Daytime sleepiness can make it difficult to get through your day, especially when you feel like you get enough sleep at night. While excessive sleepiness can have many causes, including stress, sleep disorders, and other health conditions, sometimes the culprit is hiding in your medicine cabinet.
Certain medications can cause drowsiness, tiredness, or reduced alertness. Depending on the medication, dose, and when you take it, these effects may linger into the daytime, making it harder to stay awake, concentrate, or go about your usual day. However, you should never stop taking a prescription on your own because you suspect it’s causing fatigue.
At Respacare in Bridgewater, New Jersey, Dr. Nehal Mehta and Dr. Prashant Patel understand how medication side effects can affect your daytime alertness. Here’s what to know about medications that can cause drowsiness and what you can do if your prescription is making you tired.
Fatigue and daytime sleepiness are often used interchangeably, but they describe different experiences.
Fatigue is a feeling of physical and mental exhaustion. You feel drained, weak, or lacking energy without actually feeling like you could fall asleep.
Daytime sleepiness, on the other hand, is a tendency or strong desire to fall asleep during the day. You may struggle to keep your eyes open or find yourself nodding off, even after getting what seems like a full night of sleep.
Understanding the difference can help us determine whether a medication is affecting your energy, alertness, or ability to stay awake.
Sedating medications slow activity in your brain and central nervous system, resulting in relaxation, drowsiness, or decreased alertness. The degree of sedation varies by medication, dose, and individual.
Some medications are intentionally used to promote sleep or reduce anxiety, while others can cause drowsiness as a side effect.
Examples of sedating medications include:
Not everyone taking these medications experiences drowsiness or daytime sleepiness. The effects can also vary from person to person. How long a medication remains active in your body, when you take it, your age, metabolism, and overall health can all influence how strongly it affects your alertness.
Because fatigue and daytime sleepiness have many possible causes, it isn’t always easy to determine whether a medication is responsible. However, the following patterns may provide some clues:
Even if you take medication that can cause drowsiness, your symptoms may have another cause. Sleep disorders, poor sleep quality, thyroid problems, and other health conditions can also contribute to excessive daytime sleepiness.
Don’t stop taking your prescription if you suspect it’s causing fatigue or daytime sleepiness. Abruptly stopping certain medications can cause withdrawal symptoms or allow the condition under treatment to worsen.
Instead, keep a log of when you take your medications and when you feel sleepy. Next, book an appointment at Respacare. Depending on the medication and your personal circumstances, we might recommend adjusting the timing or dose, changing medications, or exploring other treatment options.
Daytime sleepiness isn’t something you have to live with. If your symptoms started or worsened after initiating a new medication, we can help determine if your fatigue is from the prescription or something else and ensure you get treatment that manages your condition without compromising your daytime alertness.
If you suspect your prescription is making you tired, our sleep specialists can review your symptoms, prescriptions, and health history to determine the cause of your symptoms. We may also recommend a sleep study to rule out a sleep disorder.
Call our office today or request an appointment online to learn more.
