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Sleeping Medications Like Seroquel, Ambien, Have No Effect. Have Taken Higher Dosage But No Help. Suggest?
Question: Sleeping medications like Seroquel, ambien, have no effect on me. I've been on 6 different this last year. I've taken a higher dosage and it still doesn't work. It doesn't even make me feel drowsy. What part of the brain would cause this, and what would be wrong with it? The only disorder I can find where sedatives don't work on someone is sporadic fatal insomnia, but I still sleep.
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query.
The most common cause for lack of effect of sleeping medications could be tolerance. In this, the effect of a particular dose wears off, and gradually a higher dose is required, until one reaches a high dose, which also does not work. This is common with all sleeping medications, more so with benzodiazepine group of drugs.
In brain, there are two areas mainly involved in sleeping, hypothalamus and pineal gland. Hypothalamus regulates sleep and wakefulness, along with other functions such as hunger & satiety, thirst, weight, temperature, sex, etc. Pineal gland releases a hormone called as melatonin, which is required for sleep. This is generally produced between 9 and 11 pm in the absence of light (when it is dark).
A good brain scan such as 3.0 tesla MRI would be able to pick up any problems in hypothalamus or pineal gland.
I hope it helps. Please get back if you have any more queries.
Best wishes,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
Thank you for posting your query.
The most common cause for lack of effect of sleeping medications could be tolerance. In this, the effect of a particular dose wears off, and gradually a higher dose is required, until one reaches a high dose, which also does not work. This is common with all sleeping medications, more so with benzodiazepine group of drugs.
In brain, there are two areas mainly involved in sleeping, hypothalamus and pineal gland. Hypothalamus regulates sleep and wakefulness, along with other functions such as hunger & satiety, thirst, weight, temperature, sex, etc. Pineal gland releases a hormone called as melatonin, which is required for sleep. This is generally produced between 9 and 11 pm in the absence of light (when it is dark).
A good brain scan such as 3.0 tesla MRI would be able to pick up any problems in hypothalamus or pineal gland.
I hope it helps. Please get back if you have any more queries.
Best wishes,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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