Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders found in humans. According to a report, more than half of UK employees are getting 2 hours less sleep than they should. Another study revealed that nearly 20% of office workers take a nap during work hours to catch up with their sleep cycle. But what about seniors?
People over 60 have different body functioning than healthy adults. With aging, their system slows down which is why they need a little more sleep than adults. People’s mindset changes with age and it becomes easy to get affected by the train of thoughts during the night that affects the sleeping matter in seniors.
Sleeping pills are a solution to cure insomnia at any age but for seniors, they may cause more problems than comfort.
Why Sleeping Pills Are Dangerous For Seniors?
Sleeping pills, if taken with a proper doctor’s advice can cure insomnia and anxiety. It’s the most effective and fastest way to get back to the proper sleep cycle. However, 90% of the people abuse them and get addicted. Seniors are more prone to such addiction as they usually suffer from a lack of energy, depression, and anxiety.
According to the health institute, seniors should only take sleeping medicines on alternate days. Also, if they are consuming alcohol, the regular dose of sleeping pills may create a dangerous impact on the health and psychology.
Also, it’s very easy to get addicted to sleeping pills at any stage in life. Sleeping pills slow the nervous system which blocks several signals between the mind and body. This eases our mind and body and we fall asleep. According to doctors, if you consume sleeping pills for 1 week regularly, there is 70% chance that you will continue taking them.
FDA has released strict guidelines for the sale of sleeping pills. Also, the manufacturers have advised printing the caution warnings on the packaging, explaining the side effects and dangers of the pills. This just shows how dangerous pills can be.
Side Effects of Sleeping Pills
Here are some common side effects that seniors may experience with the consumption of sleeping pills:
- Itching in palms, feet, hands, and legs
- Morning dizziness and fatigue
- Sharp mood swings
- Lack of appetite
- Dry throat and mouth
- Headache (migraine)
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Nausea and vomiting
- Occasional stomachache
- Forgetfulness, difficulty in remembering things
- Idleness
- Weakness
- Nightmares
- Vision problem
- Difficulty in focusing
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Sleeping Pills: Dependency
Sleeping pills are designed to cure insomnia but they are not to be used for the long term. But people get prescriptions from doctors once and use them over and over to get as many pills as they want. If you want to buy pills which you are least likely to get addicted to, you can buy zopiclone at any online drug store in the UK.
With constant use, the body develops a tolerance toward the pills. And slowly the normal dose stops working and people need to increase the dose to be able to sleep. This is a very da dangerous sign. Because a high dose of sleeping pills can cause more damage to seniors than the comfort it will bring.
The addiction to sleeping pills may cause severe side effects which can deteriorate the quality of life. Especially seniors who already have many physical conditions may suffer from impaired vision, chest pain, depression, and stomach diseases.
Make sure you always give a controlled dose to seniors and always monitor their health while they are taking the sleeping medication.