An estimated 9 million Americans say they use prescription medications as sleep aids, including benzodiazepines; Z-drugs, such as zolpidem, zaleplon and eszopiclone; and other anti-anxiety drugs that are prescribed off label.
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[Data from a new clinical trial] indicate that many of these drugs work when they are taken for short periods. But because insomnia can be a chronic problem, many people take them longer, and little is known about their long-term benefits, the researchers said.
The study backs up experts who say the medications can be tools if they are used in the short term to help people with insomnia get to the point where they can start sleeping better, [neurologist Dr. Alon] Avidan said. “But they cannot be used by themselves.”
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The problem with using medication to control insomnia symptoms is “it provides patients with some relief but the sleep they get on medication is more sedation than sleep,” Avidan said.
Treating insomnia patients with medication alone is like giving diabetes patients medication and “then telling them they don’t need to exercise and they can go ahead and eat all the candy and junk food they want,” Avidan said.
