Barbiturate Insomnia Drugs

Barbiturates have been around for a very long time, with the first medicinal barbiturate (Barbitone) appearing in 1903. Phenobarbital, still widely in use today under the trade name of Luminal ®, followed in 1912 and a wide range of different commercially available barbiturate drugs appeared subsequently, with many continuing in use today.

Some of the more commonly prescribed barbiturates include:

Barbiturates act to depress the central nervous system and to slow down many areas of the brain.

Often known as sedative hypnotics, their use includes simply calming you down or, in higher doses, assisting you to sleep.

When you go to sleep your body recognizes that certain areas of the brain used during waking hours can be shut down and chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) are sent out to inhibit these areas. One of the main neurotransmitters is known as gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) and barbiturates assist and enhance the effects of this particular neurotransmitter.

In small doses barbiturates act rather like alcohol, relaxing the muscles, reducing anxiety and producing calmness. In moderate doses they can cause drowsiness, but also confusion, an inability to concentrate, slurred speech and a lack of co-ordination. As doses increase further, pupils dilate, breathing becomes shallow and the heart rate slows. Such doses can easily cause you to drift off into unconsciousness and even result in death.

Widely prescribed throughout the early part of the last century for people with anxiety or as one of several insomnia medications, extensive use was also made of barbiturates, in combination with other drugs (principally amphetamines) to treat depression.

By the 1950s and 1960s huge numbers of people regularly took barbiturates and, while only designed for short-term use, as many as perhaps 25% of people using them reported addiction through long-term use. In addition, the fact that just about anybody could obtain these drugs without too much difficulty led to many deaths as a result of accidental overdoses. They also often appeared as a favorite drug with those wishing to commit suicide.

Perhaps the greatest danger with barbiturates lies in the fact that, as with many drugs, they are addictive. As time goes by you become increasingly dependent on them and simply can't live without them.

Unfortunately, your body also builds up a tolerance to these drugs and so you need them more frequently and in higher doses to produce the same effects. But, as the frequency and dose increases, so too do the unwanted, and often dangerous, side effects.

Widespread concern about the safety of barbiturates eventually led to the development of alternative medicines and, since the 1970's, barbiturates have been widely replaced by reputedly "safer" benzodiazepine drugs.

Next >>> Benzodiazepines

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The information contained here should NOT be used as a substitute for the advice of an appropriately qualified and licensed physician or other health care provider. The information provided here is for educational and informational purposes only and in no way should be considered as an offering of medical advice.