Addicted to Sleeping Pills? Beware of These Side Effects!

Sleep problems are common among one in every three American adults at night, as per the Sleep Foundation. This allows them to turn their gaze onto sleep medication/pill for rescue. "Medications utilized for insomnia can help in different sleep cycles depending on what an individual needs. Some drugs help with falling asleep, some help with staying asleep, and others help regulate circadian rhythm," says Reema Hammoud, Clinical Pharmacy at Sedgwick.

However, these are beneficial for short-term use and when used for too long or in high doses, they may result in detrimental health consequences. Hence, several experts warn of the common side effects posed by the sleep pills as they trace out some of its distressing signs mentioned below:

Side Effects of Sleeping Pills

Reduced Brain Functions:

Regular intake of sleeping pills may make one feel tired, drowsy, and sleepy the mid-day along with other side effects like dizziness, and disturbed sleep pattern by restricting the brain functioning and causing head heaviness.

Impaired Breathing:

Sleeping pills are strictly restricted for people with lung diseases like asthma or other breathing disorders as they impact normal breathing and may cause complications.

Allergic Reactions:

Sleeping pills may also serious allergic reactions like itching, skin rashes, nausea, and chest pain in some.

Impaired Cognition:

As these pills are also known to slow down brain functioning (by suppressing activity-promoting centers in the brain ), one may commonly experience a lack of concentration, irritability, and memory problems. "Impaired alertness may lead to performance problems, driving issues, increased road traffic accidents, and injuries from falls and balance issues," says Jayaram R. Thimmapuram, MD.

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Addiction:

Frequent usage of sleeping pills might induce dependency (that results in increased possibility for substance use disorder), uneasiness, and withdrawal symptoms by interrupting the normal body functioning.

Seek immediate consultation with your physician in case you experience any of the symptoms mentioned above. Bearing the side effects, it is equally advisable that one must try opting for natural remedies for sleeping disorders and restrict the use of sleeping pills to a minimum.

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Source-Medindia