Depressants Flashcards
The inability to fall asleep or stay asleep
Insomnia
The sleep stage during which people experience most of their recallable dreams, characterized by discernable eye movement
Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
Four different stages of sleep fall into this category
Nonrapid Eye Movement (NREM)
A state of diminished physical and mental responsiveness
Sedation
Not hypnosis, but a form of natural sleep
Hypnotic effect
Residual drowsiness
Hang-over
A condition in which larger and larger doses of a drug are needed to reproduce the initial response
Tolerance
The need for a larger dose of a drug to obtain the original euphoria
Tolerance
A wide range of physical or emotional disorders that include nervousness, headaches, and insomnia that occur when an individual who is addicted to a substance stops using the substance
Withdrawal symptoms
Long-, intermediate-, short-, or ultrashort-acting sedatives
Barbiturates
Nonpharmacological methods for relieving insomnia include:
Getting up at the same time every day. Limiting naps. Avoiding alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine 6 hours before bedtime. Avoiding heavy meals and strenuous exercise before bedtime. Soothing activities, like a warm bath and quiet music. Avoiding lots of fluids before bedtime. Decreasing exposure to loud noises before bed.
True or False: Intermediate-acting sedatives are prescribed to help people fall asleep.
False
General side effects of sedative-hypnotics include:
Hangover, vivid dreams or nightmares, drug dependence, drug tolerance, excessive depression, respiratory depression, hypersensitivity
Is phenobarbital a long-acting, intermediate-acting, or short-acting barbiturate?
Long-acting
Is butabarbital a long-acting, intermediate-acting, or short-acting barbiturate?
Intermediate-acting
What is secobarbital generally used for?
Sedation for procedures
What interacts with barbiturates?
Alcohol, opioids, other sedative-hypnotics. They also decrease the effects of oral anticoagulants, glucocorticoids, TCAs, and quinidine
What type of drugs generally end in -lam or -pam?
Benzodiazepines
What is it called when a person who is taking benzos participates in activities that they don’t remember later?
Anterograde amnesia
True or False: It is ok for a patient to stop taking a Benzo suddenly if they think it isn’t working.
False
What kind of drug is Zolpidem?
Nonbenzodiazepine sedative-hypnotic
True or False: Zolpidem should be taken within 30 minutes of bedtime on an empty stomach.
True
What melatonin agonist is non-habit forming and safer for older adults to use?
Ramelteon (Rozerem)
