What are the side effects and risks of taking Belsomra to help me sleep?
The most common side effect of the insomnia drug Belsomra is next-day sleepiness, and it has similar risks to that of other sleep aids. In this Ask the Experts video Michael Breus, PhD, explains how to minimize the risks of the medication.
Transcript
If you're looking at risks for something like Belsomra, it's the same type of risk that you might see with any sleep aid.
So you want to be careful not to mix it with alcohol. You want to give yourself enough time in bed to allow the drug to take effect and be able to wear off.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Well, the side effects profile for Belsomra, the largest side effect is next day sleepiness, which shouldn't be a particularly big surprise because it's
turning off the wake switch. The good news is if you have enough time in bed-- that would be six to seven hours--
it should be well out of your system by that period of time. If you're looking at risks for something like Belsomra,
it's the same type of risk that you might see with any sleep aid. So you want to be careful not to mix it with alcohol.
You want to give yourself enough time in bed to allow the drug to take effect and be able to wear off.
You, of course, want to look out for potential interaction effects. And you need to try it with somebody nearby.
You never want to try one of these medications by yourself because if you did have some sort of a strange reaction, you want to make sure that you have somebody nearby.
I'm not saying that you would have that strange reaction. Most people don't. But just in case, it's nice to have somebody nearby. [AUDIO LOGO]
sleep disorders
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