What are sleep medications?
As the name describes, sleep medications are the medications that help you to fall asleep or improve your quality of sleep. People, who are suffering from sleep disorders like insomnia, use sleep medications to help them to fall asleep. Some people have intermittent sleep patterns that mean they wake up in the middle of the night or wake up too early in the morning and remain unable to fall asleep again. Such people seek help from sleep medications to improve their quality of sleep.
Some other common names/ synonyms, used for sleep medications in the UK are:
- Hypnotics
- Sedatives
- Sleep aids
- Sleep medicine
- Tranquilizers
- Sleeping pills
What is insomnia?
Insomnia is a common medical condition in which people find it difficult to fall asleep and to stay asleep or wake up too early and not being able to get back to sleep again, hence, they feel tired all day long. Insomnia can be of three types acute, transit, or chronic. Insomnia can be due to stress, anxiety, depression, poor sleeping habits, irregular sleep patterns, underlying diseases, neurological problems, etc.
Insomnia is a very common problem that hits almost one in third people around the globe and the UK. Insomnia not only affects your sleep pattern but also affects your brain, your cognitive power, slows down your thinking process, etc.
What are medications for Insomnia in the UK?
There are both over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription-based medicines available to treat insomnia. OTC medicines are available without any prescription, while you need a prescription from a registered medical practitioner for prescription-based medicines. These include antipsychotics, antidepressants, sedatives, and hypnotics, etc.
Prescription based sleep medications
Prescription-based sleeping pills suppress the central nervous system (CNS) and relax your body and mind, therefore you feel relaxed and fall asleep. Zolpidem is an extended-release tablet that is released in the body gradually and regulates sleep for hours.
Sleeping pills like Zolpidem, Zopiclone, etc. are called Z-drugs. Z-drugs are non-benzodiazepines as they differ in structure but they work just like benzodiazepines. These are GABAergic drugs and are considered safe and less addictive as compared to benzodiazepines like temazepam, diazepam, etc. Both benzodiazepines and Z drugs are rapid in the onset of action and relax your body and mind and help you to fall asleep.
Benzodiazepines not only treat your insomnia but also help you to combat your anxiety and depression, relieve cramps, relax muscles and make you feel much calmer. While Z-drugs in particular help you to fall asleep.
Over the counter (OTC) Sleeping pills in the UK
Medicines that contain antihistamines are used as OTC sleeping pills. Some people use melatonin or valerian as an OTC sleep medication. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone in your body that promotes sleep, while valerian is an herb that supposedly aids relaxation and sleep. Like prescription-based sleeping pills, OTC sleeping pills also have some side effects therefore they should also be used with caution.
How do sleep medications work?
There are many different types of sleep medications that work differently. Most prescription-based sleep medications work because of their high affinity for central receptors of the GABA macromolecular complex that modulate the opening of chloride channels. It basically increases the activity of GABA in the brain and produces sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, and anticonvulsant effects that relax your body and make you sleep like a baby.
What are the risks or complications associated with sleep medications?
Addiction, tolerance, and dependence are the potential risks associated with prolonged use or abuse of sleep medications. Drug addiction is a neurological condition that is characterized by behaviors that include one or more of the following: impaired control over drug use, compulsive use, use for non-medical purposes, and continued use of medication despite harm or risk of harm, and craving. Tolerance is defined by such behavior in which there is a need for increasing the dose of the drug to achieve or maintain a certain effect. Physical dependence is defined by withdrawal effects that appear after abrupt discontinuation of a drug or upon administration of an antagonist.
How do you become addicted to sleeping pills?
There are people with insomnia who have successfully been treated with sleeping pills without dependence or addiction, but some get addicted to sleeping pills. However, some people wrongly assume that they have become addicted to sleeping pills. Tolerance develops with regular use of sleeping pills, and as tolerance develops, people feel the need to increase the dose of sleeping pills and they do so without consulting their doctor.
Doctors prescribe sleeping pills for chronic insomnia, for a short duration, and only on as per need basis. But people start using them on daily basis because of the euphoric effect of sleeping pills. When people start using sleeping pills at higher doses or more frequently it is called abuse. When sleeping pills are taken at higher doses, they give you a pleasant feeling as they reduce anxiety; give you a dreamless sleep, hallucinations, etc.
With time, your brain gets used to it and then recovery becomes difficult. Therefore some people suffer from rebound insomnia that is worse than original insomnia for which you took the medication. Misuse and long-term use of sleeping pills cause physical and psychological dependence and addiction.
The physical symptoms of dependence are: sweating, difficulty in sleeping, headache, tremor, nausea, vomiting, muscle spasms, palpitations, and sometimes convulsions occur. The psychological symptoms of dependence are: anxiety, panic attacks, feeling unreal or awful, odd sensations, and in rare cases mental breakdown can occur. The duration of withdrawal symptoms varies from person to person but usually, it takes six weeks. To avoid any withdrawal or side effects of sleeping pills you must use them only for a short duration and as per need basis or as recommended by your doctor.
Side effects of sleeping pills
One of the common side effects of sleeping pills is the hangover effect that appears the day after taking the sleeping pill. In this you feel drowsy, sleepy, impaired cognitive function, dizziness, or some people may experience balance problems. Some other side effects of sleeping pills are constipation or diarrhea, dry mouth, headache, muscle weakness, or digestive problems (gas, heartburn, and nausea), etc.
How to use sleeping pills safely?
The following advice will help you in taking sleeping pills safely:
- Never take a sleeping pill without consulting your doctor
- Do not consume alcohol with sleeping pills
- Take the dose at bedtime, when you are completely done with your activities and ready to sleep
- Do not operate a vehicle or heavy machinery after taking a sleeping pill
- Contact a doctor immediately if you observe any complications or side effect
How to avoid the addiction to sleeping pills?
Taking sleeping pills in higher doses or for a longer duration causes addiction, and it becomes difficult to quit the medication. To avoid addiction, it is important to take sleeping pills in the prescribed dose and only for the prescribed duration. If you want to prolong the use of sleeping pills you must consult your doctor first.
It is difficult to say when and how someone gets addicted to sleeping pills as it varies from person to person but is important to overcome the addiction. When you become dependent or become addicted to sleeping pills you will experience withdrawal effects such as restlessness, body shivering, trouble falling asleep, anxiety, etc. when you will stop taking them. To avoid such effects, you must gradually reduce the dose and frequency of sleeping pills before completely stopping them, this is called dose tapering. You can also seek psychological help if needed.
Dose tapering not only helps to avoid the withdrawal effects but also saves you from their relapse. Therefore it is a common approach to reducing the dose and its frequency, slowly and gradually over weeks before stopping sleep medications completely.
How to get sleeping pills in the UK?
The best and trustworthy online store to buy sleeping pills in the UK is sleep moments https://sleepmoments.com/. Here, you can buy your sleeping pills online from the ease of your home and also with free delivery.
How to get prescribed sleeping pills in the UK?
All you need is to log in at https://sleepmoments.com/ and fill your cart with your required medications, fill out a simple questionnaire and place your order. Once your order will be confirmed, you will receive your order in discrete packaging within the shortest possible time.