"Donormil" and antihistamines
In addition to melatonin preparations, histamine receptor blockers are actively used as Sleeping pills
, that is, those drugs that are usually used for allergies. Known to all "Diphenhydramine" ("Diphenhydramine"), "Suprastin" - why do these old antihistamines have a hypnotic effect? Because they simultaneously block another important brain activating system - the histaminergic one. This system also helps keep the brain awake. If it is weakened or turned off (depending on the dose of the drug), then the "sleepy" systems will benefit, which happens when we take non-selective antihistamines of the old generation. This property is also used by a more modern hypnotic drug called Doxylamine, which selectively blocks H1 receptors in the brain, which are in the histaminergic activating system. Due to this, again, the opposite side in the form of inhibitory systems gets an advantage for immersing the brain in sleep.
The drug "Doxylamine" in terms of the strength of the hypnotic effect is usually weaker than the classic hypnotic drugs. Its advantage is that it is quite affordable, that is, to obtain it, a regular prescription is enough, which any doctor can write. This drug may have worsening side effects, especially in older people, such as glaucoma or prostate adenoma, but in real life, such side effects do not happen so often. "Donormil" does not distort the structure of sleep, as happens with barbiturates and benzodiazepines, that is, it allows for natural sleep. An interesting property of this drug is that it is the only sleeping pills approved for use during pregnancy.
This is due to the fact that the drug is also used for nausea in pregnant women. The combination of "Doxylamine" with vitamin B6 has been shown to reduce the severity of this nausea. In the United States of America, it is actively produced and sold. Therefore, the question of whether it is possible or not is removed, since it is indicated for the appointment of pregnant women. But you can not use it when breastfeeding.
Medicinal herbs
Herbal preparations - how much do they work or do they not work in terms of improving sleep? Is it possible to separate the effect of herbal preparations from the so-called placebo effect, when a person expects a remedy to help him, and it does? No placebo-controlled studies have been conducted on the sleep effects of valerian, motherwort, chamomile, hops, etc. So we can't tell if these drugs work better than placebos, or if the improvement in sleep reported by people who take them is simply because the placebo effect works and they get what they expect.
This effect has not been proven in meta-analyses. Meta-analyzes - a study when the results of all studies of a particular drug are taken, summarized, processed statistically and the authors look to see if there is a positive shift in the effect of the drug. Most reviews of this kind of positive effect of valerian preparations (valerian is the most studied) on human sleep indicators were not found.
A possible positive effect on sleep of herbal preparations is explained by their sedative (calming) effect, when the level of internal stress decreases and a person falls asleep more easily. However, taking a placebo can also cause sedation. When a person takes a placebo, if he does not know it, he consciously or unconsciously expects that he should feel better (conditioned reflex). And this idea often comes true regardless of whether the person was given medicine or not. It has been shown that larger, red “pacifiers” have a noticeably greater effect, and placebo injections act more noticeably than tablets ( no pain - no gain , as athletes say).
In conclusion, it should be noted that, despite the seeming simplicity of the mechanisms of action of hypnotic drugs (some act on inhibitory systems, others on activating systems, and others on the internal clock), their use should be carried out as directed by a doctor, since the place of application of these drugs is still The brain is the main control center of our body and must be handled with extreme care.
