I am worried about the addiction to Restyle taken for sleepless nights. Please help.

Question

Hello doctor,

I am a 61-year-old male. I am a diabetic for the past 15 years under control, hypertension for the past five years.

My present problem is sleepless nights (mental tension) and using Restyle 0.5 mg. I was using it occasionally. But for the past two weeks, I am using it regularly. I am worried about addiction. Please help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I can understand your situation. As per your details, you are having stress which leads to sleep disturbance. You may have another depressive feature as well. I need more details about it to make a diagnosis. Do you have a sad mood, crying spells without reason, abnormal sleep or appetite, lack of interest in previously pleasurable activities, death wishes, etc?

If you have more than three symptoms for more than two weeks then you may have a major depressive disorder. You need to follow lifestyle modifications to deal with your problem. It is a non-pharmacological management of your depression.

You should do daily exercises for 30 - 45 minutes, or do meditation for 20 minutes daily.

Eat healthy home-cooked foods and avoid junk foods.

Spend quality time with friends and family daily or do video calls if you are living away from your family.

Spend time on creative hobbies like reading good books, writing journals, painting, drawing, learning new skills or language or musical instruments.

Take enough 7 - 8 hours of sleep daily. You need to fix your time for sleep, which means you must fix the time to sleep and awake. Do not do any other activities in bed. Wear loose and comfortable clothes for sleep.

Take light food at night or dinner at least three hours before sleep.

You can take a maximum of 20 minutes of nap a day.

Do not use mobile or TV or laptop at least half an hour before sleep.

Try to maintain adequate room temperature, means not so cold nor hot.

Use a proper bed and pillow.

Make sure there is no noise or disturbance at night.

Drink warm milk with turmeric before sleep.

Avoid tobacco or alcohol or any substance abuse.

If you still have symptoms that persist after following the advice for four to six weeks, then you need to start medications for a short duration. You can take a tablet Zolpidem 5 mg instead of tablet Restyle (Alprazolam) 0.5mg. Tablet zolpidem is less addictive than Alprazolam. You must take enough sleep otherwise it will affect your diabetes and hypertension. There is nothing wrong to take medication for sleep disturbance. If you do not get enough sleep then it may lead to stroke in the future.

Answer 2

Hello,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

I can understand your situation. It is difficult to deal with this pandemic time. You should just try to follow normal precautions for COVID-19. You should try to avoid watching the news and discussing about COVID-19 with friends and family members.

Tablet Zolpidem is a generic name. You may get with the name of Zolfresh. It is less addictive. You may need a prescription for it. It may be difficult to get this medication without a psychiatrist prescription.