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“Factors beyond the chemical components of a specific drug and their known side effects that can contribute to drug-induced insomnia include pre-existing conditions or diseases, sleep disorders, sleep patterns, and other indirect effects from medications,” Dr. While drug-induced insomnia is sometimes caused by a straightforward causal relationship between the interactions of a specific drug with your body’s neurotransmitters or receptors that control your sleep, the relationship between a drug and the side effect of insomnia is often a bit more complex. Drug-induced insomnia can be either short-term or chronic. Chronic, or long-term, insomnia, occurs three or more nights a week and lasts for 3 months or longer. If it occurs for less than three months, it’s called short-term insomnia. “Drug-induced insomnia is just what it sounds like-insomnia, or difficulty sleeping, caused by taking certain medications,” says Brynna Connor, MD, a family medicine specialist.ĭifficulty falling or staying asleep, or getting good quality sleep is considered insomnia, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. That’s why it’s critical to understand how drug-induced insomnia impacts your health and what you can do to get a better night’s sleep. Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on your physical and mental well-being. Trying to figure out the cause of these sleepless nights can be tiresome (no pun intended!), but sometimes, it’s as simple as reading the labels on your prescription medications. If you have difficulty going to sleep, staying asleep, or find that you wake up too early, you may have insomnia.
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