All medicines have side effects!

• When taking a sleep medication, you want the benefits to outweigh the risks
• In clinical studies, majority of sleep drugs have been shown to have low abuse potential

As with any medication, it is important that you use sleep medication as prescribed

If you have any questions about any specific sleep medication, and/or think you may be suffering from any of the side effects below, be sure to talk to your healthcare professional or pharmacist.

Common side effects:

In controlled clinical trials of many sleep medication, the most commonly observed adverse effects were headache, somnolence, and dizziness.

To manage these side effects while you are taking this medicine keep the following things in mind:

• When you first start taking sleep medicine, until you know whether the medicine will still have some carryover effect in you the next day, use extreme care while doing anything that requires complete alertness, such as driving a car, operating machinery, or piloting an aircraft.
• NEVER drink alcohol while you are being treated with sleep medicine. Alcohol can increase the side effects of sleep medicine.
• Do not take any other medicines without asking your healthcare professional first. This includes medicines you can buy without a prescription. Some medicines can cause drowsiness.
• Always take the exact dose of sleep medicine prescribed by your healthcare professional. Never change your dose without talking to your healthcare professional first. Make sure that you swallow the tablet whole and do not divide it, crush it or chew it.
• In two clinical studies of patients with insomnia, a rebound effect was only observed on the first night after an abrupt discontinuation of sleep medication. On the second night, there was no worsening of insomnia.

Other concerns
You should be aware that sleep medication may cause memory problems, tolerance, dependence, withdrawal, changes in behavior and thinking, and issues concerning pregnancy.