Snooze Alarm

It’s a common complaint in a city that works as hard as we do. You’ve finally gotten a chance to lay your head down, but you simply won’t turn off. Insomnia, in varying degrees, has happened to almost all of us at some point in our lives. According to Dr. Hans Schrader, the Executive Medical Director at Matilda Hospital, there are two forms of insomnia: acute and chronic. With acute insomnia, you can’t consistently get a sound night’s sleep for between three and six months, while chronic insomnia can last for years.

Many sufferers look to medication to help them fall asleep. But are pills the right option? Not necessarily. “Sleep medication is best for acute sufferers and is a great help when overcoming jetlag, adjusting timetables for shift work or recovering from illness or brief periods of stress,” says Dr. Schrader. But for chronic sufferers, he says, sleeping pills can cause more harm than good because they can mask the underlying causes for the affliction.

So how to take them safely? Dr. Schrader suggests taking pills only for a brief time to discourage dependency and maintain the pills’ effectiveness. “The effects and side-effects of medications can be quite individual, a bit like sensitivity to alcohol. Some people will sleep immediately and peacefully; others will still be restless and possibly awake feeling drowsy or even hungover. Therefore, sleep medications should always be prescribed by a doctor who can evaluate the individual.”

So Which Pill?

So if you feel you have to pop a pill before hitting the hay, it is best to bone up on the many varieties on the market and the risks they carry. Be aware that they all carry the risk of side effects, and there is no pill that is completely safe.

Benzodiazepine Hypnotics
Also known as: Diazepam (Valium), Nitrazepam (Mogadon, Alodorm, Hypnotex, Remnos, Pacisyn, Eunoctin and Pelson), Temazepam (Restoril, Euhypnos, Normison, Remestan, Tenox and Norkotral)

“Bonzodiazepines are the most commonly used treatment for insomnia,” says Vivian Lee, assistant professor at the Chinese University School of pharmacy. “They are effective sedative-hypnotics. They have muscle relaxant, anticonvulsant and anxiety-relieving properties. They work by helping you to fall asleep quicker and increase your total quality sleep time. Fatal overdoses are rare unless they are taken in combination with central nervous system depressants or alcohol.” But it’s easy to develop a benzodiazepine habit, Dr. Schrader warns. “They carry a risk of habituation (when you need increasingly high doses to achieve the same sleep effect) and addiction. An overdose may result in life-threatening breathing problems. Therefore, it’s important that these medications are taken for only a few days at a time to avoid these side effects.”

Non-Benzodiazepines

Also known as: Ambien, Hypnogen, Myslee, Nimadorm, Nitrest, Sanval, Stilnoct, Stilnox, Zolfresh and Zolt