Many people assume OTC sleep aids are the safest sleep medications because they are available without a prescription. It is strongly advised to consult a doctor before using OTC medications or natural sleep aids. Alcohol use and taking opioids or sedative hypnotics, such as sleep and anti-anxiety medications, can increase your risk of an overdose. Examples of these medications include sleep aids, such as zolpidem and eszopiclone, and benzodiazepines, such as diazepam and alprazolam. Even drinking alcohol while taking over-the-counter antihistamines can be dangerous. Other people use prescription sleep medications approved specifically for insomnia.
The Risk of Overdosing on Pills
Taking a higher dose than prescribed or taking pills more often than prescribed can increase your risk of an overdose. This is especially true if you take other substances like opioids or alcohol along with your sleeping pills. There are many reasons people seek help falling asleep or staying asleep, but people may resort to misusing medications to feel their effects. Due to the likelihood of abuse, it is vital to understand the dangers that come with sleeping pills, including the risk of overdose. Finally, mixing sleeping medications and alcohol does not improve sleep. While this combination may make a person feel more tired and fall asleep more quickly, the rest that they will get will be of poor quality.
Sleeping Pill Addiction
Ingesting alcohol and other drugs together intensifies their individual effects and could produce an overdose with even moderate amounts of alcohol. The most addictive drugs carry the highest risk of overdose as users are likely to ingest higher doses than the body can safely process. Most overdose cases may not lead to death, but a large overdose can stop respiration and cause death within a short period.
- Taking a higher dose than prescribed or taking pills more often than prescribed can increase your risk of an overdose.
- Feeding the problemOnce people get hooked on prescription drugs, it is fairly easy for them to stay addicted.
- Sleep apnea can raise the risk of opioid-induced respiratory depression, or shallow breathing, said Weiner.
- Offering support and encouraging professional assistance can make a crucial difference.
How To Use Sleep Medications Safely
People who mix sleeping pills and alcohol compound the risk of overdosing. Both sleeping pills and alcohol affect the central nervous system and depress vital functions. Taking sleeping pills to fall asleep can easily become routine https://ecosoberhouse.com/ for individuals — as customary as having a nightly cocktail. Our writers and reviewers are experienced professionals in medicine, addiction treatment, and healthcare.
You should also avoid the use of alcohol while being treated with the non-benzodiazepine medications, (often referred to as the “Z-drugs”). Alcohol can further increase the central nervous system side effects of these drugs such as drowsiness, dizziness, and trouble concentrating. Some people may also experience impairment in thinking, judgment, memory or reflexes. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions or concerns.
- Drinking too much and too quickly can lead to significant impairments in motor coordination, decision-making, impulse control, and other functions, increasing the risk of harm.
- If you drink more than this and your body isn’t able to break it down fast enough, it accumulates in your body.
- Other people start taking prescription drugs just to get high, perhaps in part because they have the (false) notion that prescription drugs are safer to experiment with than are illicit drugs.
- You should always talk to your doctor before starting a new kind of medication.
Learn More About Sleep Aids
Learn more about the risks of combining alcohol and medication, including how long to wait to drink after taking certain medications. Alcohol and Xanax—both of which reportedly were found in Houston’s hotel room immediately after her death—are dangerous when consumed together for several reasons. One has to do with the similar processes by which the body expels them. Alcohol circulating in the body eventually ends up in the liver, where it is metabolized by enzymes called alcohol dehydrogenase and cytochrome P450.
Binge drinking
This can be particularly dangerous if you are operating machinery or doing anything that needs you to be very alert in the morning after taking the sleeping pill. Some people have no trouble falling asleep but they can’t stay asleep, so they look for alcohol and pills a sleeping pill that is short acting (not 7 to 8 hours). There is one drug that is FDA approved for this, called Intermezzo. You can take this medication if you have at least 4 hours left of sleep time. They may recommend a medical exam to help you figure out the cause of your sleep problems, like depression, anxiety, or a sleep disorder.
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The majority of available prescription sleeping pills can be addictive, abusing the prescription drugs increases the chance of becoming addicted. Prescription sleeping pills can also trigger disturbed sleep behaviors, such as sleep-eating and sleep-driving, especially if used improperly. Some people seek out over-the-counter sleep aids, such as melatonin, valerian, and products with antihistamines, including Benadryl, Sominex, and Tylenol PM.
Deadly Duo: Mixing Alcohol and Prescription Drugs Can Result in Addiction or Accidental Death
If you’ve been taking prescription sleep drugs for an extended period, don’t stop abruptly, in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, nausea, and muscle cramps. Sleeping pills also might interact with medications you take for other health conditions, so be sure your doctor knows all medications you take, even those prescribed by other doctors. Also check with your pharmacist before using an OTC product or supplement, as these can also interact badly with prescription medications.