Are Back Pain Medications Ruining Your Sleep?

El Paso, TX. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez looks at back pain medications and their effect on sleep.

Can you relieve spine pain and get a good night’s rest? Sure some drugs get in the way.

Prescription medications are among the most recommended nonsurgical treatments for back and neck pain. While these drugs might help alleviate what ails your back, your sleep may suffer because of this. That’s a big deal, as sleep deprivation hurts your general wellbeing.

Unfortunately, back and neck pain medications can have side effects—and interfering with your sleep and ability to operate normally throughout the day are ones that are typical. Your medication may stop you from getting enough sleep or falling asleep. Or, your slumber quality suffers, although you might doze off readily. Plus, sleep-related side effects do n’t just affect you during the nighttime hours, as you may experience drowsiness or jitters during the day.

Sleep Science 101: Reconsidering Sedatives

Before delving into common back and neck pain drugs that may affect your slumber, it’s important to comprehend one of the biggest misconceptions about sleep medicines: the effect of sedation.

Many view sedatives as sleep aids due to the fact that they enable you to fall asleep fast. Nevertheless, this doesn’t tell the entire image, based on Steven A. King, MD, MS, who practices pain medicine in New York and is a clinical professor of Psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine.

“When contemplating what’s good for sleep, it really is vital to not forget that sleep is just not a uniform activity through the entire span of the night, but rather, a succession of cycles involving different levels of wakefulness,” wrote Dr. King in a site for Psychiatric Times. “Merely because a medication may put one to sleep doesn’t mean restful slumber will be provided by it if it disrupts the normal sleep cycles.”

During a good night’s sleep, your brain will repeatedly cycle through five phases: stages 1, 2, 3, 4, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. You should spend about 25% of your total slumber and this is the cycle. As researchers believe it contributes to regulating your mood, learning, and saving memories having uninterrupted REM sleep is significant.

Monitor your sleep quality, if you’ve been prescribed a medicine with sedative effects, for example an opioid. It’s not about how fast you fall asleep but also how refreshed you feel the very next day. If you dazed and ’re waking up groggy, talk to your doctor about possible alterations to your medication regimen.

Back & Neck Pain Medications That May Disrupt Sleep

Below are drugs that treat spinal conditions and may likewise have sleep-associated side effects.

Note: The table below features common back and neck pain medications that could interfere with your sleep and daytime functioning; it is not an all inclusive list. Always discuss the potential side effects of your medications that are certain with your physician.

Talk To Your Doctor About Drug Alternatives For Better Sleep

The quality of your slumber shouldn’t suffer as a result, although keeping your spine healthy is vital. If you’ve detected a decrease in quality or quantity of sleep since beginning your back or neck pain medicine, tell your physician. She or he might prescribe an alternative drug or treatment while addressing your spinal issue to restore healthful sleep.