What Are the Effects of Mixing Sleeping Pills and Alcohol?

can you overdose on sleeping pills and alcohol

While they can help induce sleep, they can also lead to unwanted side effects, especially when misused or taken in larger than recommended doses. These side effects include dizziness, memory issues, impaired thinking, and surprising ones like increased agitation or anxiety. If combined with other substances like opioids or alcohol, the https://ecosoberhouse.com/ depressive effects on the central nervous system can be amplified, leading to an even greater risk of harmful outcomes, including fatality.

  • Prescription sleeping pills can also trigger disturbed sleep behaviors, such as sleep-eating and sleep-driving, especially if used improperly.
  • Even before an overdose occurs, misusing sleeping pills can lead to serious side effects.
  • In light of all that lost sleep, it’s no wonder that millions of people turn to over-the-counter and prescription sleep medicines.
  • It’s worth being cautious when it comes to mixing alcohol and medications.
  • For people with insomnia that resists other forms of treatment, doctors may give you prescription sleeping medication to be taken regularly.

What Precautions Are Important When Taking Sleep Medications for the First Time?

Painkillers, in particular, are much more easily obtained than they used to be. As a result, prescription painkiller sales to pharmacies, hospitals and doctors’ offices have quadrupled since 1999. Other people start taking prescription drugs just to get high, perhaps in part because they have the (false) notion that prescription drugs are safer to experiment with than are illicit drugs. “They take them for recreational purposes, and then a portion of them find ‘Wow, I can’t stop using this,'” says Jon Morgenstern, director of addiction treatment at the Columbia University Medical Center. Using pills without a prescription increases a person’s risk of overdose.

can you overdose on sleeping pills and alcohol

Side effects of prescription sleeping pills

  • Copyright © 2024, AddictionHelp.com The information provided by AddictionHelp.com is not a substitute for professional medical advice.
  • The Recovery Village has caring professionals who can guide you through treatment options and help achieve recovery.
  • If you or a loved one find yourself struggling with habitual use of sleeping medication or alcohol abuse, know that recovery is possible.
  • They can also teach you sleep hygiene habits that can lead to long-lasting benefits for sleep.
  • If you have prescription pills, ensure you only use them as prescribed.
  • Physicians also suggest people avoid taking sleep aids on nights before they may need to make big decisions.

Many drugs in this class are used for the short-term (7-10 days) treatment of insomnia. You should not drink alcohol while taking benzodiazepines, as this class of medication can increase the effects of alcohol. You may feel more drowsy, dizzy, or tired if you take a benzodiazepine with alcohol. You may have trouble concentrating or thinking, lose good judgment, or experience impairment to your memory or reflexes. Using sleeping pills and alcohol together exponentially increases the likelihood of developing a poly-drug use disorder and other co-occurring mental health disorders.

can you overdose on sleeping pills and alcohol

Common Overdose Drugs

can you overdose on sleeping pills and alcohol

This condition can lead to total respiratory failure, which can be fatal without medical help. Heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and other stimulant pills can cause seizures at high doses. Untreated seizures can lead to loss of consciousness and permanent brain injury. Michael J. Sateia, MD, professor of psychiatry and chief of the section ofsleep medicine, Dartmouth Medical School. Using more than one sleep product is also a red flag, Sateia says. “It usually represents a desperate attempt to find the right medication or combination of medications that are going to solve the problem. It’s almost always a counter-productive strategy.”

  • Dr. Dimitriu is the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine.
  • Rebound insomnia can happen if you suddenly stop taking sleeping pills.
  • These pills, such as the popular brands Ambien, Lunesta, and Rozerem, enhance the brain’s gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), promoting sleep.
  • Usually, an overdose victim is unable — or in the case of intentional overdose, unwilling — to contact the proper authorities.
  • Nearly 30 percent experience short-term insomnia and 10 percent struggle with chronic insomnia.
  • Complete recovery from an overdose case where there is no severe damage to organs will take a few days to weeks.
  • The enzymes in the grapefruit slow down how your body metabolizes (breaks down) the medication, making the drug stronger and last longer in your body.

Getting Help for Drug Addiction

can you overdose on sleeping pills and alcohol

Sometimes, you can drink a few hours after taking a medication, other times you’ll need to wait a few days or longer. Indeed, the average person waits 10 years from the start of an addiction to the time when he or she actually seeks help, he says. Many lives could be saved if people thought of addiction as the chronic illness that it is—a deadly disease similar to, say, alcohol and pills a cancer. “If you catch that tumor before it spreads, it’s a treatable disease,” Morgenstern says. But if you wait, “you’re playing Russian roulette.” The same goes for substance abuse.

Many people develop a tolerance to sleep aids, meaning they need higher doses of the drug over time to get the same effects. This may be accompanied by addiction or withdrawal symptoms, including rebound insomnia, anxiety, irritability, or strange dreams. Different sleep aids may help you fall asleep faster, reduce nighttime awakenings, or sleep for longer. Your doctor will choose a short-acting or long-acting sleep aid based on what is more appropriate for your situation.

Overdosing on Sleeping Pills and Alcohol

can you overdose on sleeping pills and alcohol

And 36% reported that within the past year, they fell asleep while driving or nodded off at the wheel. Going without enough sleep can also lead to headaches and contribute to depression. For short-term insomnia, your doctor may prescribe sleeping pills for several weeks.

If you combine alcohol and drugs, you may not feel the effects of the alcohol. This may cause you to drink more, increasing your risk for an alcohol overdose. If your doctor has prescribed sleeping pills long-term, you will most likely go back after several weeks for a follow-up visit. If you and your doctor decide the medication is not working for you, they may change your dosage instructions or assign you a different one. Most sleep aids are designed to be effective during four or eight hours. Taking a pill when you need to wake up before this time may cause next-day grogginess.

Sources used for the article

If you’re living with diabetes and concerned about opioids, consider this advice from the experts. If you or someone you know is experiencing any signs of an overdose, call immediately. If you survive an overdose without these complications, your long-term outlook will be very good.

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