Sleeping Tablets

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that can make falling asleep difficult, leave you experiencing a low quality of sleep, make you wake up much earlier than you need to or leave you unable to get back to sleep after randomly waking up during the night.

Short-term insomnia is quite common in adults, often lasting for several days or weeks. Usually caused by stress or a traumatic event, it will eventually pass. However, some people do suffer from long-term insomnia that can last for a month or even longer. 

You shouldn’t have to put up with sleepless nights - a sleeping pill / sleeping tablet are prescription drugs that can help if advised by your healthcare professional. At EU Meds, we have effective insomnia treatments to help you sleep like a baby.

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Buy Sleeping Pills Online

There are two types of sleeping medicine, prescription and non-prescription. You can buy both types here on EU Meds. If you don't have a prescription, our online doctor service may be able to help you obtain the medication you need.

Sleep Tablets UK

The following are our prescribed sleep medicines:

Non-Prescription Sleep Medication

The following are sleep medicines we sell which do not require a prescription:

  • Nytol One-A-Night
  • Nytol Herbal Tablets

You can get sleeping pills from EU Meds, with overnight shipping most of the week. If you prefer to order your medications online instead of visiting your local pharmacist, EU Meds is a great option. If you need prescription strength sleeping medication, we can fill your prescription online or assist you in getting one with our online doctor service.

EU Meds offers prescription strength medication, such as zolpidem and zopiclone which can break the cycle of insomnia into a more routine pattern of sleep. A prescription is required for these medicines, and there are potential side effects, including daytime drowsiness, dizziness and potential addiction. If you feel that you need stronger prescription pain medicine, but you don't have a prescription, the EU Meds online doctor service can assist you in obtaining one.

Buy Sleeping Tablets Online UK

You can purchase the best sleeping pills here at EU Meds. We offer overnight shipping most days of the week. You will be able to determine as you check out when your order will arrive. If you don't have a prescription for sleeping medication, our online doctor service can help you determine if prescription sleep medication is right for you.

Sleeping tablets are a medication which allow people to sleep when they experience a sleep problem such as insomnia. Sleeping pills UK can be purchased from online pharmacies if you have a prescription. The online doctor's service at EU Meds can help you obtain a prescription if you do not already have one.

Google Web Story: Prescription Sleeping Pills Explained

This helpful EU Meds Google Web Story answers the common questions that patients ask about sleeping pills to help you to understand which sleeping tablet is best for you:

Video: How do sleeping tablets work?

In the video below Dr. Tracey Marks, explains the science behind how sleeping tablets work to help put a patient to sleep:

What are sleeping aids used for?

Sleeping aids are a type of prescription medicine used to help people go to sleep more easily. They act by working on receptors in the brain to slow down the nervous system. People use sleep medication when they are having difficulty sleeping, such as experiencing bouts of moderate to severe insomnia. Examples include Zolpidem (Ambien) and Zimovane.

Sleeping pills allow you to go to sleep more easily. They are a prescription medication that your doctor or healthcare provider may recommend if a patient is having difficulty getting to sleep. They are referred to as, sleeping tablets, sleep aids, sleep medicine, sedatives or hypnotics.

Having trouble sleeping can be caused by a number of reasons. Sleeping medication can be used in the treatment of insomnia to help you fall asleep quicker and to reduce the chance of waking up in the night.

Around one in three people suffer from mild insomnia. The consequences of insomnia can be serious, increasing your risks of diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack and even stroke. Insomnia can be a symptom of other ailments. If you are experiencing depression, increased anxiety or chronic pain, its not difficult to see how this can cause a lack of sleep.

While over the counter sleep medicine can be helpful, most of them are based on antihistamines, and these can become less effective the more you take them. In each case, different medications may be more effective than sleeping pills in resolving the underlying cause of your insomnia. Consult with your doctor to determine the best treatment for your specific situation.

According to the NHS, one in every three people in the UK suffer from insomnia, particularly the elderly. Insomnia is defined as 'difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep for long enough to feel refreshed the next morning' but can be improved by changing your sleeping habits.

The NHS have put together a useful checklist of symptoms to allow you to check if you may have insomnia:

NHS Insomnia Checklist

ActionDescription of Insomnia Symptom
Trying to go to sleepYou find it hard to go to sleep
Waking up during the nightYou find yourself waking up at night repeatedly
Laying awake at nightYou lay awake at night when trying to sleep
Waking up earlier than plannedYou find yourself regularly waking up earlier than you plan to
Feeling tired after waking upYou wake up but still experience tiredness
Unable to nap in the day even when tiredYou try to take a nap but cannot do so successfully
Tiredness and irritability during the dayYou are regularly tired and easily irritable
Lack of concentration during the dayYou can't concentrate during the day

If you feel that you may have insomnia you should speak to your doctor or healthcare professional as soon as possible.

There is more than one type of insomnia including acute insomnia (a short-term bout of difficulty sleeping, typically caused by stress, lasting less than 3 months and can be resolved on it's own) and chronic insomnia (a long term bout of difficulty sleeping that has been experienced for over 3 months and can be caused by stress, poor sleep hygiene, an irregular sleep cycle or sleep pattern, underlying physical problems, underlying neurological problems, a partner, persistent nightmares, mental health disorders, general health conditions such as sleep apnea, diabetes, depression, anxiety and other sleep disorders).

Sedative Hypnotics

There are several different types of prescription sleeping pills, classified as sedative hypnotics, due to sedative effect properties. In general, these medications act by working on receptors in the brain to slow down the nervous system. Most sleep medications are classified as 'sedative hypnotics', a specific class of drugs used to induce and/or maintain rest. Some medications are used more for inducing sleep, while others are used for staying asleep, for example, Ambien, the branded version of generic Zolpidem.

Sedative hypnotics include benzodiazepines, barbiturates, and various hypnotics. Benzodiazepines such as Xanax, Valium, Ativan, and Librium are anti-anxiety medications.

Sleeping pills & minor tranquilisers currently available in the UK

Below is a list of sleeping pills and minor tranquillisers that are currently available in the United Kingdom:

  • alprazolam
  • Alzain (pregabalin)
  • Ativan (lorazepam)
  • buspirone
  • chloral/cloral
  • chlordiazepoxide
  • Circadin (melatonin)
  • clomethiazole
  • Dalmane (flurazepam)
  • Dialar (diazepam)
  • Diazemuls (diazepam)
  • diazepam
  • Diazepam Desitin (diazepam)
  • Diazepam Rectubes (diazepam)
  • diphenhydramine
  • Dormagen (lormetazepam)
  • Dormonoct (loprazolam)
  • flurazepam
  • Heminevrin (clomethiazole)
  • Lecaent (pregabalin)
  • Librium (chlordiazepoxide)
  • loprazolam
  • lorazepam
  • lormetazepam
  • Lyrica (pregabalin)
  • melatonin
  • meprobamate
  • Mogadon (nitrazepam)
  • nitrazepam
  • Nytol (diphenhydramine)
  • oxazepam
  • Phenergan (promethiazine)
  • promethazine
  • Rewisca (pregabalin)
  • Rimapam (diazepam)
  • Sleep Aid (diphenhydramine)
  • Sleepeaze (diphenhydramine)
  • Sominex (promethazine)
  • Stesolid (diazepam)
  • Stilnoct (zolpidem)
  • temazepam
  • Tensium (diazepam)
  • Welldorm (chloral)
  • Xanax (alprazolam)
  • Zimovane (zopiclone)
  • zolpidem
  • zopiclone

There are many different classes and brands of sleeping medicine. Your doctor will suggest the one he or she feels will best work for you based on the cause and length of time you have been having trouble sleeping, as well as the specific type of insomnia you are experiencing. Your doctor will also take into consideration any other general health conditions you may have, or medications you are taking. Commonly used sleeping pills include:

  • Ambien®, Ambien® CR (zolpidem tartrate)
  • Dalmane® (flurazepam hydrochloride)
  • Halcion® (triazolam)
  • Lunesta® (eszopiclone)
  • Prosom® (estazolam)
  • Restoril® (temazepam)
  • Rozerem® (ramelteon)
  • Silenor® (doxepin)
  • Sonata® (zaleplon)
  • Desyrel® (trazodone)
  • Belsomra® (suvorexant)
  • Over-the-counter sleeping pills (including antihistamines, melatonin, a herbal remedy, and others)

You may be able to improve sleep disorders naturally, without the use of medication, treatment options including improving your sleep hygiene and via therapy, such cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

Video: How to get more sleep without taking medication

This helpful video by Abraham The Pharmacist, provides a helpful overview of how an insomniac can get more sleep and improve their sleep quality without the need to take medication:

Sleep Hygiene Best Practice

1. Establish fixed times for going to bed and waking up (and avoid sleeping in after a poor night's sleep)

2. Try to relax before going to bed.

3. Maintain a comfortable sleeping environment: not too hot, cold, noisy, or bright.

4. Avoid napping during the day.

5. Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol within 6 hours of going to bed. Consider complete elimination of caffeine from the diet.

6. Avoid exercise within 4 hours of bedtime (although exercise earlier in the day is beneficial).

7. Avoid eating a heavy meal late at night.

8. Avoid watching or checking the clock throughout the night.

9. Only use the bedroom for sleep and sexual activity.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a set of techniques that assists people in changing negative thoughts and behaviours, to help them overcomes issues. In the case of insomnia, this works by helping people to work out the root of their sleeping problems and change their ways to try and get a better night's sleep.

Depending on your type of insomnia, there may be a number of different kinds of therapy that work for you. Improving your sleep environment can often be the first port of call. Removing a clock from your bedroom, ensuring your bed is comfortable and not having a TV in your room are all ways that sleep can be improved.

Sleep hygiene (as detailed above) is another example of CBT. Changing your lifestyle can have a massive impact on the way you sleep, as can relaxation therapy (a method that helps to calm your mind and body in preparation for sleep).

For those who are seeing little improvement after trying some basic lifestyle changes, you may want to try stimulus control therapy (removing factors that condition your mind to resist sleep) or sleep restriction therapy (reducing the time you spend in bed to increase readiness for sleep the next night).

Cognitive behavioural therapy is evidence-based, meaning that it has shown to be effective in clinical studies. In fact, the earliest research goes back more than 30 years, showing that this method has been well-researched and well-backed.

Sleep Tablet FAQs

The use of sleeping tablets has a number of reported risks associated to it but these will vary from individual to individual. The risk of taking sleeping tablets potentially includes experiencing drowsiness the next day, clumsiness and confusion in the night, dementia (over a longer period of use), developing a tolerance to them, dependance on benzodiazepines (Z drugs) including withdrawal symptoms (such as rebound insomnia) and developing an addiction to sleeping tablets (which could involve a period of rehab).

Below are numerous research studies that have investigated the associated risks of taking sleeping tablets for sleep disorders:

Potential Risks of Sleeping Tablets

RiskRelated Sources
Drowsiness the next day
  • Fitzgerald T, Vietri J. Residual Effects of Sleep Medications Are Commonly Reported and Associated with Impaired Patient-Reported Outcomes among Insomnia Patients in the United States. Sleep Disord. 2015;2015:607148. doi: 10.1155/2015/607148. Epub 2015 Dec 9. PMID: 26783470; PMCID: PMC4689974.
  • Pandi-Perumal, S. R., Verster, J. C., Kayumov, L., Lowe, A. D., Santana, M. G., Pires, M. L., Tufik, S., and Mello, M. T. (2006). Sleep disorders, sleepiness and traffic safety: a public health menace. Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologicas, 39(7), 863–871.
  • Clumsiness / confusion during the night (if you wake up)
  • Common sleep drug can leave people groggy, clumsy. Fox M, (2011)
  • MIND - Making sense of sleeping pills and minor tranquillisers
  • Dementia
  • Leng, Yue, Stone, Katie L., and Yaffe, Kristine. ‘Race Differences in the Association Between Sleep Medication Use and Risk of Dementia’. 1 Jan. 2023 : 1133 – 1139.
  • Tolerance to sleeping tablets
  • AHFS Patient Medication Information; American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. (2019, November 15). Zolpidem.
  • Lie JD, Tu KN, Shen DD, Wong BM. Pharmacological Treatment of Insomnia. P T. 2015 Nov;40(11):759-71. PMID: 26609210; PMCID: PMC4634348.
  • Dependence on sleeping pills
  • Tripković K.,Šantrić Milićević M. and Odalović M. (2020) Gender Differences in Predictors of Self-Medication with Tranquillizers and Sleeping Pills: Results of the Population-Based Study in Serbia. Slovenian Journal of Public Health, Vol.59 (Issue 1), pp. 47-56.
  • Alasmari MM, Alkanani RS, Alshareef AS, Alsulmi SS, Althegfi RI, Bokhari TA, Alsheikh MY, Alshaeri HK. Medical students' attitudes toward sleeping pill usage: A cross-sectional study. Front Psychiatry. 2022 Dec 20;13:1007141. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1007141. PMID: 36606128; PMCID: PMC9807662.
  • InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. Using medication: What can help when trying to stop taking sleeping pills and sedatives? 2010 Apr 20 [Updated 2017 Aug 10].
  • Addiction to sleeping pills
  • Parr JM, Kavanagh DJ, Cahill L, Mitchell G, McD Young R. Effectiveness of current treatment approaches for benzodiazepine discontinuation: a meta-analysis. Addiction 2009; 104(1): 13-24.
  • Kang M, Galuska MA, Ghassemzadeh S. Benzodiazepine Toxicity. [Updated 2023 Feb 7]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan-.
  • InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. Using medication: What can help when trying to stop taking sleeping pills and sedatives? 2010 Apr 20 [Updated 2017 Aug 10].
  • Sleeping Tablets and Alcohol

    Taking sleeping pills and alcohol should be avoided at all costs as it increases the risk of overdose and the chance of experiencing serious side effects.

    There is not a wide range of evidence to suggest that sleeping tablets themselves cause erectile dysfunction, however how sleeping pills interact with other drugs and more widely, the sleep disorder that a patient is suffering from (such as insomnia) could impact sexual health, leading them to experience ED.

    Prescription and Non-Prescription Sleeping Tablets

    What are the names of sleeping tablets? Below you will find a list of both prescription and non-prescription sleeping aids. List of sleeping medicines:

    • Zopiclone (Prescription)
    • Zolpidem (Prescription)
    • Zimovane (Prescription)
    • Nytol (Non-Prescription)

    Names of Strong Sleeping Pills

    Strong (Prescription) sleeping tablets include the following.

    Sleep medicationHelps you fall asleepHelps you stay asleepCan lead to dependence
    Doxepin (Silenor)  
    Estazolam
    Eszopiclone (Lunesta)
    Ramelteon (Rozerem)  
    Temazepam (Restoril)
    Triazolam (Halcion) 
    Zaleplon (Sonata) 
    Zolpidem (Ambien, Edluar, Intermezzo, Zolpimist) 
    Zolpidem extended release (Ambien CR)
    Suvorexant (Belsomra)

    Other non-benzodiazepine sleeping pills

    These drugs are of several different types and do not form a single group. They vary in their effectiveness and general characteristics.

    Generic name

    Trade names (UK)

    Forms available

    Half-life

    Dietary considerations

    chloral hydrate

    Welldorm

    • liquid

    more than 6 days

    none

    clomethiazole/chlormethiazole

    Heminevrin

    • capsules

    • liquid

    3.6–5 hrs

    • capsules contain gelatin

    diphenhydramine

    Sleepeaze
    Sleep aid tablets

    • tablets

    7–17 hrs

    • contains lactose

    melatonin

    Circadin

    • tablets

    3.5–4 hrs

    • contains lactose

    promethazine

    Phenergan
    Sominex

    • tablets

    • liquid

    • injection*

    5–14 hrs

    • tablets contain lactose

    Prescribed Ambien/Zolpidem and Zopiclone can assist patients with insomnia, sometimes referred to as a 'z drug'. These are prescription tablets that are given for short-term treatment. Ideally, a patient should not take these medicines for more than four weeks. Buy sleeping tablets like Zopiclone from EU Meds. This is to prevent the body from becoming dependent on a prescription drug in order to rest. When treatment stops, individuals may also experience withdrawal symptoms and have difficulty resting for a day or two. Patients can rest assured though, that things go back to normal after a few days.

    A sleeping aid like Ambien may also prescribed to people who are under a lot of stress and tension. It could be due to challenging circumstances, trauma, or the loss of a loved one. In these cases, the pills are prescribed only for a few days, just so the person can get some rest.

    You can buy sleeping pills and other sleep medications discreetly here at EU Meds. Your prescription will be filled out and delivered to you in as little as a few hours. Place your orders today!

    Best Prescription Sleeping Pills - The Z drugs

    Generic name

    Trade names (UK)

    Forms available

    Half-life

    Dietary considerations

    zaleplon

    Sonata

    • capsules

    about 1 hr

    • contains lactose

    • contains gelatin

    zolpidem

    Stilnoct

    • tablets

    about 2.4 hrs

    • contains lactose

    zopiclone

    Zimovane

    • tablets

    about 5 hrs

    • contains lactose

    Common over-the-counter sleep medications include:

    • Diphenhydramine (found in brand names like Nytol, Sominex, Sleepinal, Compoz)
    • Doxylamine (brand names such as Unisom, Nighttime Sleep Aid)

    Take a look at these resources for more helpful information around sleeping tablets and insomnia:

    More information:

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