When the ambulance arrives, show them any empty packets or bottles of pills that the victim might have taken. If an individual thinks that someone has taken a sleeping pill overdose, they should call an ambulance immediately. In 1997, in England and Wales, diphenhydramine suicide accounted for 200 deaths. Historically, this substance has been the most used OTC medication all over the world for intentional overdose. A study made over 13 years in Berlin, showed that 55 fatal diphenhydramine poisonings took place with a large number of those being attempted suicides. Taking sleeping pills while pregnant in combination with Restoril (temazepam) can cause stillbirth.īecause a hypnotics overdose usually has a tranquilizing effect, leading to a possible painless death, suicide by sleeping pills is one of the choices.ĭiphenhydramine, a common substance used in hypnotics, is deemed to have caused an increased number of suicides. Although over the counter hypnotics doxylamine and diphenhydramine are safe in pregnancy at the recommended dosage, there are some risks, especially in the first and third trimester and if combined with other drugs.Soporific drugs might interfere with the ability to breathe in someone who has asthma, COPD, emphysema, or other chronic lung problems, effects similar to an overdose on sleeping pills. An allergic reaction to prescribed hypnotics can be a serious life threat.Both mental and physical effects are magnified, leading to overdose symptoms such as inability to focus, confusion, slowed heart rate and breathing, vomiting, nausea, and loss of coordination. Combining prescription medications is very dangerous, especially mixing hypnotics and opiate painkillers.Grapefruit increases the amount of soporific drug, which is absorbed into the bloodstream and extends its effects, causing over-sedation and unintentional overdosing on sleeping pills.Mixing sleeping pills and alcohol can potentiate the effects of the drug and in combination with the sedative effects of alcohol can result in breathing cessation and even death.There are some situations where hypnotics overdose can take place unintentionally. The physical injury and brain damage can leave a person with painful side effects for life. Some of the side effects of sleeping pills overdose are brain injury due to lack of oxygen caused by depressed breathing, memory loss, facial paralysis, paranoid delusions, little or no control over bodily functions or development of psychological disorders.Įven doses as low as 70 mg (7 to 14 times higher than the usual dose of 5-10 mg) can cause damages to the body in some persons. A hypnotics overdose can cause serious problems. ![]() Very few patients ask themselves how sleeping pills work, therefore being very easy to overdose accidentally. They are still a threat, and doses of 2000 mg (200 tablets) can be lethal. Manufacturers claim that these modern hypnotics are made to be safer, by making them less potent, therefore ensuring that overdose sleeping pills is not an effective method for suicide anymore.Īlthough newer soporific drugs are less potent, they are still not 100% safe. The pills that are currently on the market have in their composition milder compounds which are not potentially lethal. The majority of hypnotics that were as dangerous are no longer on the market. ![]() Overdose on sleeping pills is dangerous but does not always lead to death. ![]() Note that taking more pills than prescribed or using them without prescription is an abuse and can result both in overdose and legal consequences.
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