Like many other drugs, almost all hypnotic drugs cause addiction in two ways:
1) First, after a certain time, the effectiveness of sleeping pills decreases. As a result, you have to increase the dosage to get the same result. Often, sleeping pills generally lose their effectiveness.
2) Secondly, almost all sleeping pills are highly addictive, and refusal to take them leads to severe breaking, which can be life threatening.
In the 1960s – 1980s. benzodiazepines were the most prescription drugs. They have a huge number of side effects, and some doctors say that dependence on benzodiazepines is even more dangerous than on heroin. In addition, it is much more difficult to overcome. Although benzodiazepines are sometimes still prescribed, today you will most likely be offered one of the “nebenzodiazepines”, the so-called “z” drugs: zopiclone (imovan, wintered), eszopiclone (lunestas), zolpidem (ambiye), and zalplon ( sonata). If you have had to take sleeping pills in the past ten years, most likely it was one of these medications. Zopiclone is most often recommended by the National Health Service. When non-benzodiazepines only appeared, it was stated that they had no side effects and that they did not cause addiction. Naturally, people suffering from insomnia, immediately wanted to try them. Today, doctors’ opinions about them have changed, and now it is known that they can be just as dangerous as benzodiazepines.
Dependence on benzodiazepines is sometimes more dangerous than dependence on hard drugs.
Benzodiazepines were the cause of the largest UK litigation against manufacturers, involving 14,000 patients. It is now known that, although these drugs are called “nebenzodiazepines,” they have almost identical effects and side effects.
In addition, they are also addictive.
In a study conducted at the University of Liverpool in 2004, scientists compared the effects of zaleplon, zolpidem, and zopiclone to benzodiazepines. The following factors were evaluated: sleep speed, sleep duration, number of wakefulness, sleep quality, tolerance, insomnia retreat, daytime activity. The results of the study were staggering. Scientists have found that “the difference between benzodiazepines and nebenzodiazepines is very small.” 8 It turned out that zaleplon, zolpidem, zopiclone and eszopiclone are as addictive as benzodiazepines, such as Valium.
Performance
We especially need sleep so that we can feel alert and able to work during the day. Surprisingly, scientists have proven that taking sleeping pills does not improve human performance the next day. On the contrary, according to most studies, such drugs only worsen his condition!
“A person’s hope that a sleeping pill will improve his well-being the next day is fundamentally wrong”
In addition, several studies revealed that many people involved in car accidents took sleeping pills.
Even “innocuous” antihistamines for insomnia, one of which is hydroxin, can lead to negative consequences. Sometimes it is prescribed for anxiety, and then its dosage can reach 50 mg per day. Despite the fact that hydroxin is considered “light”, it acts on some people more than any sleeping pill. Many people with whom I spoke stated that hydroxin turned them into walking zombies, deprived them of working capacity and rational thinking, which made it impossible for them to realize the dangers of driving a car in such a state.
After sleeping under the influence of sleeping pills, the condition is so severe that many people would prefer not to sleep at all.
Aggravation of insomnia
When a person stops taking sleeping pills, insomnia is usually temporarily exacerbated. This is one of the side effects of dependence on sleeping pills, so anyone who takes this kind of medication should understand that when the time comes to give up these drugs, it will be even more difficult to sleep. Many people continue to drink sleeping pills, not because it helps them, but only because they cannot bear the increased insomnia that comes with refusing medications.
In most cases, the patient tries to stop taking sleeping pills when it ceases to be effective. In one study, it turned out that patients who took flirazepam and triazoles for five weeks did not sleep better than those who took placebo. The only reason why these people continued to drink sleeping pills was that refusing to exacerbate insomnia. As a result, such people could not sleep with or without pills. Unfortunately, despair pushed them to increase the dosage, although initially they intended to abandon sleeping pills at all.