Sleeping Disorder Medicines
Sleeping pills
Healthy people also face the problem of biorhythm disturbances, leading to fatigue, loss of performance, and irritability. In such situations, there is no need for serious medication. Patients for fast falling asleep and sound sleep, help harmless effective, sleep aids over the counter.
Reasons that indicate the need to take medication for quality sleep are such symptoms:
- increased anxiety, constant stress;
- sleep disorders, insomnia caused by external circumstances;
- autonomic dysfunctions;
- neurotic conditions.
And then you need to think about what to drink to improve sleep, what harmless, nonaddictive sleeping pills can be found in the pharmacy.
What is the safest sleeping pill for the elderly?
Sleep disorders medication is prescribed only for those elderly people who have long-term insomnia. Temporary insomnia does not require medication therapy. Sometimes in such cases, safe herbal sleeping pills are prescribed. Plant-based sleep meds otc dispensed at the pharmacy and rarely cause side effects.
Herbal medications have an effect not only on sleep but also on the state of the nervous system. They contain hawthorn, St. John's wort, hops, melissa, valerian, elderberry, and other beneficial herbs. Drugs quickly relax the nervous system, promote falling asleep quickly without further awakening at night, as well as calming, relieve anxiety and normalize the overall emotional background. Take them for courses, according to the recommendations in the instructions. In rare cases, drowsiness and a slight decrease in concentration may be observed.
When prescribing sleeping pills for the elderly, a number of factors are taken into account:
- reduced metabolic rate (the drug takes longer to be eliminated from the body);
- decreased cognitive function;
- comorbidities;
- side effects of sleeping pills;
- taking other medications.
Barbiturates and tranquilizers are contraindicated for apnea since these drugs aggravate breathing disorders. With caution, benzodiazepine sleeping pills are prescribed to patients who take drugs of the following groups:
- hypotensive drugs;
- cardiac glycosides;
- antidiabetic drugs;
- anticoagulants;
- macrolides.
Important: Older people with dementia are not prescribed regular sleeping pills. Even the most advanced hypnotics cause such patients to have the opposite effect (insomnia and motor excitement). Neuroleptics are prescribed to treat insomnia in dementia.
When treating with drugs for insomnia for the elderly, the following rules are adhered to:
- Prescribing the minimum effective dosage
- A short course of treatment (3-4 weeks)
- Gradual withdrawal of medications
- Use of medication no more than 3 times a week
- Supervision of the patient during treatment
- Preference is given to the hypnotics of the new generation - cyclopyrrolone derivatives. The drugs act quickly, have a short half-life, and are well tolerated by the elderly
How long does it take for sleeping pills to work?
Most medications are in tablet form, so they first pass through the digestive tract and then enter the bloodstream. For this reason, the effect occurs not earlier than 20-30 minutes later. In some cases, you have to wait up to 1 hour. The duration of sleep is from 3 to 10 hours, depending on the drug.
How long do sleeping pills stay in your system?
Separately, there are groups of sleeping pills with different duration of action:
Short (3-4 hours). Drugs suppress only stimuli, without affecting the receptors. As a result, the natural inhibition of the nervous system begins, and the person falls asleep. Sleeping pills on the basis of herbs possess such action.
Medium (5-8 hours). Medications of this group not only eliminate the stimuli but also start the inhibition of the CNS. This leads to a longer exposure time and eliminates spontaneous awakenings.
Prolonged (8-10 hours). Medications strongly inhibit the nervous system, so they help with serious sleep disorders. They eliminate early and nocturnal awakenings.
Benzodiazepines for insomnia
This is the most common group of sleeping pills. Sleeping pills are caused by a specific effect on benzodiazepine receptors in the brain and an increase in the inhibitory effect of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid).
They have good efficacy, better tolerability and fewer side effects compared to barbiturates. Disadvantages: Drowsiness and muscle relaxation are possible during the day. With prolonged use an addiction develops, as a result, it is necessary to increase the dose to achieve a sleeping effect.
The most common sleeping pills of the benzodiazepine group:
- Nitrazepam (Radedorm, Eunoctin, Nitram). Causes sleep in 30-40 minutes after intake, lasting up to 8 hours. One of the most effective drugs of its group. In addition to restoring sleep, it is used for anxiety states, epilepsy, withdrawal state caused by dependence on alcohol and drugs.
- Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol, Somnubene). Differs from Nitrazepam with quicker onset of effect and better tolerability due to less inhibitory effect the day after ingestion.
- Flurazepam. Distinguished by its longer-lasting sedative action, sleep can be as long as 24 hours.
- Brotizolam (Landormin). Characterized by good tolerability and short action, the sleep induced by taking the drug reaches only a few hours. The drug is recommended for sleep disorders in which the process of falling asleep and the initial phase of sleep are disturbed.
- Midazolam (Dormicum, Fulced). This drug is characterized by a very strong, but a short-lived sleeping pill. It is used only under the direct supervision of a doctor in a hospital.
Other benzodiazepines in the tranquilizer group may also have sleeping pills, but they are rarely used to restore sleep. These include Diazepam (Seduxen, Relanium, Sibazon) Phenazepam, Clonazepam, Alprazolam (Xanax), and others.
The goal of treatment is to improve the quality and quantity of sleep, as well as daytime wakefulness, and to reduce nighttime awakenings. Currently, there is no clinical indication to justify the long-term prescription of benzodiazepines (more than four weeks), since the clinical practice of continuous drug administration generates phenomena of tolerance and dependence.
Adverse effects of benzodiazepines have been described in people over 65 years of age. Prolonged use (more than four weeks) of long-acting benzodiazepines (such as Chlordiazepoxide, Flurazepam, Nitrazepam, Clorazepate) or benzodiazepines with long-acting metabolites (such as Diazepam) has a risk of long-term sedation, confusion, balance disorders, and frequent falls - resulting in patient injuries and fractures. Because benzodiazepines cause many side effects and dependence, these medications are prescribed only by a physician and are not the drugs of the first choice. These medications are prescribed under the strict supervision of a physician, after examination of comorbidities and evaluation of the patient's condition. You can buy sleeping pills online quickly and easily at a certified Mexican pharmacy, with a prescription written by our pharmacists.
Nootropic drugs that have a sedative effect
Glycine. It strengthens the processes of inhibition in the brain and promotes the onset of sleep, the drug is effective for insomnia caused by neurotic reactions, the effects of poisoning, and trauma of the nervous system.
Aminophenyl Butyric acid (Phenibut). Is a nootropic agent that improves neuronal nutrition, and normalizes the inhibitory processes in the nervous system. Improves sleep in borderline mental disorders: neurosis, anxiety and depression, personality disorders.
Antidepressants with sleeping pills
When a depressed mood is part of depression, sleep can be impaired, there are frequent and early awakenings, and a lack of feeling of rushing out. Among antidepressants, there are several remedies that, in addition to normalizing mood, have a restorative effect on disturbed sleep:
- Mianserin (Lerivon)
- Mirtazapine (Remeron)
- Agomelatine (Valdoxan)
Despite the variety of sleeping pills, each has its own specifics, indications, and contraindications. The best sleep aid can only be determined by a doctor, as everybody is different.