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Don't take sleeping pills!


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Advising anyone on CrazyBoards to stop taking pills prescribed by their doctor is against our rules.

There is a risk attached to taking any medication and a well-informed patient must weigh the risks versus the benefits and come to their own decision. Not sleeping due to crippling insomnia is not necessarily preferable to a 6% chance of death even if this study is completely correct. Since the study did not examine cause of death and cannot propose a scientific explanation for their findings, the area clearly requires further study.

The fear-mongering is not appreciated.

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Colin, how many times do you have to be told correlation does not equal causation? They even admit they don't know the causes of death of the participants.

Sensationalistic bullshit.

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I didn't read the article, and won't. I aren't into reading crap.

But have you ever suffered from insomnia? Because it is really unpleasent and people benefit from taking sleeping pills under their doctor's instruction. I don't take a pill specifically for sleep, but I really appreciate the sedative effect of my Seroquel. But if I needed a sleeping pill then I would take one, especially as insomnia is the worst trigger for my psychosis.

Decisions on meds need to be made with the prescribing doctor.

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I wonder if they'll do a study to show how many lives would be left in shambles without said sleeping pills.

Never. That wouldn't make news.

Colin: I would rather sleep and die early. Although to be fair, if I don't take sleep meds then I would probably die earlier from sleep deprivation from never sleeping.

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The decision to start or stop sleeping pills is between a patient and his or her healthcare provider.

I have a hard time taking that study seriously as they don't know why the death rate is higher. It could end up being completely unrelated.

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thats a load of crap

cause of death could have been anything

its a publicity stunt to gain money for the research department that they work for

if it isn't a double blind clinical trial it bears no relevance

spent two weeks with near no sleep a while ago and if it wasn't for a pill to help sleep, i would be failing college

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Guest Vapourware

From the article:

Since the medical records available for the study didn't include the cause of death, it's unclear how sleeping pill use contributed to the higher death rate.

In other news, more weather fluctuations have been reported after increased numbers of okapis in zoos.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I plead guilty-I did overreact to this news story/research. I think of my Mom who has taken tamazepam for decades. She is 83 and in very good health. She also has taken lorazxepam PRN for decades and her mind is still very good.

After reading the posts and thinking about this study i realized there are all kinds of potential confounders here, especially a mortality study that does not control for pre-existing illness and only lasted for 2.5 years. A few people who were taking sleep pills because there bodies were breaking down and close to coming down with a major illness can easily ruin a studies conclusion especially one this short.

Colin

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Your welcome and I don't mind admitting I'm wrong. I did post with good intentions, but it was very reflexive and as some of you wisely pointed out the news media loves to hype these studies flawed or not.

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Guest Vapourware

Thanks for coming back and being understanding re: everyone's concerns. Some news joints look for what makes the best headlines, sometimes at the expense of accuracy.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's an observational cohort study, where the participants are divided essentially into people who need sleepers, and healthy controls. Sleeping pills tend to be prescribed to the stressed, the depressed, the anxious, and just plain insomniacs, whereas the control group here are just an ordinary sample of the population. The 'gold standard' drug trial is a randomised, double-blind controlled trial - you take people who you would consider prescribing sleeping pills for, and they're allocated to receive either the drug or the placebo, without the patient or the doctor knowing what the patient's getting.

Personally, I think I'm more likely to step under a bus or write an incorrect prescription or just go batshit mental if I haven't slept for a week, than if I'm on zopiclone. Definitely merits further investigations before doctors change their prescribing habits.

As an aside, I don't think advising people on a mental illness forum to stop their meds without consulting their doctor is ever a great idea, although it sounds like you've taken that on board :cool2:

The media really irritate me when they publish the results of new research, without really seeming to understand how to read or critique a research paper properly, and scare the living shit out of the population. Grrrr.

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I feel the same way about the female hormone study. Hormones cause heart attacks etc. Too bad they only studied synthetic hormones and gave high doses to women who had been in menopause for a decade or more. It also seemed really odd when the synthetic hormone people started asking the FDA to ban human / natural hormones.

News? I laugh when I read a BBC article and so often is shows up in the local paper two days later.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Due to sleep deprivation or sleep disorders people are commonly found purchasing prescribed sleeping pills from drug stores. Unfortunately, sleeping pills do not only work over night they continue working on your body throughout the day. They impair our judgment, consciousness, memory and ultimately your overall performance and well-being. It’s a misconception amongst insomniacs and others who are moderate sleep disorders patients that sleeping pills make them sleep better. In reality sleeping pills makes they feel dull and fuzzy.

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Due to sleep deprivation or sleep disorders people are commonly found purchasing prescribed sleeping pills from drug stores. Unfortunately, sleeping pills do not only work over night they continue working on your body throughout the day. They impair our judgment, consciousness, memory and ultimately your overall performance and well-being. It’s a misconception amongst insomniacs and others who are moderate sleep disorders patients that sleeping pills make them sleep better. In reality sleeping pills makes they feel dull and fuzzy.

Not sleeping at all is probably going to have a worse effect, frankly.

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Due to sleep deprivation or sleep disorders people are commonly found purchasing prescribed sleeping pills from drug stores. Unfortunately, sleeping pills do not only work over night they continue working on your body throughout the day. They impair our judgment, consciousness, memory and ultimately your overall performance and well-being. It’s a misconception amongst insomniacs and others who are moderate sleep disorders patients that sleeping pills make them sleep better. In reality sleeping pills makes they feel dull and fuzzy.

People here tend not to be the average insomniacs. You might want to read a bit before you start bashing a class of meds. I have severe complex sleep apnea which has not proven treatable by standard means. Without sleeping meds I wake up several times an hour, all night. This kind of sleeping pattern is very detrimental to general health and especially mental health. With sleeping meds I sleep the night and wake up refreshed.

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Due to sleep deprivation or sleep disorders people are commonly found purchasing prescribed sleeping pills from drug stores. Unfortunately, sleeping pills do not only work over night they continue working on your body throughout the day. They impair our judgment, consciousness, memory and ultimately your overall performance and well-being. It’s a misconception amongst insomniacs and others who are moderate sleep disorders patients that sleeping pills make them sleep better. In reality sleeping pills makes they feel dull and fuzzy.

Lets see, sleep deprived, dull... CHECK

sleep deprived, fuzzy... CHECK

sleep deprived, depressed... CHECK

sleep deprived, dangerous driver... CHECK

sleep deprived, in my case psychotic.. CHECK

Your comment is dripping stupid all over me.

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I have a diagnosis of primary insomnia, i.e. a "real" sleep disorder. So is it okay with you if I take sleeping pills? Because I would really rather rely on your uneducated opinion than listen to a qualified pdoc.

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