CDC<\/span><\/a>, the number of adults who filled a benzodiazepine prescription in the US between 1996 and 2013 has increased by 67%. However, during this time period, the overdose rate increased by a full 830%.<\/span><\/p>\n Today, they are <\/span>common prescription sleep aids, <\/span>irreplaceable in the treatment of <\/span>insomnia.<\/span><\/a> Nevertheless, they are very potent psychoactive substances, with high abuse potential, and therefore should not be taken for granted.<\/span><\/p>\n Their activity is mainly based on binding to GABA receptors in the CNS, thus prolonging their inhibitory activity. Given that these receptors are present in millions of inter-reacting neurons, neural inhibition can produce a variety of effects. In small doses, they can relax muscles, but in high-affinity reactions, they can induce anterograde amnesia, followed by coma.<\/span><\/p>\n Benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotics have a fast onset of action. Thus, as <\/span>prescription sleep medications<\/span>, they\u2019re very effective. When used for mild to moderate insomnia, most of the short- and intermediate-acting drugs from this group can quickly induce sleep and efficiently maintain it. However, for severe cases, long-acting equivalents are used.<\/span><\/p>\n The relationship between sleep quality and the use of benzodiazepines depends on the half-life and the prescribed medication. Furthermore, their half-life determines the incidence of their most frequent undesired therapeutic effects, such as the following:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In insomniacs, all of these effects must be considered before the prescription is ever written.<\/span><\/p>\n They stay in the body for 40\u2013250 hours and are prescribed for severe insomnia. This class of <\/span>sleep aid<\/span> you get by <\/span>prescription,<\/span> and it\u2019s considered effective with a low tolerance potential. Long-acting drugs offer a greater quality of sleep in comparison to shorter-acting ones. However, because they take longer to metabolize, they tend to cause drowsiness the following day (the hangover effect).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The incapacitating effect of benzodiazepines on memory and psychomotor performance is high\u2014and unlike short-acting medications, they completely suppress the REM phase of sleep. They aren\u2019t always the best choice for elderly patients who need help <\/span>sleeping<\/span> since these <\/span>prescription pills<\/span> tend to cause falls and fractures.<\/span><\/p>\n They stay in the body for 12\u201340 hours and are prescribed for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic insomnia. These medications provide a good quality of sleep without the hangover effect. Keep in mind, they also have disabling effects on memory and psychomotor performance. However, they carry a high tolerance risk, and a patient\u2019s sleep can actually worsen when they stop taking it (<\/span>rebound insomnia<\/span><\/a>). They\u2019re <\/span>common sleep medications on prescription<\/span>, with a share of 50% in all prescribed benzodiazepine-hypnotics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Most of them are also used as anxiety pills and for neurologically induced insomnia.<\/span><\/p>\n They are <\/span>common prescription sleep aids for<\/span> the <\/span>elderly<\/span> and are generally metabolized within 12 hours. They\u2019re also used in some cases of secondary insomnia, consistent with psychiatric patients and addicts. They have no hangover effect, but they do have a greater risk of patients developing a tolerance and experiencing rebound insomnia. These drugs are regularly quoted in US drug abuse lists.<\/span><\/p>\n These drugs are used for the short-term treatment of acute insomnia. They have a fast onset and provide a longer sleep period. They also modify the GABA system within the CNS\u2014though they\u2019re chemically different from their predecessors. In comparison to benzodiazepines, they have low anxiolytic properties and are mainly used to treat insomnia. These <\/span>new prescription sleep aids <\/span>have no risk of rebound insomnia nor any residual effects the following day. Tolerance develops after a month of consistent use, so they\u2019re for short-term use only.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Pharmacy\u2019s Promise of a Good Night\u2019s Rest<\/b><\/h2>\n
What Is <\/b>Prescription Sleep Medication<\/b>?<\/b><\/h2>\n
What Do Doctors Prescribe for Sleeping Problems?<\/b><\/h2>\n
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What Are Barbiturates?<\/b><\/h2>\n
List of Barbiturates (with Their Pharmacological Half-life)<\/b><\/h3>\n
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Benzodiazepines Have Conquered the World<\/b><\/h2>\n
Benzodiazepines: Their Effects Depend on the Half-life<\/b><\/h3>\n
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Long-Acting Benzodiazepines<\/b><\/h4>\n
List of Long-Acting Benzodiazepines (with Their Pharmacological Half-life)<\/b><\/h5>\n
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Intermediate-Acting Benzodiazepines\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n
List of Intermediate-Acting Benzodiazepines (and Their Pharmacological Half-life)<\/b><\/h5>\n
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Short-Acting Benzodiazepines<\/b><\/h4>\n
List of Short-Acting Benzodiazepines (and Their Pharmacological Half-life)<\/b><\/h5>\n
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Non-Benzodiazepine Hypnotics Offer Better<\/b> Sleep Benefits<\/b><\/h2>\n