The Downside of OTC and Herbal Medications for Insomnia

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Friday, October 31st, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

Have you ever felt that your mind is running nonstop even if you are all ready to go to sleep? No matter how hard you try, you still can not get to relax and shut your thoughts out even if your body is aching to just rest and sleep?

Though this may be a common sign of insomnia or other sleep disorder, there have been numerous studies on treatments and medications for insomnia to help those people who are suffering every night. These insomnia medications have been proven to work, both as prescription drugs, herbal remedies and over-the-counter pills.

Over-The-Counter Pills

Over-the-counter medications for insomnia are proven to help you deal with your sleeping but should only be used for short term basis. Examples of these non-prescriptive medications that could be brought from drugstores, retail stores, or even grocery shops are Sleep-Eze, Nytol, and Sominex.

It is however recommended that these medications for insomnia should only be used as a short term aid to help you deal with your sleeping disorder because they could worsen the case. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has testified that antihistamine is the most common ingredients of these over-the-counter medications for insomnia and they are only relying on the sedating effects of antihistamine to help the person overcome the sleep disorder.

If you have experienced side effects of these non-prescription medications for insomnia like dry mouth, dry eyes, urinary retention, confusion, drowsiness the next day, forgetfulness, and constipation, it is best that you stop using these drugs and consult your doctor.

Herbal Medicines

Since over-the-counter medications for insomnia have proven to be effective yet could bring about harmful side effects, what you may want is to try herbal medicines that are especially formulated to help you with your sleeping disorder. However, the downside of using these herbal medications for insomnia is that they have not yet been thoroughly examined by the FDA - a regulation that is required for all prescription drugs.

Aside from that, though they are still considered to be over-the-counter, these are still pills that could trigger chemical reactions to your body. And of course, since they are herbal and natural medications, the safety profiles of them are still unknown because they are not thoroughly researched.

The bottom line here is, if you are having sleeping problems, self medication is not the best answer. The problem may be rooted deeply and really needs special medical attention that is why it is always best to consult your doctor.

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The Downside of OTC and Herbal Medications for Insomnia