Five Weeks to Escape the Sleeping-pill Habit

Abstract

In two experiments volunteers received either a non-barbiturate hypnotic or sodium amylobarbitone nightly for up to 18 nights. Their all-night sleep was studied. Nightmares occurred at first after stopping the drug, and a number of measurable neurophysiological functions took over five weeks to return to normal. Attention is drawn to the difficulty experienced by some patients in renouncing the use of sleeping pills. © 1965, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.