Symptoms > Emotional Ailments > Sleep Disturbances You’ve likely heard that getting good sleep is essential for maintaining your physical and mental health. Or, you may have noticed how experiencing disturbances in your sleep has affected your physical and mental health, relationships, work performance, and your overall quality of life. If you are experiencing sleep disturbances, it’s crucial to determine the root causes behind your poor sleep – and while you are on this journey of discovery, you might be surprised to learn that medications may be to blame.
Medications That Can Cause Sleep Disturbances
Many types of prescription and over-the-counter medications can leave you feeling drowsy during the day or wide awake at night. In fact, these two symptoms are commonly listed as a side effect of a range of drugs.
Drowsiness Side Effect
Medications that cause drowsiness can promote sleep at the wrong time, diminishing your ability to fall asleep at night. Even if you don’t go to sleep and drowsiness subsides, you may then feel wide awake despite the time of day. Here are some common medications that cause drowsiness1:
Antihistamines to combat allergy symptoms
Medications for motion sickness or dizziness, like Dramamine
Diarrhea medications such as Imodium
Beta-blockers used for lowering blood pressure or slowing your heart rate
Inhibitors used for blood pressure control, heart failure, diabetes, and more due to the reduction in blood pressure
Prescription muscle relaxants, opioid pain medications, and seizure or nerve pain medications like OxyContin, Vicodin, and Clobazam
Tricyclic antidepressants such as Elavil, Sinequan, and Pamelor
Benzodiazepines and anxiety medications such as Xanax and Ativan
Antipsychotics used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, such as Risperidone and Abilify
Keep in mind that many medications may be labeled as “non-drowsy” but still can cause drowsiness.
Restlessness Side Effect
Other medications can cause restlessness, keeping you awake when it’s time to sleep. These medications include the following 2:
Antihistamines, which can cause both drowsiness and restlessness
Common cold and cough medications such as DayQuil, Mucinex, and Alka-Seltzer
Bronchodilator medications such as albuterol or salmeterol, which are used to treat asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and can affect the nervous system, causing tremors and agitation
Beta-blockers, which can negatively affect your body’s melatonin production levels and cause nightmares or bad dreams that can wake you up
Alpha-blockers used for high blood pressure, which can interfere with REM sleep
Over-the-counter medicines featuring caffeine, such as weight-loss and pain medications
Over-the-counter smoking-cessation medications that contain nicotine
Most of these drugs appear to influence the neurotransmitters in your brain that keep you awake. This phenomenon can delay sleep, cause fragmented sleep, or suppress REM sleep.
The Side Effects of Sleep Medications
Unfortunately, sleep issues are not only affected by the drugs above. In fact, over-the-counter and prescription medications designed to address sleep disturbances and sleep disorders may actually have a negative effect on the quality of your sleep. Some of the over-the-counter options often used to combat poor sleep include diphenhydramine (Benadryl), doxylamine (Unisom), melatonin, and Valerian. Some prescription options are eszopiclone (Lunesta), gabapentin enacarbil (Horizant), and zolpidem (Ambien).
All of these sleep aids can cause a multitude of side effects that affect sleep, including 3:
Tingling or burning in your hands, arms, feet, and legs
Appetite changes
Constipation
Diarrhea
Problems with balance
Dizziness
Drowsiness during the day
Dry mouth or throat
Headaches
Heartburn
Gas or gastrointestinal upsets
Next day impairment
Attention or memory problems
Stomach pains, tenderness
Shakiness
Nightmares or out-of-the-ordinary dreams
Weakness
Worsening sleep problems
Sleepwalking, talking, eating, or driving
Changes in appetite
To make matters worse, some sleeping pills, including benzodiazepines or benzodiazepine agonists like zolpidem or eszopiclone, eventually stop working as you build a tolerance to the substance. This can lead to continuous increases in dosage to prevent sleep issues from returning. In turn, increased dosage over a long period of time can even cause you to develop a psychological dependency on your sleep medication. It can become even more difficult to sleep, or you may feel anxious if you don’t have the medication to rely on.
Your body can also develop a physiological dependency on sleeping pills, which can result in withdrawal symptoms when you try to reduce or discontinue use. Common symptoms include worsening sleep problems, anxiety, agitation, sweating, and tremors. Dependence can also increase the risk of accidents, impaired cognitive function, memory problems, and an overall decline in your well-being. 3
How Sleep Disturbances Affect Your Life
25% of adults in the United States have reported dissatisfaction with their sleep.3 Besides getting out of bed the next morning feeling out of sorts, groggy, irritable, and tired, sleep deprivation has very real long-term effects on your body and life. Not getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep nightly can cause many issues, including 4:
Trouble with Thinking, Concentration, and Memory – While you sleep, your brain forms connections that process and help you retain new information. Lack of sleep can interfere with this process, affecting your short and long-term memory, concentration, problem-solving skills, and creative abilities.
Mood Changes and Emotional Well-Being – Lack of sleep can cause you to be moody, emotional, or irritable. In the long term, this can become anxiety or depression.
Weakened Immune System – Lack of sleep weakens the immune system’s defenses against pathogens and even allergens, making you more likely to get sick.
Increased Risk of Certain Diseases – Sleep deprivation can significantly increase the risk of diseases and health conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, obesity, metabolic disorders, mental health disorders, neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, digestive disorders, increased pain sensitivity, and disruption of the body’s hormonal balance.
High Blood Pressure – When you don’t get enough sleep, your body’s sympathetic nervous system, which controls your fight-or-flight response, can become overactive. This leads to increased production of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which causes your heart to beat faster and your blood vessels to constrict, raising your blood pressure.
Increased Risk of Accidental Injury – Poor sleep can pose serious safety risks, such as increased risk of car, workplace, or other accidents due to impaired reaction times and judgment.
Poor Balance – A lack of sleep can affect your balance and coordination, causing falls and other physical accidents.
Weight Gain – Sleep deprivation can disrupt the chemical messengers that notify the brain that you are full, resulting in overeating. Additionally, chronic sleep deprivation can alter your body’s ability to regulate metabolism, which decreases energy expenditure and increases the fat storage that can cause weight gain.
Low Sex Drive – Lack of sleep disrupts the balance of hormones in your body, including those that regulate sexual function. For example, testosterone, an essential hormone for both men’s and women’s sexual desire, can decrease with insufficient sleep.
Work and Productivity Changes – Sleep deprivation can significantly impair your performance at work and your productivity levels. You may struggle to concentrate, make decisions, and stay focused, affecting potential career advancement opportunities.
Relationship Challenges – Sleep disturbances can cause mood swings that may increase conflicts and misunderstandings, straining relationships with your spouse, partner, family members, friends, and work colleagues. Additionally, if you’re sharing a bed with your spouse or partner, you may be disrupting their sleep.
Decreased Social Activity – Lack of sleep can also limit your participation in social activities and hobbies due to fatigue and low energy levels. This can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Alternative Approaches to Treating Sleep Disturbances
Due to the side effects caused by prescription and OTC sleep medications, as well as their potential for dependency and withdrawal, non-medication-based solutions are crucial.
Here are a few alternative approaches to finding relief from sleep disturbances.
CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psychological treatment that is effective for those suffering from depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug abuse, relationship/marital issues, eating disorders, and other severe mental illnesses. All of these may be contributing to your disruption in sleep.
CBT is based on these core principles:
Psychological problems are partly based on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking.
Psychological problems are partly based on learned patterns of harmful behaviors.
People experiencing psychological problems can learn better ways to cope, relieve their symptoms, and better their lives.
CBT treatment involves changing thinking and behavioral patterns, and common strategies include:
Learning to recognize the issues in one’s thoughts that are creating problems and reevaluating them.
Gaining a better understanding of the behaviors and the motivations of others.
Learning problem-solving skills to manage difficult situations.
Developing confidence in one’s abilities.
Facing one’s fears and not avoiding them.
Using role-playing to prepare for situations that may come up.
Learning techniques to become calm and relaxed.
Every CBT treatment plan will be unique based on each person’s needs, but all will address how the way you think impacts the way you feel. 5
Relaxation Techniques
Relaxation can be used to calm the mind and body, reduce stress, and prepare you for restful sleep.
Some techniques include:
Deep Breathing – Practicing deep breathing exercises can help you focus on the moment and calm an overactive mind. Take slow, deep breaths by inhaling deeply through your nose and exhaling slowly through your mouth.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) – Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) involves tensing and then relaxing muscle groups, which subsequently creates tension and relaxation throughout your body. You can do this by tensing a specific music group like the chest or glutes for a few seconds and then relaxing, releasing the tension, and focusing on the sensation of calming the body.
Guided Imagery – Guided imagery involves visualizing calming senses or experiences to reduce stress and relax. You can do this by closing your eyes and imagining yourself in places such as a beach, forest, or grandma’s kitchen, then focus your senses on the sights, sounds, smells, sensations, and tastes of the visualization.
Mindfulness Meditation – Mindfulness meditation involves focusing your attention on the present moment. You can achieve this by focusing on different parts of your body and mindful breathing, which is focusing on the sensation of your breath as it goes in and out.
Yoga and Stretching – Gentle yoga poses and stretching exercises can release tension from the body, improve cognition, and improve sleep 6. Focus on gentle, restorative poses that stretch and lengthen tight muscles, such as Savasana or the reclined butterfly pose.
Acupuncture – Acupuncture is often used as a complementary therapy for other conditions that are affecting sleep, such as anxiety, depression, and hormonal balance. Acupuncture can reduce levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, increase endorphins that serve as our natural painkillers and mood enhancers, help regulate the body’s internal clock, and synchronize the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle known as the circadian rhythm.7
Exercise – Regular physical activity has been found to enhance sleep quality, regardless of the presence of sleep disorders and may help regulate the body’s circadian rhythm. Exercise is also a natural stress reliever and mood enhancer because it causes physical fatigue to make sleep easier and deeper, balances your hormones, and increases body temperature to signal to your body that it is time to rest.
Find More Information about Alternative Treatments
At Alternative to Meds Center, we firmly believe that the journey to attain better health and sustainable wellness must include alternatives to harmful medications. If your sleep disturbances are caused by the medications you are on, we offer tapering programs for prescription withdrawals from antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, opiates, amphetamines, and other medications.
To learn more about how you can eliminate these medications to help you sleep without disturbances, contact us today.
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Fitzgerald, T., & Vietri, J. (2015). Residual effects of sleep medications are commonly reported and associated with impaired patient-reported outcomes among insomnia patients in the United States. Sleep disorders, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/607148
Medic, G., Wille, M., & Hemels, M. E. (2017). Short- and long-term health consequences of sleep disruption. Nature and science of sleep, 9, 151–161. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S134864
Clark, D. A., & Beck, A. T. (2010). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: Science and practice. New York, NY: Guilford Press. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-20450-000
Panjwani, U., Dudani, S., & Wadhwa, M. (2021). Sleep, Cognition, and Yoga. International journal of yoga, 14(2), 100–108. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_110_20
Chang, S., Kwon, O. S., Bang, S. K., Kim, D. H., Baek, M. W., Ryu, Y., … & Kim, H. Y. (2019). Peripheral sensory nerve tissue but not connective tissue is involved in the action of acupuncture. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13, 110. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.00110/full
Medical Disclaimer: Nothing on this Website is intended to be taken as medical advice. The information provided on the website is intended to encourage, not replace, direct patient-health professional relationships. Always consult with your doctor before altering your medications. Adding nutritional supplements may alter the effect of medication. Any medication changes should be done only after proper evaluation and under medical supervision.
