Patients who sleep poorly often self medicate before seeking consultation because they are so lacking in information and so desperate for a good night’s sleep.

-Team@CMHF

• The most common agent used as self medication for insomnia is alcohol, taken by 6-13% of the population as a sleep aid.
• If however you are suffering from acute insomnia (which means sudden onset of symptoms lasting at least four weeks) this rises to 15-28%.
• Women with symptomatic insomnia over the age of 85 will use alcohol more than 70% of the time.
• Americans resort to poorly regulated ‘health’ supplements to improve sleep including the following: valerian, melatonin, hops, lavender, passionflower, kava and skullcap.
• More alarming is the fact that the vast majority of these products have never been evaluated in clinical studies prior to becoming available to the public.
• While considered safe by much of the public, the pharmacologically active components of these products and the concentrations of their active components may vary considerably – even among different batches of the same brand.
• There’s potential for serious adverse effects particularly if we use these products over the long term.
• The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has published practice guidelines based on its evaluation of these substances and have concluded that the benefit is unclear and unmeasured.
• While these drugs are regulated, most are not FDA approved to help people sleep.
• Agents like Diphenhydramine – an antihistamine – as the active ingredient is initially sedating and will indeed make sleepy but patients quickly develop a tolerance to it.
• This means the same dose no longer makes them as sleepy, but the drug continues to accumulate rapidly in the body.
• As the drug levels build up in the blood and body tissues, patients can experience side effects and negative consequences during the daytime, which they often describe as ‘hangover’ effects.
• Some of these agents can have serious side effects especially if inadvertently combined with common medications like inhalers used for certain lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or when used by someone with enlarged prostate disease.
• Combined these agents can cause dry mouth, blurred vision, retention of urine, constipation and even confusion or delirium.
• If one uses alcohol to sleep or purchases sleep aids at the local store this is a sign that one is likely suffering from a sleep disorder that should be managed in consultation with a certified sleep specialist.

For further reading log on to :

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/sleepmatters/post/2011/08/Whats-Inside-the-American-Medicine-Cabinet/545438/1