The fatal side effect of prescription sleep aids

I’ve suffered from insomnia for more than 10 years. But despite far too many exhausting all-nighters, I’ve never tried prescription sleep aids.

I tried over-the-counter sleep aids when I was at my most desperate. But they made me feel loopy and strange. Even worse, I still didn’t sleep well. Go figure.

But even though prescription sleep aids aren’t my preferred method for managing insomnia, I understand why millions of people use them. Insomnia stinks. And you got to do what you got to do to get some dang sleep sometimes.

However, if you do turn to prescription sleep aids to get some zzz’s on occasion, there’s something you should know…

They threaten lives more often than those commercials with the calming, sleep-inducing butterfly lead you to believe. In fact, the risk of taking prescription sleep aids is severe enough that the FDA just slapped their highest warning on them…

Even the FDA is afraid of these sleeping pill side effects

The FDA wants people taking prescription sleep aids to know that these common medications have some potentially deadly side effects.

There have been at least 66 cases where people taking these medications engaged in what they call “complex sleep behaviors.” Basically, these people started doing dangerous stuff when they were completely asleep or when they thought they were awake but weren’t fully awake. This included things like sleepwalking and driving.

At least 20 people taking sleep aids engaged in “complex sleep behaviors” that killed them. They died from carbon monoxide poisoning, drowning, falling, hypothermia or car crashes (while they were driving). One person died from what looked like a suicide.

Another 20 people engaged in “complex sleep behaviors” that didn’t kill them but did leave them with injuries like burns, gunshot wounds and limb loss from cold exposure.

Now, these “complex sleep behavior” incidents are rare, but they’re serious enough that anyone should think long and hard before popping a prescription sleep aid. You may be fine. But there’s a slim chance you could be one of the few who puts their life at risk.

“These types of medications are well-known to trigger these [dangerous] events,” said an expert on sleep medicine, Dr. Thomas Kilkenny, who directs sleep medicine at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City. “In a susceptible person, there could be no control over what happens once the patient goes to sleep.”

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How to get more sleep with fewer risks

It’s a scary thought… going to sleep and doing dangerous stuff you didn’t know you were doing. It doesn’t make me want to reconsider my stance on prescription sleep aids anytime soon, that’s for sure. The sleep aids included in the FDA’s warning are:

• Eszopiclone (Lunesta
• Zaleplon (Sonata)
• Zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar, Intermezzo, and Zolpimist)

But if you’re hesitant to stop taking prescription sleep aids, there’s something else you should know…

Many sleep experts say they’re not even the best way to handle insomnia. For example, Dr. Steven Feinsilver, the director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City calls them “overrated.” He believes people with chronic insomnia should turn to behavioral treatments.

Behavioral treatments include things like:

• Relaxation training (therapies that help your mind and body relax like progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback, etc.)
• Stimulus control therapy (instructions that guide you on when to go to sleep; what activities are allowed and not allowed in bed; what to do if you can’t feel asleep within a reasonable amount of time; when to wake up; and the rules around daytime napping)
• Sleep restriction therapy (a controlled form of sleep deprivation where you try to reset your sleep-wake cycle)
• Sleep hygiene (changing your lifestyle to promote better sleep. That includes changes to things like diet, exercise, and substance use, and environmental factors like light, noise, temperature, and bedding.)
• Paradoxical intention therapy (purposely trying to stay awake to overcome sleep “performance anxiety”)
• Cognitive restructuring (a method for restructuring your negative thought patterns around sleep)

A lot of these behavioral treatments are complex and work best if you seek the support of a sleep doctor or psychologist. In the meantime, if you still need to take prescription sleep aids to get you through the night, here are a few safety guidelines to follow:

• Don’t use your prescription sleep medicine with any other sleep medicine, like non-prescription sleep aids.
• Don’t mix sleep medicines with alcohol.
• If you still feel drowsy when you wake up, take time before getting behind the wheel or doing anything else with life-threatening consequences.
• Most importantly, if you already know that you’ve engaged in activities while you weren’t fully awake or don’t remember things you’ve done while taking sleep aids, stop taking them and talk to your doctor.

Sources:

1. FDA puts tough warning label on Ambien, Lunesta, other sleep aids — MedicalXpress
2. FDA requires stronger warnings about rare but serious incidents related to certain prescription insomnia medicines — U.S. Food & Drug Administration
3. Behavioral interventions for insomnia: Theory and practice — Indian Journal of Psychiatry