Hangover Effect of Hypnotics in Man

Abstract

DRUGS used to induce sleep—the hypnotics—are among the most widely used of all medicaments. It has been estimated that “At a very rough reckoning about one night's sleep in every ten in Britain is hypnotic-induced”¹. This assertion stems from the number of prescriptions each year for barbiturate (20 million) and non-barbiturate hypnotics (5 million)^1,2 and emphasizes the importance of studying the detailed clinical pharmacology of such drugs. But so far there has been little attention to the residual or hangover effect detectable the next morning. Significant impairment of performance on a battery of psychological tests was found up to 15 h after a hypnotic dose (200 mg) of chlorpromazine or quinalbarbitone given at night³. Similarly, behavioural impairment and electro-encephalographic changes have been reported 12 h or more after nitrazepam or amylobarbitone sodium⁴. In these studies, however, subjects were forbidden caffeine-containing drinks for the period of the study and were thus undergoing some degree of caffeine withdrawal.