For those who have suffered from several weeks of insomnia, you may be tempted to get some sleeping pills over the counter or see your doctor to get some prescription sleeping pills. The problem is that these pills will only work for a little bit of time and you will go on having insomnia, needing more and more medication to get to sleep. You will develop addiction to some of the pills and you won’t be able to get off of them. Let’s take a look at some reasons why you should avoid sleeping pills as options for you for sleep deprivation or insomnia.
Certain health conditions do not mix with sleeping pills
OTC or over the counter sleeping pills are simply antihistamines that have fatigue as one of their side effects. This may be okay for some but those who have certain conditions shouldn’t be taking these kinds of pills. These include high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, glaucoma, heart disease, diabetes and a few others.
Sleeping pills don’t mix very well with other medications
The OTC medications don’t usually mix well with other medications, especially allergy medications, muscle relaxants and heart medications. Your pharmacist may catch some of these drug-drug interactions but if you’re buying them over the counter, you might not think to ask your pharmacist about them. If you’re on other medications, ask the pharmacist or your doctor whether or not the medications mix well or don’t mix well with what you’re already taking.
You may feel tired during the day with sleeping pills
Not all sleeping pills wear off in the morning and if you are taking them late at night, you may find yourself feeling very groggy during the day. Such grogginess can affect your ability to drive, making you hazardous on the road because your reflexes aren’t what they should be.
Sleeping pills don’t get at the root cause of the problem
OTC sleep medicines and even prescription medications may help you sleep at night but they don’t get to the root of the problem and you will soon find yourself addicted to sleep medications or continually taking OTC medications without really addressing the root issue. You can only get rid of insomnia if you actually find out what is causing it and get to the bottom of the sleep problem. It could be stress, anxiety or poor sleep habits that can be fixed so that you can take care of the problem long before it requires strong sleep medication.
Besides the above-listed problems, you need to know that over the counter sleeping pills just don’t give you a good night’s sleep and can just lead to addiction and dependence on pills for sleeping. You’ll need to take more and more of the medication in order to fall asleep. The best answer is to get at the root of the sleeping issue and to correct the underlying issue so you don’t need to rely on sleep medications all the time.
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