Sleep disorder is one of the main symptoms of almost all somatic and mental diseases. The most common sleep disorder is certainly insomnia due to which physical, mental, social and professional activities of a person worsen.
Sleeping pills, providing a weak, moderate or severe hypnotic effect are prescribed to a person for a normal sleep regimen. Goal of using sleeping pills is not only to normalize sleep-wake schedule but also to improve the quality of person’s life. So, sleeping pills should not suppress the daily activity, providing hypnotic effect.
There are different types of sleeping pills that are able to help a person to improve the quality of night sleep. It should be understood that the choice of optimal sleeping pills depends on the set of several factors. Since, some sleeping pills have a broad spectrum of pharmacological action.
For example, Phenobarbital sleeping pills possess hypnotic, sedative and anticonvulsant effect. Therefore, they can be prescribed not only for the management of insomnia but also for:
* tension reduction in patients with anxiety disorder;
* elimination of tonic-clonic or febrile seizures in patients with epilepsy.
In NZ, sleeping pills Phenobarbital are more known under trade names Bellergal, Garoin and Phenobarbitone, but in Australia, USA and Canada these sleeping pills are not sold. As an alternative to Phenobarbital sleeping pills, one can use Triazolam pills.
Like Phenobarbital pills, Triazolam sleeping pills are prescribed for short-term treatment of insomnia. However, Triazolam pills do not have sedative effect. So, it is inexpedient to use these sleeping pills in people with insomnia, caused by anxiety disorder.
A distinctive feature of Triazolam sleeping pills is that the duration of the soporific effect is about 3-4 hours. So, they are most often prescribed to people, experiencing difficulties with falling asleep. Person, taking Triazolam sleeping pills should be cautioned about the fact that one of the side effects can become amnesia. This side effect of Triazolam sleeping pills most often occurs in elderly age.
Triazolam sleeping pills have been used for over 30 years for insomnia treatment, thus they are well studied and all possible risks, associated with their use are reliable known. In the USA, Australia and NZ Triazolam sleeping pills are better known under trade name Halcion.
Doxylamine is one of the popular sleeping pills. These sleeping pills are prescribed to people who experience insomnia not more than 2-3 nights in a row. These pills are not prescribed for the treatment of chronic and (or) severe insomnia. It should be noted that Doxylamine is one of the few sleeping pills that can be prescribed to deal with insomnia in adolescence.
Doxylamine is over the counter sleeping pills that are one of the most prescribed sleeping pills. It is not surprising that they are manufactured by dozens of pharmaceutical companies all over the world. At the international pharmaceutical market, Doxylamine sleeping pills are available for sale under the trade names:
- Mersyndol, Dimetapp (NZ);
- Unisom-2 (Canada);
- Decapryn, Doxy-Sleep-Aid, Unisom (USA).
Taking OTC and prescription sleeping pills, it is necessary to remember that they depress the functions of central nervous system. Therefore, do not use them together with alcohol or in combination with other sleeping pills.
It is also necessary to remember that almost all prescription sleeping pills are contraindicated during pregnancy. Therefore, pregnant women should use only OTC sleeping pills to treat insomnia and to improve the quality of night sleep. Women also should remember that active ingredients of any sleeping pills pass into breast milk, so they may harm the baby.