A person in a state of alcoholic intoxication cannot completely control himself. Ethyl alcohol disrupts the processes of inhibition in the brain, but excitement, on the contrary, intensifies. This is why drunks are often violent. In this state, people can cause significant damage to themselves and those around them. Therefore, at such moments, relatives quite often ask themselves the question of what can be added to alcohol so that a person quickly falls asleep. It is quite difficult for a layperson to understand the great variety of modern sleeping pills. But I really want to have an effective remedy at hand! It is important to know information about the different types of sleeping pills and their compatibility with alcohol.
Properties of barbiturates
You are unlikely to find medicines from this group in your first-aid kit – they are dispensed strictly according to the prescription. The thing is that they belong to narcotic substances and are highly addictive . These are the most powerful sleeping pills, and they are usually prescribed in a hospital. A prominent representative of this group is Phenobarbital. If suddenly you somehow have it at home (for example, one of the family members has been prescribed this drug), then the temptation to use it to put a drunk to bed is great enough.
This should not be done under any circumstances. After a joint intake of alcohol and barbiturates, you can “fall asleep” forever! These substances greatly enhance the action of each other. In this case, there is a significant depression of the central nervous system, including the vital centers. A person in a dream can simply stop the heart or stop breathing, which will lead to death.
Benzodiazepines, zopiclone, and zolpidem
Drugs such as Nitrazepam are widely used. Until recently, benzodiazepines could be called the leaders among drugs that allow you to quickly and soundly fall asleep. They act more gently, do not cause addiction and do not disturb the structure of sleep. Answering the question of how to euthanize a drunk at home, for some reason these drugs are most often called. But in reality, unfortunately, they, like barbiturates, cannot be added to alcohol.
The mechanism of action is about the same here. Both benzodiazepines and ethanol have a tendency to depress the respiratory center, but they are not strong enough individually. However, after taking them together, their negative effect does not just add up, but increases significantly. That is why giving a drunken Nitrazepam is like putting him in his grave with his own hands. A person can simply fall into a coma from this.
Zopiclone and zolpidrem work in the same way as benzodiazepines, but have a different chemical structure. They are more modern. Currently, taking them is one of the best ways to fall asleep quickly. But after taking alcohol, it is not possible to find the right dose: if you accidentally add too much substance to a drunk, you can also expect problems with breathing and heart activity. The risk is too great, and therefore absolutely not justified.
Antihistamines
We usually associate such drugs with allergies. At the same time, those who regularly take them in connection with this problem know firsthand how they want to sleep after taking them. This property has found application in the treatment of insomnia. However, quickly putting a person who has drunk too many alcoholic beverages to bed will not work with their help. These are long-acting drugs.
The danger of respiratory arrest after their joint use with ethyl alcohol is not so great (although this possibility cannot be completely ruled out). The problem here is different: antihistamines do not allow alcohol to be excreted normally from the body.
As a result, it will take much longer to bounce back. The result is a severe hangover with headache, nausea, vomiting and other unpleasant symptoms. In addition, the joint intake of ethanol and, for example, Diphenhydramine can give exactly the opposite effect – the so-called alcoholic insomnia will develop.
Other sleeping pills
There are a number of other tools that are not mentioned above:
- kinazolones (methaqualone),
- derivatives of glycerol (meprobamate),
- melatonin, its synthetic analogs and others.
None of these should be given to a person after drinking alcohol. If you try to combine them with ethyl alcohol, you can cause irreparable damage to the liver. The load on this organ will increase significantly, and already very quickly (after several such techniques) difficult reversible processes in the body can begin.
It is worth talking about melatonin and its derivatives separately. These drugs are now widely available and available without a prescription. However, they will only help those people who have a deficiency of this hormone in their bodies to sleep soundly. If there is no deficit, then there will be no effect. That is why only a doctor can determine exactly whether you can take this drug for insomnia. It is quite obvious that this remedy cannot in any way put a drunk to sleep.
Folk remedies
There are also frequent cases when relatives want to quickly put a drunk to sleep using methods that are not recognized in modern medicine. Our people are very resourceful in this matter. Today we will not talk about the various herbal preparations used for this purpose at home. Only one thing can be said about them: they, like classic sleeping pills, are either dangerous, or ineffective, or both at the same time.
For some reason, the method of finger pressing at certain points has become widespread. Especially often our people want to transmit the carotid artery to a drunk person. After such “treatment” the consequences can be unpredictable: after all, in this case, we deliberately disrupt the blood supply to the brain. And thus we get not even a dream, but a loss of consciousness. The same goes for trying to stun a drunk. Only here it is still possible to inadvertently add a traumatic brain injury.
A fairly reliable way to send a person with alcohol intoxication to sleep is to increase the dose of alcohol taken. Everyone knows that after drinking a strong drink, first there is excitement, and then, after taking another glass, the craving for sleep begins. Why it happens? It’s all about the peculiarities of the effect of ethanol on the brain: in large doses, alcohol inhibits the central nervous system. However, experts do not risk recommending this method (although of all the above, it is perhaps the safest): if a threshold dose is suddenly passed, you can enter a person into an alcoholic coma.
Is it possible to use sleeping pills in a state of a hangover
Hangover insomnia is common. Headaches and other unpleasant symptoms are unsettling and prevent sleep. And in this case, it is also best to refuse sleeping pills. Their unwanted effects will be almost the same as when they are taken with alcohol.
If you are looking for a way to fall asleep from a hangover, then the best advice would be to take a pain reliever, drink water or eat low-fat broth, and ventilate the room . These simple manipulations will help to significantly alleviate the general condition and, possibly, relieve insomnia from alcohol. And sleep, as you know, is the best cure for a hangover.
So, we all would very much like to somehow put a drunk relative to sleep. This problem is especially acute when it comes to alcoholism. However, at the moment, there is simply no effective and safe way. Therefore, unfortunately, you will have to accept and endure the impartial behavior of the “brawler”. In no case should you use sleeping pills (now you know why): it is better to be drunk than dead.