Why does hydrocodone keep me awake

This can include anger, an increase in irritability, depression, anxiety or paranoia. If individuals already struggle with a mental illness, hydrocodone addiction will only make it worse. During treatment, therapists need to treat co-occurring disorders simultaneously for a lasting resolution. Like any form of substance abuse, professional help is necessary for hydrocodone addiction. After a medically supervised detox, patients will need to put in the work to transform their lives and embrace sobriety.

During addiction rehab , patients can benefit from any and all of the following treatment methods :. The only way to erase the side effects of hydrocodone use is to end the addiction for good. Begin the journey to recovery by calling We can help you get better. Contact us today to find out which program might be right for you, or to begin the process of arranging for treatment. Skip to content. Jump to a Section Take the First Step Today.

Speak with someone right now. This may be because hydrocodone disrupts sleep patterns, which causes users to plunge into deep slumber without REM sleep. Sleep is critical to health, so inadequate sleep can lead to depression and can make people more susceptible to physical illness. If you experience sleep disorders that may stem from hydrocodone abuse , please call our toll-free, 24 hour helpline for help at Our addiction counselors can connect you with the best recovery resources and can even discuss insurance coverage and transportation to and from treatment.

Get the sleep you need to feel strong, optimistic and confident. Call today for instant support. Search Go. How Hydrocodone Affects the Brain Opiates such as hydrocodone work by bonding to pain receptors in the central nervous system. This all happens in the part of the brain that manages the following functions: Impulse control Anxiety response Sleeping and waking.

Potential Side Effects of Hydrocodone The body develops a tolerance to hydrocodone very quickly, which means a user will need larger and more frequent doses to feel the desired effects. Escalating use increases the likelihood and severity of addiction, and it may also cause any of the following side effects: Potentially permanent brain damage Dangerously lowered respiratory and cardiac activity Damage to internal organs Lowered immunity and decreased ability to fight off infections Desperate cravings for the drug that may lead to risky, drug-seeking behavior.

How they can cause insomnia: Beta-blockers have long been associated with sleep disturbances, including awakenings at night and nightmares. They are thought to do this by inhibiting the nighttime secretion of melatonin, a hormone involved in regulating both sleep and the body's circadian clock.

Low levels of melatonin have sometimes been observed in chronic insomnia. Alternatives: For older people, benzothiazepine calcium channel blockers, another form of blood pressure medication, are often safer and more effective than beta-blockers. A nightly dose of melatonin may also help. A small study published in the journal Sleep in found that patients on beta-blockers who also took melatonin fell asleep sooner, had more restful sleep, and slept longer — an extra 36 minutes a night, on average — than patients taking an inactive placebo.

This was determined with polysomnography, an overnight sleep test that records brain waves, muscle tone, heart rate and eye movements. Examples: cortisone, methylprednisolone Medrol , prednisone sold under many brand names, such as Deltasone and Sterapred and triamcinolone. How they can cause insomnia: People often ask why a drug that reduces inflammation would keep them awake. The answer lies in the adrenal glands, which are responsible for regulating the body's fight-or-flight response.

Too much stress can keep the body awake and the mind stimulated by exhausting the adrenal glands; corticosteroids can do the same thing, wreaking havoc on all the systems that allow you to relax and sleep, causing insomnia and unpleasant dreams. Alternatives: Ask your doctor or pharmacist whether you can take your medication in a single dose early in the day.

Why they're prescribed: SSRIs selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors are used to treat symptoms of moderate to severe depression. SSRIs block the reabsorption reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain, which may help brain cells send and receive chemical messages, easing depression.

They're called selective because they seem to primarily affect serotonin, not other neurotransmitters. How they can cause insomnia: Just as it isn't known exactly how SSRIs work, it isn't known exactly how these drugs interfere with sleep.

Studies have shown, however, that SSRIs cause agitation, insomnia, mild tremor and impulsivity in 10 percent to 20 percent of the people who take them.

Although about half of people who take SSRIs say that the drugs make them feel better, many continue to struggle with symptoms that can make life miserable, especially insomnia. Alternatives: If you are experiencing anxiety or insomnia while on an SSRI or any other antidepressant, for that matter , it's important to tell your prescribing doctor right away. Sleeplessness — in itself a marker of depression — can make you even more depressed.

Because antidepressants vary in their side effects, a change in dosage or switching to another medication may help you feel better without causing insomnia or other sleep disturbances. Of the three drugs in this category clomipramine , duloxetine and venlafaxine , I find venlafaxine to have the least adverse side effects in older patients and to be easier to dose to a therapeutic level.

Many people find that cognitive behavior therapy works just as well as medication. Cognitive therapy aims to help people overcome their difficulties by changing their thinking, behavior and emotional responses. Others report success with such approaches as acupuncture, exercise, changes in diet, meditation, relaxation therapy and the like.

Why they're prescribed: Angiotensin-converting enzyme ACE inhibitors are used to treat high blood pressure, congestive heart failure and other conditions.

These drugs help relax blood vessels by preventing the body from producing angiotensin II, a hormone that causes blood vessels to narrow and, in turn, blood pressure to rise.

Examples of ACE inhibitors include: benazepril Lotensin , captopril Capoten , enalapril Vasotec , fosinopril Monopril , lisinopril Prinivil, Zestril , moexipril Univasc , perindopril Aceon , quinapril Accupril , ramipril Altace and trandolapril Mavik. How they can cause insomnia: ACE inhibitors boost the body's levels of bradykinin, a peptide that enlarges blood vessels.

Bradykinin is thought to be the cause of the hacking, dry cough that up to a third of all patients who take an ACE inhibitor develop. This chronic, round-the-clock cough can be severe enough to keep anyone awake. ACE inhibitors can also cause potassium to build up in the body another type of electrolyte imbalance and lead to diarrhea , as well as leg cramps and achy joints, bones and muscles — all of which can disturb normal sleep.

Alternatives: If you're taking an ACE inhibitor for a cardiovascular problem, talk with your doctor or pharmacist about possibly switching to a benzothiazepine calcium channel blocker, another form of blood-pressure medication that is often better tolerated by older adults.

This is especially important for African Americans and Asian Americans, who, because of differences in their renin-angiotensin systems, have much higher incidences of adverse side effects. If your condition is accompanied by fluid retention, your doctor may consider adding a low dose of a long-acting loop diuretic, such as torsemide. Why they're prescribed: ARBs are often used to treat coronary artery disease or heart failure in patients who can't tolerate ACE inhibitors or who have type 2 diabetes or kidney disease from diabetes.

Instead of blocking the body's production of angiotensin II, ARBs prevent it from exerting its blood vessel-constricting effects. How they can cause insomnia: Like ACE inhibitors, ARBs frequently lead to potassium overload in the body, causing diarrhea as well as leg cramps and achy joints, bones and muscles — all of which can disturb normal sleep.

Alternatives: As with ACE inhibitors, I'd recommend you consult with your health care provider about the advisability of switching to a benzothiazepine calcium channel blocker, which is often better tolerated by older adults. This is especially important for African Americans and Asian Americans, who because of differences in their renin-angiotensin systems, have much higher incidences of adverse side effects. Why they're prescribed: Cholinesterase inhibitors are commonly used to treat memory loss and mental changes in individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.

Examples: donepezil Aricept , galantamine Razadyne and rivastigmine Exelon. The main side effects of these drugs include diarrhea, nausea and sleep disturbances. How they can cause insomnia: These drugs are thought to work by inhibiting the enzyme in the body that breaks down acetylcholine a neurotransmitter that's important for alertness, memory, thought and judgment and thus boosting the amount available to brain cells.

This, in theory, slows the patient's loss of memory and helps him or her perform daily activities with fewer problems. But blocking the breakdown of acetylcholine — which is everywhere in the body, not just in the brain — can interfere with all kinds of involuntary body processes and movements, including those related to sleep. In addition to insomnia and abnormal dreams, the identified side effects of cholinesterase inhibitors include serious changes in heart rhythm, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting as well as leg cramps and muscle spasms — all of which can interfere with normal sleep patterns.

Alternatives: It's important to remember that cholinesterase inhibitors cannot reverse Alzheimer's disease or slow the underlying destruction of nerve cells. And because the Alzheimer's-afflicted brain produces less acetycholine as the disease progresses, all medications in this class eventually lose whatever effectiveness they may be presumed to have.

For these reasons, it may be worthwhile to talk with your doctor or the doctor treating your loved one about whether the adverse effects of the drug prescribed outweigh its possible benefits.

In my experience, that's nearly always the case. Why they're prescribed: H1 antagonists, which are in a class of drugs commonly known as antihistamines, inhibit the body's production of histamine — the chemical that's released when you have an allergic reaction.