SILENOR (DOXEPIN)

Help For Those With Problems Sleeping and Staying Asleep

Whether you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, ask your doctor about Silenor, a non-addictive Rx strength sleep aid approved to treat adult and senior patients bothered by sleep-maintenance insomnia. Silenor can be taken regularly without the worry of potential abuse or addiction. You will need to be able to devote at least 7-8 hours of sleep when you take Silenor or you may experience drowsiness if you rise earlier.

Learn How Silenor Works to Help You Stay Asleep

When taken within 30 minutes of your bedtime, the active ingredient called Doxepin works with your body’s own wake cycle by blocking histamine. This is an essential chemical messenger in your brain that has several jobs but promoting wakefulness seems to be one of its chief functions. This is why anti-histamines cause drowsiness. So as Silenor takes effect, histamines are blocked and you can fall asleep stay asleep longer until the effects wear off (about 8 hours later).

Sleep Patterns Change as We Become Older

There are several stages of sleep, including the dreamless periods of light and deep sleep and periods of dreaming, called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This sleep cycles occurs several times during the night. As people age, falling asleep and staying asleep is harder to accomplish. There seems to be less time spent in REM sleep so there are several times during the night they wake up. This could be due to the need to urinate, experiencing pain or discomfort from chronic conditions, and anxiety.

Your body needs sleep and your brain needs your body to sleep so it can do its thing to clear out waste products, preserve memories, consolidate all of the information you were given that day, and turn off your motor neurons so you cannot act out your dreams.

Before Silenor is Prescribed for You

Discuss other medical conditions and allergies you have and list all current over the counter and Rx drugs you take or use, including herbal remedies and vitamin supplements. This will help your doctor determine if Silenor is right for you. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, trying to become pregnant, or are breast feeding to be certain it’s safe to take Silenor.

Silenor Precautions

Do not take Silenor with alcohol or other sleep aids as this could cause you to carry out activities during the night that you had no idea about. These may include driving, making or eating food, talking on the phone, having intercourse, or sleep walking. If you find out this has occurred, visit your doctor as soon as possible as some of these activities could put you in danger. Never share Silenor or other drugs with anyone else and always keep them out of children’s reach.

Possible Side Effects of Silenor

• Drowsiness
• Cold symptoms
• Loss of appetite
• Diarrhea/constipation