Harmful Effects Of Sleeping Pills

Change In Appetite
One of the most noticeable effects of sleeping pill usage is change in appetite. This is simply because the disturbance of the circadian rhythm by induced-sleep also causes changes in all your metabolic functions and that includes your appetite.

Drug Dependency
At the end of the day a sleeping pill is nothing but a hypnotic-sedative drug. And like all drugs, too much of sleeping pill consumption can lead to addiction and unhealthy emotional or physical dependency.

Insomnia & Parasomnia
Insomnia is simply loss of sleep. While occasional consumption of sleeping pills may assuage your problems in the short-term, repeated usage over the long-term may find you developing a tolerance for the pill which means that you will be back to square one - unable to sleep. Parasomnia on the other hand is the display of unusual behavior such as sleep-eating, sleep-driving, having sex in a sleep state or maybe even making phone calls when you are in deep slumber. While Insomnia is common and easily detected, parasomnia is rare and hard to identify.

Effects On Asthmatic Patients
Since sleeping pills can make you breathe slowly and deeply, it is generally not prescribed to asthmatic patients or people with respiratory disorders. Needless to say, more than recommended sleeping pill dosage to asthmatic patients can mean certain death.

Cancer
There is a direct correlation between the incidence of cancer and regular sleeping-pill intake. This is a recent contention among medical circles and as of now, very little is known for sure. While the medical community is still divided on this issue it is better to avoid sleeping pills altogether.

Fatal
Mixing alcohol with sleeping-pills is a deadly and sometimes fatal combination. Also, drinking grape fruit juice with simultaneous pill consumption can cause death and must be avoided at any cost.

Other side-effects include diarrhea, drowsiness, dryness of the mouth and throat, indigestion, headache, hangovers, dizziness, loss of physical balance, change in sex drive or menstrual cycle, weakness, constipation, uncontrollable shaking of certain body parts and heartburn.

Additional Tips

* It is best to avoid purchasing over-the-counter sleeping-pills as you may not be aware of their side effects on you.
* It is advisable to take sleeping pills only under medical advice.

Usually sleep deprivation is a symptom of another health problem. That's why I'm not a fan of sleeping pills because sleeping pills simply mask the symptom rather than curing the problem. A bad diet can be one cause of sleeplessness as well as stress. Or it can be another health problem like high blood pressure that is depriving you of sleep.