An Honest Review of Restoril: Aid for Insomniacs

Many Americans are suffering from a problem that causes depression, panic attacks and even suicide. Surprisingly, this problem we are suffering from is called insomnia. Insomnia may seem like a small scale problems for those who do not suffer from it...but for those who have experienced it, it is a huge problem that has consequences in one's life, physically, mentally, socially, financially and in every other aspect of a person's life. For insomnia, many doctors recommend Restoril as the magic solution to the problem.

Restoril is in the drug class known as benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines work by slowing down the actions of the central nervous system, which is essentially your brain. This causes the effects of drowsiness, and in turn, more sleep.

It is interesting to note that when the drug Restoril was being tested during clinical studies, a controlled trial using a placebo was conducted. those that were subjected to Restoril as opposed to those who were given the placebo showed a huge improvement in sleeping pattern. An elderly patient who had previously suffered from early morning awakenings actually slept through the night using Restoril. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) was observed in patients as they slept, and those conducting the clinical Restoril trials noted that the period of REM sleep was stable, which leads to a more productive type of sleeping. REM sleep is important to understand for a person who suffers from insomnia. When REM sleep is occurring, the brain is busy. It's dreaming. This stage may last 10 to 90 minutes. To those who suffer from insomnia, the less REM sleep that is experienced, the more trouble the brain has adjusting during the day. There is even evidence that with decreased REM sleep, people may have trouble remembering and learning new things. Also, since REM sleep is also known to occur during deep sleep, the organs of the body have a chance to repair and renew from the damage of the previous day.

There are, however, downfalls to Restoril. These are the side effects. They include high incidences of anxiety, drowsiness during the day, fatigue, a feeling of being 'hung over', lightheadedness, headaches, clumsiness, nausea, nervousness, sluggishness, and unusual weakness. On a web site that reports the side effects and comments of everyday people who use Restoril (http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=18163&name=RESTORIL), one person compared Restoril to 'truth serum' , as he felt confused, disoriented, and amnesiac. Many people reported 'minor memory loss'. Many did report very vivid, strange dreams. Strangely, a good amount reported hunger, as well as crying spells and feelings of depression, but this seemed to occur in those who were already suffering from some type of depression.

If you are thinking about taking Restoril, it is extremely important that you know this: You can not try to have a baby while taking Restoril. Taking Restoril while trying to conceive or being pregnant has a high chance of causing birth defects in the unborn baby. It can also cause addiction and symptoms of withdrawal in the baby, and does pass through breast milk. Also, since this drug is acting as a sedative, taking alcohol while taking Restoril is an extremely bad idea. It can increase the side effects and enhance the drug, and a fatality may occur. Restoril may become habit forming...more mentally than physically. A doctor should not prescribe this for a long period of time due to the habit forming quality of Restoril. To get off an 'addiction' to Restoril, one would have to 'taper off' slowly, and it can take a year or more.

If any feeling of suicide come to pass, you must talk to your doctor immediately concerning these feelings and the use of Restoril.

Before trying Restoril, however, I would encourage you to try other methods to help you in falling asleep. You may or may not have researched these already, but you can look into soft music playing at night, reading, excersising during the day, taking a warm bath, having a steady routine day to day, yoga, meditation, avoiding caffeine and nicotine and alcohol (alcohol is the leading cause of poor sleep, by the way...), and avoiding heavy meals before bedtime. If you have tried everything you possibly could and stuff suffer from insomnia, it's time to talk to your doctor about Restoril. It could be the magic drug that could help you drift off to a deep sleep that you and your body deserve.