Increasingly, doctors and their patients are seeking other ways to deal with stress and sleeplessness. Alternatives to drug use include exercise, biofeedback, relaxation techniques, and counselling. Toxic effects The effects of tranquillizers and sleeping pills include incoordination and impaired mental functioning. As a result, driving a car or operating machinery can be dangerous when taking them. What would usually be considered small doses of any nervous system depressant, including tranquillizers and sleeping pills, can cause confused states in the elderly.
Rapid improvement can occur if the drug is discontinued or the dose decreased.
Overdoses of the benzodiazepine tranquillizers and sleeping pills are common and can cause serious effects, including unconsciousness, but rarely result in death. However, if taken with alcohol or other nervous system depressant drugs, the results can be fatal. A danger of sleeping pills belonging to the barbiturate class is that, even when taken alone, an overdose can result in death and no specific antidote is available. Tranquillizers, sleeping pills and pregnancy Babies whose mothers used tranquillizers and sleeping pills regularly during pregnancy may experience withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms are similar to those seen during withdrawal from alcohol and other depressant drugs.