Family Member Abusing Sleeping Pills

LegacyUser

A member of my family has been taking sleeping pills for a couple of years because they have a lot of trouble sleeping sometimes. They suffered from an alcohol addiction for a long time (drank to help them sleep).

Doctor prescribed sleeping pills - one pill at night if they couldn't sleep. We've had problems a few times over the past couple of years that they've been taking them. If one pill isn't enough to put them to sleep, they take a second. This has been happening more often lately - three times since the start of November.

They don't understand how dangerous this is and that people die from accidental overdoses. I've looked into it and found out that two pills is too many to take safely and that they slow down your breathing until you eventually stop breathing.

This worries me because last week I found them in the kitchen in the middle of the night completely out of it trying to make a lemsip because, in their words: "I can't breathe". We had it out the next day and they promised to never take more than one pill at a time again. But it happened again last night.

Can I go to their doctor to tell him that their patient is abusing medication? They'll probably hate me for it but I don't care, I'm sick or worrying about them ending up in hospital or worse. If tried to get them to go to the doctor with me or someone else to have the doctor explain to them why it's so dangerous.

I understand doctor patient confidentiality but can I raise my concerns with him?

MagicMarker

If you're worried then by all means confront the family member and tell them of your concerns. I think telling their doctor is a bit much, they wouldn't (or shouldn't) prescribe too much and at the end of the day it's not your business.

As for overdosing, accidental overdose on 2 pills sounds very far fetched tbh. The lemsip thing sounds like sleepwalking more than anything.

Of course I'm not an expert, so talk to your family member, go to the doctor with them and ask the doctor for advice on how much is safe to take. Also ask what kind of natural remedies there may be, diet? exercise? Taking pills for the rest of your life just so you can sleep seems rather unnecessary.

Xiney

It's quite possible to accidentally take too many sleeping pills - some of them cause you to forget you've already taken a dose so you take another... and another. That's when you don't go straight to bed and try to stay awake despite having taken a sleeping pill.

That said, absolutely you should go to your family member's doctor and voice your concerns, but in a calm, rational way.

LegacyUser

I've confronted them every time it's happened. They're stubborn and don't understand what they're doing is dangerous. After talking today they've finally agreed to talk to the doctor about it but on their own - I'm a bit worried that they'll won't say anything to the doctor about taking too many or lie to us but it's progress.

Overdosing on 2 pills sounds a bit silly I know but if you saw the effect it has on them... it can be scary so they must be quite strong. The lempsip thing wasn't sleepwalking, I didn't explain it very well but the thing that worried me was the fact that they were having trouble breathing which can be a side effect of taking too many sleeping pills.

I'm worried about them falling or having some kind of accident and they've also mixed them with alcohol which happened a couple of weeks ago (1 and a half pills + whiskey + whatever other painkillers they were taking). It's like talking to a brick wall - they just don't get it.

I'll make sure this doctor's appointment goes ahead and keep the pressure on them to sort it out because I can see this ending badly. Thanks for the advice.

MagicMarker

Hmmm, well, if you are genuinely concerned for their well being, can you get a hold of the pills?

If there was a junkie in my house i'd get rid of their drugs
If there was an alcoholic i'd get rid of all drink
If there was someone abusing prescription pills like you're saying I might take drastic action and get rid of the pills.

VeryBerry

MagicMarker wrote: »

Hmmm, well, if you are genuinely concerned for their well being, can you get a hold of the pills?

If there was a junkie in my house i'd get rid of their drugs
If there was an alcoholic i'd get rid of all drink
If there was someone abusing prescription pills like you're saying I might take drastic action and get rid of the pills.

Tbh, while that might work in the short-term I don't think it will really solve anything.

OP - you mentioned that you family member had an alchohol problem. Is this still an issue? (I'm assuming it is, if they're mixing medication and alchohol). Sleeping tablets can be highly addictive, and I wonder is your family member's reliance on the tablets is just another aspect of the addiction problems they had with alcohol.

The only long-term sololution is to examine why your family member is having such difficulties sleeping. Are there other underlying issues also, other mental health problems, etc.? If your family member is not already doing so, I would suggest that they (and you if necessary) get some help from a professional regarding this. Ask you GP to refer you if necessary.

In the short-term, I wouldn't throw out the sleeping tablets, as that could actually cause more damage. But what you could do, is try and negotiate with your family member that you'll look after the tablets, and give them the prescribed amount of sleeping tablets at night when they need it, on the condition that they haven't been drinking.

Just an aside - but depending on the brand and strength of the tablet, it is possible that a doctor might advise taking two tablets. Unlikely, but possible.

What type of sleeping tablets are they? I am going to assume benzodiazepines. If this is the case, an overdose is very unlikely. With repeated use the person will probably have developed a tolerance and therefore needs to take more to knock them out, which is why they take more than one. The fact that they were "out of it" but still awake and capable of making a Lemsip suggests that they have developed a tolerance.

Assuming for a moment that they have become addicted, throwing out a substance of addiction is a very bad idea because it leads to withdrawal. Sudden withdrawal from severe physical dependence on alcohol or benzodiazepines is particularly dangerous. They should be slowly weaned off. Consult your doctor for advice regarding this.