What happens when you overdose on sleeping pills?

Question

What happens physically to your body functions when you overdose on sleeping pills? Do users who overdose typically get induced in a a coma? And if they are caught and after their stomach is pumped what is the side effecst?

I have a friend who claimed that he/she overdosed on sleeping pills. So I am trying to see if your story is accurate by getting as much info as I can. Thanks.

Please pray for my friend.

I will pick Best Answer probably tonight! But if not, tomorrow for sure!

Answer 1

It all depends on which drug was involved. If it was an OTC sleeping medication, it is the same ingredient seen in the allergy medication Benadryl (diphenhydramine). They can actually be more harmful that the newer prescription drugs in overdose.

Most prescription sleeping aids used today are in the benzodiazepine family. In the past opiates and barbiturates were used. Of course, they are addicting as well as extremely dangerous, especially in overdose.

Benzos (BZD) are also used for other conditions and their use it based on their pharmacology. The most common benzos are Valium, Librium and Xanax. They are used primarily for anxiety. The BZD sleeping meds include: Dalmane (flurazepam), Restoril (temazepam) and Halcion (triazolam). Although safe in overdose, they too are addicting and the FDA recommends they be used no longer than 10 days in a row.

There's a newer class of nonbenzodiaepines. Unofficially I've heard them called "Z" sleeping pills. The most common is Ambien (zolpidem). Ambien in overdose is treated the same as BZDs. The newest medication for sleep is Rozerem (ramelteon). It works on the same receptors in the brain as the OTC supplement melatonin. It is supposed to be non-addicting, but once it's used by thousands of people we'll know for certain if that's true.

About overdosing. More than likely your friend took a benzo. Death rarely occurs, unless mixed with other meds or alcohol. Stomach pumping (gastic lavage) and activated charcoal would most likely be used. There is an "antidote" for BZD overdose called flumazenil, it is often used and it counteracts BZDs rather quickly. After that treatment is "supportive." Meaning they'll "sleep it off" under hospital supervision. A drug-induced coma certainly could occur.

Fortunately, today's sleeping pills are extremely safe when it comes to people trying to use them to commit suicide. But they'll sleep, sleep, sleep until they wear off.

I will pray and I hope this helps. And thanks for asking for my help. I took an oath to help people and Yahoo Answers is another venue besides the drugstore to make that happen.

Rick the Pharmacist

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Sleeping Tablets Overdose

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What happens when you overdose on sleeping pills?
What happens physically to your body functions when you overdose on sleeping pills? Do users who overdose typically get induced in a a coma? And if they are caught and after their stomach is pumped what is the side effecst?

I have a friend who claimed that he/she overdosed on sleeping pills....

Answer 5

Step 1. Any potential overdose requires a trip to the emergency room, so if this is happening right now, drag your friend there or call 911.

If this is just a friend bragging about stuff, sleeping pills are central nervous system depressants, meaning they slow your brain functions. If you took too many all at once, you'd probably throw up and not much else. If you were trying to hurt yourself, and took them slowly over a few hours to let the drug build up to dangerous levels in your body, you would lose consciousness and stop breathing and die, if not treated. If the person was caught and their stomach was pumped before much of the drug was absorbed, there wouldn't be many side effects except some sleepiness from whatever drug got into the person's bloodstream.

Answer 6

My step mom overdosed on sleeping pills last year her main side affect was hulucenating and she said her heart was beating really fast (she also had alcohol as well before taking these pills)
We had to rush her to the emergency room

Answer 7

Don't ever take the sleeping pills route!!

1. They will damage your liver big time and you can get into serious health problems.

2. You will get hooked up on them and you won't be able to have a normal life any more if you don't take your pills everyday.

The sleeping pills industry is damaging our health by capitalizing on our ignorance, and by distracting people from effective and natural ways to deal with this problem. I had been taking prescription sleep medications [Ambien] for over 5 years. It stopped working and I simply took more. Still did not work. Nights were very difficult - medication put me to sleep but I would wake up after 2–3 hours with a strong sympathetic response (fast pulse, pounding heartbeat, wide awake alert). It was a very difficult cycle to break. I was really in bad shape due to lack of sleep.

After years of struggling I was able to cure my insomnia naturally and pretty fast. I followed the Sleep Tracks sleep optimization program, here is their official web -site if you want to take a look: http://www.insomniacure.net

Ohhh..and Good Luck!

Answer 8

2

Answer 9

depends on the type... if they are over the counter the person will see things that arent there and basically trip out.. because its essentially an antihistamine overdose. (effectually similar to large doses of anticholergenic drugs such as scoplamine) slight possibility of a stroke. and if they have tylenol in them, that would kill them very slowly over a month from liver failure, with no way to stop it if the stomach wasnt pumped right off the bat.

if they were prescription then they were benzodiazepines or things very similar... u really just get very messed up, but its very very hard to die from them, as they dont reduce heart rate and breathing very much. they would just be very drunk and or pass out.. they could die, if they took many bottles of them.

"gaurav m" has no idea what he is saying. they dont decrease oxygen.. unless the person took multiple bottles of prescription pills and there heart rate slowed.. but thats not the primary effect.

Answer 10

you usually lose conciousness and start invoulentarily puking all over the place. the person's breathing will shallow, and possibly they will go into respiritory failure which is the real danger. once this occurs its a matter of if or if not that snap out of it, or die from lack of oxygen. certain organs in the body will become damaged from not recieving oxygen even if for only small amounts of time. the main most important one of these is the brain. brain damage can make an overdose victim into anywhere from a total vegetable, or if their lucky mabey theyll only slur when they talk for the rest of thier life. drugs are so fun ! addiction to sleeping pills is as bad as any if not worse. its deffinately one of the most dangerous drugs to abuse recreationally. mabey you can use this as a foundation for telling the person how at risk they are, and that if they dont stop that they willl end up dead. you cant do much more then lead a horse to water though. ba carefull not to get caught in any of this person's problems which im sure are plenty. good luck. god bless !