Silenor is a sleep medication available only by prescription. It is used to treat people with insomnia who have trouble staying asleep.
Silenor:
- Is approved to treat adults and the elderly who have sleep maintenance insomnia1
- Can be used to treat people with chronic sleep maintenance insomnia (insomnia lasting more than three weeks)
- No restriction on duration of use
- Call your doctor if your insomnia worsens or is not better within 7 to 10 days. This may mean that there is another condition causing your sleep problem
- Can be used to treat people with transient insomnia (short term)
- Is not a controlled substance2
- Patients in clinical trials reported a low rate of side effects
- Drowsiness or tiredness was the most common side effect
- Has no evidence of rebound insomnia1,2
- Is only available in 3 mg and 6 mg tablets. The total daily dose should not exceed 6 mg. If you are taking Tagamet® (cimetidine), the total daily dose should not exceed 3 mg.
- Should be taken within 30 minutes of bedtime. For faster onset and to minimize the potential for next-day effects, Silenor should not be taken within 3 hours of a meal.
Ask for Silenor by name. There is no generic Silenor.
Click on the following links to learn how Silenor addresses many of the sleep and sleep medication issues discussed on this site:
References:
- Data on file, Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
- Silenor prescribing information. Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., March 2010.