Insomnia & Types of Sleeping Pills

• Aug 23, 2021
• By: Zopilcone UK
• (1 Comment)

Sleeping pills can generally be classified as sedative-hypnotics, and that is because they serve a dual function role in assisting the relief of insomnia symptoms.

• OTC Drugs: OTC sleeping pills are widely available at high street chemists and major supermarket chains such as Tesco and ASDA. The efficacy of over the counter dugs is debatable and generally statistics are not supported by clinical trials. If you are suffering from a bad case of insomnia, it is advised to go for something stronger than over the counter sleeping pills.
• Sedatives: the sedative effect on its own it the inhibition of awareness where a patient becomes limited in their mental capabilities and responses to external stimuli. The administration of sedative medications reduces the irritation and agitation of a person through the targeting of key chemical messages transmitted by neurons. Some of the most well-known sedatives are the classes of psychoactive medicines like the benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine classes as well as the anti-depressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs), also used for the same purpose.
• Hypnotic: hypnotic medicines are ones that induce sleep. Often hypnotic medications function as both sleep inducing therapeutics and sedative therapeutics as well, as both these classes of sleeping tablets are closely related. Popular hypnotics include benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepines. In addition to inducing sleep, hypnotic medicaments are also used as pre-medication, for the purposes of anaesthesia (a temporary state, induced for medical purposes, characterised by a lack of awareness or sensations).

What is Insomnia?

Insomnia is the inability of a person to fall asleep or remain sleeping throughout the night, and so it is apt that this health condition is classified as a sleep disorder.

The average person takes about 10 to 20 minutes to drift asleep, but this can be altered based on several factors, such as drinking coffee before bedtime. If you find you are taking more than half an hour to transition from wakefulness to sleep, on a frequent basis, then this could be grounds for an underlying health concern.

Moreover, the required time for a full night's sleep ranges anywhere from seven to nine hours, this is longer for children and adolescents who require at least 10 hours of sleep a night. It is during this restful period that most of the activities of the day is processed and stored to memory. In addition, while we sleep restfully, the brain stores new information while simultaneously getting rid of the mental toxic waste.

For those who endure sleep disorders, the time to sleep onset may be as long as several hours. Furthermore, the average amount of sleep they attain per night is far below the required amount. It was shown through sleep research that is the time to sleep onset is greater than 10 to 20 minutes, the quality of sleep is significantly hindered (Allen et al., 2018).

Strong sleeping pills can assist in increasing the total sleep time, reducing the time to sleep onset as well as reduce the number of nightly disturbances.

Different Types of Insomnia

• Sleep onset insomnia: this is defined as the difficulty initiating sleep
• Maintenance insomnia: this is defined as the difficulty staying sleep through the night or the frequent disturbances of nocturnal awakenings

For the management of the symptoms of the sleep onset disorder, sleep medicines, like the benzodiazepine Valium, are administered with a drink of water an hour prior to bedtime. The dosage of this medication that should be used depends on your tolerance to the medication and your medical condition. You should use an amount of medicament that enables you to fall asleep quickly, and one that causes minimal side effects, such as residual sedative effects.

For the management of the symptoms of the maintenance type of the sleep condition, a low dosage sleep aid, like zolpidem 3.75mg, should be administered when you are awakened during the night. Small amounts of the sleep medicine are used for treatment of nocturnal awakenings as they are not intended to assist in a full night of sleep. You should only administer the tablets for treatment of this sleep disorder if you have adequate time remaining during the night to dedicate to sleep. Taking the pills without sufficient time to sleep can result in the sedative and hypnotic effects lasting into the morning periods.

Are Sleeping Pills Safe?

There are associated risks with the administration of most medicines. Some of these can include the risk of developing dependence or tolerance, and hence the risk of withdrawal effects. To minimise your risk of these unwanted symptoms, you should use the sleep medication exactly as prescribed to you.

Sleep disorders are also known to be associated with unwanted effects and dangers. The adverse consequences of sleep deprivation can relay into ones' health and everyday life too. Being sleep deprived can lead to the onset of medical conditions, such as diabetes, and also heighten your chances of developing a psychiatric condition.

Studies have shown that a lack of sleep can affect your driving performances, much like the toxic effects of alcohol can. Moreover, it has been revealed that being sleep deprived for at least 18 hours is equivalent as having a blood alcohol content of 0.05%.

Even though the risks of sleep medication can be extensive, when weighed against the consequences of not taking sleeping pills, they can appear as less significant.

How To Avoid Sleeping Pills Side Effects

• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Gastrointestinal issues
• Agitation

The above are possible adverse events relating to the use of these medications, although it is not an exhaustive list of the possible sleeping pills side effects.

For those who may wonder what are sleeping pills adverse effects and how long do they last? In short, the answer depends on the types of insomnia pharmaceutical treatments you are using. Different medications have different active effects on the body and no therapeutic effect of a medication is the same for everyone.

The best way to avoid these adverse events and to minimise the severity thereof is to use the medication as your doctor tells you to. This means maintaining the dosing frequency, schedule and guidelines as well.

Sleeping pills are not designed to cure a sleep disorder; they are developed to help manage the symptoms of the ailment. When used in the correct manner, they can be more beneficial than harmful to the health of the body and mind alike. Visit zopicloneuk.com now to view the different types sleeping pills sold in the UK.