In some cases, doctors will prescribe drugs for the treatment of insomnia. All insomnia medications should be taken shortly before bed. Do not attempt to drive or perform other activities that require concentration after taking an insomnia drug because it will make you sleepy and can increase your risk for accidents. Medications should be used in combination with good sleep practices.
Here are some medications that can be used to treat insomnia.
If these medications don’t work for you, your doctor may suggest something off-label. These are medications used to treat conditions they weren’t originally made for. Older antidepressants are sometimes prescribed to treat insomnia because they change brain chemicals, which can help regulate sleep. These older medications also tend to have a sedative effect or make you sleepy. They include:
The FDA issued warnings for prescription sleep drugs, alerting patients that they can cause rare allergic reactions and complex sleep-related behaviors, including “sleep driving.” They also warned people that taking sleeping medication at night can impair their ability to drive or be fully alert — even the next day.
Keep in mind that sleep drugs are not for long-term use. Talk to your doctor if you’re still having trouble sleeping after 2 weeks.
SOURCES:
Clinicaltrials.gov.
Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
Neurocrine Biosciences.
Provogil.com.
The National Sleep Foundation.
Donna Arand, clinical director, Kettering Sleep Disorders Center, Kettering, OH.
Thomas Roth, MD, director, Sleep Disorders and Research Center, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit.
FDA Health Advisory, March 14, 2007.
FDA: “Silenor Medication Guide.”
Pharmacy and Therapeutics: “Pharmacological Treatment of Insomnia.”
Neuropyschopharmacologia Hungarica: “[Trazodone — its multifunctional mechanism of action and clinical use].”
National Health Service (U.K.): “Mirtazapine.”
American Family Physician: “Insomnia: Pharmacologic Therapy.”
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