Sleeping Pills and Tranquillizers

Important Information for Seniors

Sleeping pills and tranquillizers are medicine which may help your
• anxiety
• stress
• sleeping problems

They are often called
• sedatives
• nerve pills
• muscle relaxants

Although sleeping pills and tranquillizers may help you to feel calm and help you to sleep during a crisis, they should only be taken for a short time. These drugs do not solve your loneliness, anxiety or sleeping problems because they treat symptoms and not causes.

Sleeping pills and tranquillizers cannot solve your problems. Talk to your doctor about other things you can do to help with these problems.

If you do take sleeping pills or tranquillizers, remember:

Know what you are taking:

•  What is it called?
•  How often should you take it?
•  How long should you take it?
•  Is it safe to drive or use machinery while you take it?
•  Is it safe to use alcohol while you take it?

Always ask your doctor for the smallest dose that will work.

Your body is more sensitive to these drugs when you are older.

Don't drink alcohol when you take sleeping pills or tranquillizers.

Even a little bit of alcohol mixed with these pills can make you feel dizzy, confused or faint.

Tell all the doctors and pharmacists you visit about all the medicines you take.

If you take sleeping pills or tranquillizers when you take some other drugs, the combination can cause side effects.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you think your medication is not helping you, or if you have uncomfortable feelings after taking it.

Never take more medicine than the doctor orders.

Don't take sleeping pills or tranquillizers for more than 7 to 10 days unless your doctor tells you to.

This medicine should not be taken for more than two weeks. If you use sleeping pills for a long time, they can cause sleep problems.

Check with your doctor when you stop taking sleeping pills or tranquillizers.

If you have been taking sleeping pills or tranquillizers for a short time, when you stop you may have trouble sleeping, or you may feel nervous and cranky for a few days.

If you have been taking sleeping pills and/or tranquillizers for a long time and stop suddenly, you may become very sick.

Never borrow or share your medicine.

Remember:
Take sleeping pills and tranquillizers only through a very stressful time.

For more information, please contact:

Division of Aging and Seniors
Public Health Agency of Canada
Address Locator 1908A1
Tunney's Pasture
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1B4
Telephone: (613) 952-7606
Fax: (613) 957-7626
E-mail: seniors@phac-aspc.gc.ca
Internet: www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/seniors-aines

Supported by Federal Provincial Territorial Ministers Responsible for Seniors