Patient education: Managing drowsiness from your medicines (The Basics)

What is drowsiness? — 

This is when you feel sleepy or like you must sleep. Drowsiness can happen even if you had a good night's sleep the night before.

Which medicines can cause drowsiness? — 

Some medicines are supposed to make you drowsy and sleepy, like medicines doctors can prescribe for people who have trouble sleeping.

But some medicines prescribed to treat other problems not related to sleep can sometimes cause drowsiness. In this case, the drowsiness is a "side effect" of the medicine. This might happen because the medicine affects the chemicals in the brain that control sleep and alertness.

Taking multiple medicines, drinking alcohol, or using cannabis (marijuana) can make drowsiness worse.

You might have problems with drowsiness if you take medicines to treat conditions like:

●Pain

●Insomnia

●Depression or anxiety

●Tight muscles

●Allergies

●Cold symptoms

●High blood pressure

●Heart problems

●Cancer

●Seizures

●Neuropathy

Tell your doctor or nurse about your drowsiness and any other side effects. Do not stop taking any medicine without talking to them first. In some cases, the drowsiness might go away once your body gets used to the medicine.

How can my doctor help me avoid drowsiness? — 

They can talk with you about:

●When to take your medicines – You might be able to take your medicines at night instead of during the day. This way, the drowsiness might actually help you sleep, and you might have less drowsiness when awake.

●What medicines you are taking – Your doctor can look at all your medicines. They can see if you can change to a different medicine, take a smaller dose more often, or stop the medicine.

●Whether the drowsiness is caused by a medicine, or something else

What can I do on my own to help with drowsiness? — 

You might not be able to prevent drowsiness, but you can try some things to help with problems caused by the drowsiness:

●Try to practice "good sleep hygiene." This means:

•Try to keep a regular sleep schedule. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.

•Try to get 8 hours of sleep every night.

•Avoid caffeine in the late afternoon or evening.

•Limit naps during the day, and don't nap more than 30 minutes at a time.

●It might help to drink a small amount of caffeine in the morning to help feel more awake and alert.

●If you get drowsy after meals, try eating meals that are slightly smaller and do not contain lots of fatty foods, sugar, or carbohydrates (like rice, pasta, or bread).

●Unless your doctor told you to limit fluids, drink plenty of water. Try sipping cold water when you feel drowsy.

●While drowsy, do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or do tasks that you need to be alert for.

●Avoid or limit alcohol, cannabis, and other substances that can cause drowsiness.

When should I call the doctor? — 

Call for emergency help right away (in the US and Canada, call 9-1-1) if you:

●Have severe trouble breathing, have slow or shallow breathing, or stop breathing

●Are very confused or have trouble speaking

●Are very sleepy, have trouble waking up, or cannot be woken up

Call for advice if:

●You are often very drowsy during the day.

●You fall asleep during your normal activities.

●You fall asleep in a dangerous situation, such as while driving.

●You see or hear things that are not really there.

●You cannot move right away when you wake up.

●Your muscles feel weak if you laugh or get excited or angry.

More on this topic

Patient education: Side effects from medicines (The Basics)
Patient education: Managing fatigue from your medicines (The Basics)
Patient education: Good sleep hygiene (The Basics)