Missing from Dreamland
The emotional roller-coaster called life can cause people to have sleepless nights from time to time. Anxiety tends to steal our sleep when we may be nervous about a new job or the bills piling up. Sometimes our circadian rhythms simply change or get confused.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, in a one-year timespan, one in four Americans will take a sleeping pill. Under normal circumstances, this solves the problem, at least temporarily.
Promoting Healthy Sleep
Over-the-counter sleeping pills contain antihistamine, which is the same medication found in allergy medicine. Histamine releases a neurotransmitter to produce awakeness. Antihistamine does the exact opposite to produce sleepiness. Antihistamine contains diphenhydramine hydrochloride or doxylamine succinate, and both ingredients send a signal to the brain to depress the central nervous system, which will cause a person to become sleepy. This kind of sleep-aid is fine to use for the occasional sleepless night. However, for more severe cases, a prescription medication may be needed.
The medicine in sleeping pills prescribed by a physician are called "sedative hynotics," and they work much like melatonin (a hormone that regulates our circadian rhythms). These medications aslo depress the central nervous system to cause the user to fall asleep, however the medicine used in sedative hynotics work in conjunction with the natural brain chemical Gaba. Gaba is a neurotransmitter that communicate certain signals. When it interacts with the medicine found in sedative hypnotics, it reduces electrical activity in the areas of the brain that control sleep. This reduction causes the user to fall asleep.
This medication should be used for no more than one or two weeks because they can be habit-forming.
Although a sleeping pill causes the user to go to sleep, the medicine may prevent the person from entering a deep sleep because it causes the brainwaves to speed up. A sleeping aid may increase the amount of sleep a person gets without improving the quality of their sleep. So if the insomnia continues, it is probably best to seek more advice from your doctor to uncover the real reason for the sleep deprivation. Because at the end of the day, you want quality over quantity.
Possible side effects
Sleeping pill can cause side effects.
Over-the-counter sleep aids can cause:
• dry eyes and throat
• blurred vision and dizziness
• grogginess the next day
Prescription sleeping pills can have more severe side effects:
• drowsiness during the day
• headaches
• dizziness
• amnesia (you may wake up in the middle of the night and not remember doing so)
In 2007, the FDA informed physicans that the manufacturers of prescription sleeping pills needed to include these side effects on the labels, and suggested that they use strong language. However, anyone using sleeping pills should have a medical examination first to insure that there is no serious medical condition present. Users should avoid using alcohol when taking sleeping pills.
Tags: sleeping pills, side effects, causes user, central nervous, central nervous system