Medicines often harm not help

You may have guessed that some medications make it hard to sleep but did you know that some sleep medications also stop you sleeping well?

Generally there are two classes of sleeping pills: the first class is used to help you get off to sleep and the second class is used to help you keep sleeping. A doctor will prescribe one or the other depending on your situation.

In both cases the sleeping medicine can affect the depth of your sleep. Some medications leave you feeling drowsy all the next day. In both cases these solutions may make a patient feel satisfied that they are now sleeping but the result is less than optimum.

For most patients doctors won't prescribe medication for more than two weeks because of the side-effects and in some cases addiction potential. Ultimately medical staff want to get to the root cause of your sleep problem -not just treat the symptoms.

Some medicines harm sleep

What other medication are you taking?

Often over the counter Ear Nose and Throat medications can be bad for sleep; these medications may dry out mucous membranes but they also have a stimulatory affect on the central nervous system and raise in blood pressure and alertness make it difficult to sleep.

Prescription medicines from your doctor also sometimes cause sleep trouble. For example if you are taking medicine for any of these problems go back to your doctor and discuss your sleep problem: Obesity, Blood Pressure, Anxiety, ADHD/ADD, Asthma, Irregular Heartrate, Seizures, Parkinson's Disease, Low Muscle Mass, Brain Injury.

I hope this was helpful -Steph

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