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\nHow Sleeping Pills Work\n

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\n***My apologies for the loud music. This is an older video and I was really into background music when I made this. I've since learned my lesson for later videos. 🙂 There are few concepts I want you to know before we move on to talk...\n***My apologies for the loud music. This is an older video and I was really into background music when I made this. I've since learned my lesson for later videos. 🙂

There are few concepts I want you to know before we move on to talk about individual drugs. Here are the questions that will be answered in this video.

How long do sleeping pills take to kick in?
How does half-life affect the medication?
What is the Tmax and why does it matter?
What is GABA?

GABA is an inhibitory brain chemical that slows down the brain. Think of GABA like spraying water on a raging fire. Benzodiazepines are antianxiety drugs that work through the GABA neurotransmitter to slow down the brain and relax you. Examples of benzos are Valium, Xanax and Klonopin to name a few.

Most of the medications that are FDA-approved for treating insomnia fall into a class called BzRA benzodiazepine receptor agonists.

Receptor agonist means the drug (agonist) activates a portion of a nerve cell in the brain (receptor), which triggers changes in the cell that affect one’s sleep. A BzRA is classified as any drug that binds to the benzodiazepine receptors in the brain whether they are benzodiazepines or not.

Why is this important? Because the non-benzodiazepine sleep aids hold certain advantages over the benzodiazepines that we will discuss shortly.

As of now, there are eight BzRA medications FDA approved for the treatment of insomnia. Five of these drugs are actual benzos, three aren’t. The three outliers— Ambien, Sonata, and Lunesta—are not benzodiazepines, even though they have similar effects on the brain.

Next concept is peak plasma concentration. If you look up information on a drug, it will tell you the time it takes for the drug to reach it’s peak plasma concentration, which is the maximum amount of drug in your blood stream. This time is called Tmax. The Tmax is time that you experience the peak effect of the drug – side effects included.

The time it takes to reach peak concentration or Tmax relates to how fast the medication works. So ideally, sleeping pills should have a short Tmax. In the sleeping pill world, between 1-2 hrs is about average.

These are some of the terms I’ll be using when I discuss the medications in future videos on medication reviews.

Disclaimer: All of the information on this channel is for educational purposes and not intended to be specific/personal medical advice from me to you. Watching the videos or getting answers to comments/question, does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. If you have your own doctor, perhaps these videos can help prepare you for your discussion with your doctor.

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3:19
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Grade
Higher Ed
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Career & Technical Education
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Source:
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\nDr. Tracey Marks\n\n
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Date
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2018
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Language
English
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work, time, sleep
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