Sleeping Pills and Holiday Habits: What You Need to Know
You take sleeping pills—maybe all the time, maybe just occasionally—to get a good night’s rest, but you may be wondering how the hustle and bustle of the holiday season can affect your schedule and sleep habits. Here, eight factors that could play a role in your nighttime routine and how to adapt.
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Drinking alcohol
Doctors across the board recommend that patients on sleeping pills refrain from drinking alcohol, but they realize that's not an easy task during the holidays. "If you must drink, try to limit yourself to a glass of wine or two beers in the afternoon, at least six hours before bedtime," says Donna Arand, PhD, clinical director of the Kettering Sleep Disorders Center in Kettering, Ohio. Alcohol acts as a stimulant for a time after it is ingested, and it can therefore counteract the effects of sleeping pills, which act as sedatives. "You want the alcohol to be as far away from the sleep period as possible," Arand explains.
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