Thousands can be addicted to freely available sleeping tablets, which they take for months or even for years, have warned experts in the middle of the growing long-term concern increases the risk of a series of serious health problems.
Medicines that contain diphenhydramine, an antihistamine that causes sleepiness are available on a large scale in pharmacies without a prescription.
Nevertheless, increasing evidence suggests that the medicines, generally considered as a safer alternative to prescription drugs such as benzodiazepines, Can be just as dangerous.
The news comes after countless studies have linked a list of medicines, including diphenhydramine to an increased risk of dementia.
A shocking study, published in 2015, followed nearly 3,500 older adults and discovered that they had a risk of 54 percent higher dementia at high levels of the tablets for a period of 10 years.
Now doctors suggest that the tablets-including Nytol One-a-Night, Boots Sleepeaze and Panadol Night-Die are being taken excess, even causing addiction, as well as attacks and comas.
Elsewhere, users claim online that they have suffered from disturbing hallucinations, including 'seeing spiders' and 'felt as if they were in a nightmare' after taking these drugs for long periods.
And in a shocking case, the death of a 32-year-old man with insomnia WAs linked to the use of Nytol.
Now doctors suggest that the tablets, including Nytol One-a-Night, Boots Sleepeaze and Panadol Night-Die are being taken excess, even attacks and coma's
In a shocking case, the death of a 32-year-old man who had trouble sleeping after playing video games, coupled with the use of Nytol
Grant Holding took prescribed medicines to help him sleep, but if he couldn't get his recipe, he would ask friends and family to buy the freely available tablets Nytol.
After Mr Holding was found dead in his kitchen, a post-mortem and toxicological report showed that there was 6.6 mg of diphydramine per liter of blood in his body.
Previous case reports have found that only 5 mg per liter can prove to be fatal.
A pathologist told the investigation that he could not determine whether Mr Holding died of a deliberate overdose, a casual overdose or a structure of the drug over time.
The coroner concluded that Mr Holding died in November 2011 as a result of a non-dependent abuse of drugs.
Dr. Ash Kapoor, founder of London-based medical practice Levitas Clinic, said MailOnline: 'Medications such as diphenhydramine are not without consequence, especially with long-term use.
“In the short term they can sometimes help with acute symptoms of insomnia, but it must always be taken with a clear plan to tape and tackle the cause.”
Nytol, available in 25 mg and 50 mg of pills, may only be taken for a maximum period of two weeks, with one tablet within 24 hours, according to the safety guidelines for the patient information brochure.
But experts say that too few people are aware of these limitations.
That is the power of some side effects, users of the medication have even transferred online forums to share their experience with diphenhydramine
It comes as experts who have also given a new warning this week for the medicine and the risk of dementia. Immunity and diet expert Dr. Amy Shah, who was trained at the universities of Harvard, Cornell and Columbia, said: 'I know it is quite available, I know you have had it since you had a child, but we now know much more'
Dr. David Rapoport, a professor in lung and sleeping medicine on Mount Sinai in New York added: 'Diphenhydramine is very attractive for people because it is a freely available medication.
'Are [seen as] A quick way to repair insomnia.
'But the body adapts to it and can build up a tolerance within just two weeks. It tends to stop working.
“This means that patients have to take an increasingly higher dose to achieve the same effect, causing ever worse side effects to risk.”
Difenhydramine usually causes sleepiness – hence its use as a sleep aid – but it also causes numbnessDizziness and a dry mouth.
Although these are generally mild, they can pose a risk, especially in the elderly and in people with other health problems.
Other more serious side effects stated in the patient information of the medicine include attacks or difficulty of movements and a faster heartbeat.
Overdoses Risk Comas and Hallucinations.
In the meantime, users of the medication have gone to online forums to share their experience with diphenhydramine.
In one Reddit -Thread with more than 600,000 members, a user wrote: 'I would take a pill and feel nothing, stay up all night and have a bad day the next day.
The above symptoms are less well-known signs of dementia-the memory spread state that teases nearly a million British and seven million Americans
“So I started taking two pills. Then three. One night I took five pills at the same time.
“It was the only way I could get a good night's sleep. It was a decision that I would regret quickly.
'I started to feel sleepy and became extremely forgetful. I muttered for myself.
“My roommate said I was talking about nonsense. I don't remember much of that night, but I had horrible dreams about spiders that crawl around in my room. '
Another acquaintance that they had become addicted to the medicine that took several diphenhydramine tablets every day.
“It became a paralyzing addiction, I didn't hallucinally hallucinated the spiders, but I hear that it is common,” they added.
“I would usually slide into this weird dream landscape where there is no morning.”
A third said they names diphenhydramine through freely available Approll, an American allergy medication, months after a traumatic event.
It is thought that around 900,000 British have dementia, but scientists from the University College London estimate that this will rise to 1.7 million within two decades if people live longer
“One night I took 12 tablets because I couldn't sleep at all because of panic,” they said.
“I could finally sleep. But when I woke up after a few hours, I started to hallucinate where I felt and saw that I was under water.
“My house was under water. And I started to see fairies and spirals in the environment materialize. '
It comes as experts who have also given a new warning this week for the medicine and the risk of dementia.
Immunity and diet expert Dr. Amy Shah, who was trained at Harvard, Cornell and Columbia Universities, said: 'I know it is quite available, I know you have had it since you had a child, but we now know much more.
'You should not use these medicines regularly.
'Even for allergies, use new antihistamines such as Zirtec or Allegra [sold as Allevia in the UK]Clariten, Zyzal, because they don't cross the blood brain barrier that much.
“To be honest, I couldn't be convinced that this is something that you have to get from your life.”
Diphenhydramine is part of a family of drugs known as Anticholinge.
It has long been known to block the functioning of acetylcholine, a chemical messenger who sends messages in the nervous system.
In the brain, acetylcholine is involved in learning and memory. In the rest of the body it stimulates muscle contractions.
In December a study of nearly 1 million British patients suggested that some types of these drugs can increase the risk of dementia by almost a fifth.
British experts analyzed the health files of just over 170,000 patients in England older than 55 with dementia and compared with 800,000 patients without the memory robbing disorder.
Writing in the magazine BMJ Medicine, the authors found that taking an anticholinge was linked to an 18 percent increased risk of dementia diagnosis.
However, they thought that the increased risk was slightly higher in men – 22 percent, compared to women with 16 percent.
The pharmaceutical companies that make the medicines are contacted for comment.
