Sleep Medication Risks and Alternatives for Seniors

Many people struggle with sleeping, for a wide range of different reasons. These issues often get worse with age and with any chronic health problems.

In some cases, the solution may be as simple, such as following healthy sleep practices, ensuring that bedtime is roughly the same each night and avoiding bright light in the evening.

However, many seniors find that sleeping problems persist, even if they had no such issues in their younger years. This pattern often leads to sleeping medication. Such medication can be effective in the short-term. But, only be considered when no other options are available, as there are multiple risks and side effects.

Sleeping Pills Risks for Seniors

Sleep medications always come with some side effect risk, regardless of who is taking them.

Medication Dependency

Perhaps the most common is dependence. People who rely on sleeping medication often find that they are unable to sleep without it. Alternatively, sleep becomes much more difficult for quite some time after stopping the medication.

This is always a concerning pattern.

It can also mean that people become less focused on healthy sleep habits. As a result, the quality of sleep may decrease, even if the senior is able to fall asleep without issue.

Reluctance to Stop

Dependency can also make people reluctant to stop taking the medication. This is especially common with over-the-counter sleep medication. Many people, including seniors, take this for much longer than is recommended.

In most cases, such medication should only be taken for a few weeks. Yet, Consumer Reports suggests that more than 40% of adults who take them do so for a year or more.

This is a serious problem, as some of the compounds in sleep medications may increase the risk of dementia. There may be other long-term health risks as well, which haven’t been identified yet.

Side Effects

Side effects are another common issue and are particularly relevant for seniors. To make matters worse, many people aren’t aware of how serious the side effects can be, especially for prolonged use.

Some of these include balance and concentration issues. Side effects can be particularly significant when people first wake up or go to sleep, which creates additional complexities. After all, many seniors need to get up at least once a night to go to the bathroom.

Some side effects can also be particularly dangerous.

• For example, research suggests that sleep medication can increase the risk of falls and fractures.
• Some ingredients can result in behavioral changes, sleepwalking, and even sleep driving.

Side effects can also occur with natural approaches, like melatonin supplements. These may also interact with medication and some health conditions, so talking to a doctor first is critical.

Alternative Solutions

The most important solution to sleeping problems is to simply talk to the doctor.

This step is often ignored, partly because sleep problems may feel like just another symptom of aging.

That’s often not true. Instead, the sleep issues may be caused by an underlying issue. They might also be a medication side effect, which can be addressed. Even if the cause cannot be remedied, the doctor will be able to talk about potential approaches for improving sleep.

If possible, talking to a sleep specialist is also recommended. They can help in determining alternative strategies and may have some more unusual suggestions.

For example, cognitive behavioral therapy can be particularly effective as a treatment for insomnia. This can teach seniors the behaviors needed for sleeping, along with various strategies to follow.