Insomnia is something that many people have encountered, and it is impossible to fall asleep when you toss and turn. In order to be able to sleep beautifully, many people will choose sleeping pills to achieve the effect of sleep aids.
However, there are some misunderstandings about how sleeping pills should be used.
Do you need sleeping pills for insomnia?
Many people do not sleep well and want to take sleeping pills to help them sleep, but they are afraid of addiction and worry about whether they can use drugs in the end.
In fact, studies have shown that the memory deficit and decline caused by insomnia are much higher than sleeping pills. Some people think that their memory problems are due to taking sleeping pills, in fact, it may also be because of too much dependence on sleeping pills, and the medication is not standardized, resulting in more and more sleeping pills, more and more insomnia, and finally a significant decline in memory.
Sleeping pills do exist dependent, but as long as the drug is taken systematically and standardized under the guidance of specialists and clinical pharmacists, dependence will not appear.
How to choose sleeping pills?
How to correctly choose sleeping pills, first of all, we must understand sleeping pills. The effect of sleeping pills varies with dose, with a sedative effect in small doses, an approximate physiological sleep in medium doses, and anesthetic and anticonvulsant effects in large doses.
Second, distinguish the properties of sleep disorders. General sleep disorders can be divided into difficulty falling asleep, easy to wake up from shallow sleep, dreamy and early awakening. For patients with difficulty falling asleep, drugs with fast onset and short half-life can be used; intermediate sleeping pills can be used for those who are easy to wake up from shallow sleep; long-acting sleeping pills can be used for patients with short sleep courses such as early awakening.
Short-acting drugs: zopiclone, zolpidem, zalepron, triazolam, these drugs are mainly used for insomnia patients who can fall asleep, and are ineffective for insomniacs characterized by early awakening;
Traditional Chinese medicine: eszolam tablets, alprazolam, lorazepam tablets, suitable to help patients increase the depth of sleep, reduce the number of nocturnal awakenings and the frequency of dreams, while relieving patients' anxiety and nervousness;
Long-acting drugs: diazepam, clonazepam, fluoxepam, nizepam are suitable for patients who wake up early, and are often used to alleviate anxiety and nervousness in patients; but do not use for hypnosis, otherwise it is easy to produce "hangover" phenomena (that is, waking up the next day after taking drugs to show symptoms such as headache, fatigue, dizziness).
What are the side effects of sleeping pills?
All medications have side effects, and sleeping pills are no exception, and may have side effects such as dizziness after taking the drug, morning drowsiness, memory loss, and trance.
Long-term use of sleeping pills may produce dependence, and abrupt discontinuation of the drug may have symptoms such as anxiety, tiredness, lack of concentration, and headaches.
Remember these points when using sleeping pills: on-demand, intermittent, and adequate:
Take the drug 3 to 5 days a week instead of every night;
Patients who need to take long-term medication should take it 5 to 10 minutes before going to bed when they are expected to have difficulty falling asleep, and take it when they still can't fall asleep after 30 minutes of bed (the most suitable time for each person to take the drug is different, ask the doctor's advice).
Can sleeping pills be taken for a long time?
In fact, after using sleeping pills to improve sleep, it is best to continue to take it for a few days, so that the already disordered biological clock gradually returns to normal, and then gradually reduce the dose of sleeping pills, and then stop the drug, otherwise it will not reach the speed. For some people who have long relied on sleeping pills to fall asleep, it is not so much that they need such drugs to treat the condition, but rather that they are psychologically dependent.
Therefore, when sleeping pills need to be taken, it is generally necessary to take a certain sleeping pill continuously for no more than 4 months. It is best to alternate between two or three sleeping pills, supplemented by psychotherapy and moderate exercise, to reduce dependence due to prolonged use of sleeping pills.
Is melatonin healthier than sleeping pills?
This problem is not rigorous, melatonin extended-release tablets, rametiamide and other melatonin receptor agonists are also a sleeping pill.
The melatonin we see at present is more melatonin, a health product, and Our country allows melatonin to be used as a raw material for health food.
There is no consensus conclusion, so the guidelines' attitude is that it is not recommended to use common melatonin as a hypnotic drug.
Melatonin is also limited and is not effective for secondary sleep disorders, that is, insomnia due to other diseases or psychological factors.
What problems should I pay attention to when taking sleeping pills?
Almost all hypnotic drugs with long-term continuous use will produce tolerance and dependence, and may lead to more serious insomnia when the drug is discontinued suddenly, so its use should be strictly controlled, and the same hypnotic drug should generally not be used continuously for more than 4 weeks.
It is difficult for the patient to grasp the use of sleeping pills in detail, and they must be used under the guidance of a doctor.
When used with other central nervous system suppressants (such as antihistamines, analgesics, alcohol, etc.), these drugs have a synergistic effect and can have serious consequences, and should be avoided at the same time.
Sleeping pills are contraindicated in sleep apnea syndrome, barbiturates should be contraindicated in patients with acute intermittent hemoporphyria, and hypnotics, especially barbiturates, should be used with caution in patients with hepatic and renal dysfunction.
In children, sleeping pills are generally not used unless they are treated for night terrors, sleepwalking, and epilepsy in children.
The elderly should be cautious when applying sleeping pills, and the dose should be small.
It should be contraindicated in lactating women and pregnant women, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy and 3 months before delivery.