Use sleep aids only for short-term use
DEAR DOCTOR: My doctor offered to prescribe sleeping pills because I’m under a lot of stress at work and am suffering from insomnia. I’m tempted, but the side effects scare me. How often do people sleepwalk or binge-eat or do other activities after taking sleeping pills?
DEAR READER: It’s estimated that at least one-third and perhaps up to one-half of all Americans experience some kind of sleep problem. These range from the occasional sleepless night to the chronic — and at times debilitating — insomnia that affects up to 10 percent of the U.S. population. To deal with this unwanted wakefulness, an estimated 9 million Americans now turn to sleep aids of one kind or another.
The medications most commonly associated with the odd behaviors you mentioned are zolpidem, sold under the brand name Ambien, and eszopiclone, sold under the brand name Lunesta. They fall into a class of drugs known as hypnotics. These work by binding to certain receptors in the brain, which affects neural activity in a way that allows the user to slip into sleep.
Although the majority of users experience few if any side effects, some people have reported a range of peculiar and potentially dangerous behaviors that they had no memory of taking part in. The labels of the relevant drugs now carry prominent warnings that, while under the influence of the medication, it’s possible to walk, eat or even drive and have no memory of it afterward. Also carried in the warning labels is the possibility that varying levels of cognitive impairment, as well as physical symptoms like headache, nausea and a bad taste in the mouth, can persist into the following day.
While the temporary respite these sleep aids can offer from a bout of insomnia is helpful, it’s important to note that they are not intended for long-term use. Rather, they are meant for occasional use, to help someone who is struggling with sleeplessness to get through a rough patch.
Eve Glazier, M.D., MBA, is an internist and associate professor of medicine at UCLA Health.
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