What Are the Long Term Side Effects of Sleeping Pills?

Before you make the decision to go on sleeping pills, you should learn and understand the answer to what are the long term side effects of sleeping pills.

Taking sleeping pills over an extended period of time can result in some long term side effects such as:

• Dry mouth
• Perpetually tired
• Confusion and forgetfulness
• Drug dependency
• Masking of other medical problems
• Changes in sleep behaviors

Typical Side Effects of Sleeping Pills

You might consider these symptoms to be short term; however, if they are occurring every single day that you take the sleeping pills, then they eventually accumulate into long term side effects of sleeping pills:

• You might wake up the next morning with an extremely dry mouth.
• Sometimes people who take sleeping pills remain tired for the whole next day. If you experience this as a long term effect, it seems as though you are going to be perpetually tired.
• Other individuals who take sleeping pills report feeling confused and forgetful at many times.

Dealing with these issues and emotions can affect your personal life, your relationships, your schooling, your job, and a variety of other areas of your life.

Developing a Dependency on Drugs

If you are on the sleeping pills for a long time, your body can become physically addicted to the pills. You could grow a tolerance to the pills, and you might need to take more pills for them to continue working.

When people are on a lot of medication, they tend to have trouble concentrating and may appear to be "out of it" constantly. You could also wind up not be able to sleep at all without taking the medication.

As with other drug addictions, when you start to go off of the sleeping pills, you could very easily experience withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms can range from shaking and sweating to feeling nauseous. Depending on how long you have been taking the medication, you might even feel more severe symptoms of withdrawal.

Never Knowing the Real Problem

Sometimes people cannot sleep because they are stressed out or because they have an underlying health problem. If you are on sleeping pills, those potential issues are getting somewhat shoved to the side. You might never know that you have other problems, since the sleeping pills are taking over. You could wind up having an untreated issue that is extremely dangerous or even life threatening.

Change in Sleep Behaviors

Sleeping pills can alter your behavior while you are sleeping too. For example, people might find themselves walking in their sleep, something they had never done before. Generally, walking in your sleep does not turn out to be too dangerous. However, imagine that you accidentally walk outside and into the middle of a crowded street or that you fall down a flight of stairs? Clearly, these can be serious problems!

Sometimes people will engage in even more risky behavior when they are on sleeping pills. People have been known to go driving in their sleep and have absolutely no recollection of doing so the next day. We are sure that we do not need to tell you how dangerous that action is. Other people have gotten up and eaten while they are sleeping. Not only can this cause weight gain, but an individual could certainly choke.

Consult with a doctor to figure out which type of sleeping pill-if any-is right for you.