In Belgium, as many as 1 million daily doses of sleeping pills go over the counter at pharmacies every day. Most sleeping pills have a number of drawbacks and quite a few side effects. Nevertheless, there are also natural sleeping pills that are safer to use with fewer side effects.

Within sleep medication, there are several types. You have the so-called sleepers and sleep-throughs.

The duration of action of sleepers is shorter and these ensure that you relax and fall asleep peacefully. The most commonly used sleep aids within that category are benzodiazepines. These sleep aids also have a sedative effect: they make you drowsy and make your muscles relax.

Sleep medications that are intended for deep sleep have a longer duration of action. As a result, these sleep aids cause you to wake up groggy in the morning. Taking medication for sleep can only be done with a doctor's prescription. It is crucial that sleep medication is only prescribed as a last resort or at times when the sleep deprivation is very acute.

Therefore, the answer to the question "How many sleeping pills can you take?" is "as few as possible and as short as possible. Always consult the package insert. After several weeks of use, habituation and dependence may occur. To experience the same effect, a higher dose is then required.

In this way, addiction can occur. In addition, if you take sleep medication for too long and suddenly stop it, you can experience withdrawal symptoms.

There are also homeopathic sleep aids. A homeopathic medicine consists of a certain substance that is highly diluted. For example, there are homeopathic sleep aids based on St. John's wort, valerian and lemon balm.

Homeopathic sleep aids have fewer side effects than sleep medications, but there is insufficient scientific evidence about their effectiveness.

Those helped by a homeopathic sleep aid may actually be experiencing a placebo effect.

Several natural sources are known for their calming and sleep inducing properties. Consider chamomile, lavender and passion flower. Primarily, lavender and passionflower have been extensively studied scientifically.

In the case of lavender, it is mainly the lavender essential oil extracted from the flowers of the Lavandula angustifolia plant via steam distillation that has the most powerful effect.

In the case of passion flower (Passiflora incarnata), it is primarily the dry extract that has clinically proven efficacy.

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