Patient/caregiver was educated on the precautions to be observed while taking triazolam as follows:
- If your schedule does not permit an eight hour sleep time for the night, you can avoid taking the dose of triazolam. This helps to avoid the risk for confusion and short-term memory loss, during your waking hours the next morning, thus helping to avoid any falls and accidents. Individuals are at risk to perform dangerous activities, such as, driving, without any knowledge or memory of the performance. Report any such behaviors to your physician, for any changes to be considered in plan of care.
- Continue taking triazolam as ordered, for the prescribed length of time, even if your symptoms of insomnia are under control. Discontinuing the medication abruptly, without physician recommendation, can lead to recurrence of the insomnia symptoms.
- Avoid drinking alcohol with triazolam. Both alcohol and triazolam depress the nervous system and significantly increase the risk for confusion, drowsiness, and difficulty concentrating, when taken together. Their effects on the brain and nervous system can get added up and lead to severe depression of the nervous system, thus compromising safety and resulting in accidents and falls. Also, even if you are consuming any alcoholic beverages, limit the use of alcohol to one drink and space it out from triazolam intake by atleast 3 – 4 hours, to avoid any possible interactions.
- Your physician could change the dose of triazolam, based on the relief obtained from insomnia or side-effects developed. So, maintain compliance with follow-up physician appointments, to have your doctor updated. Be accommodative to the plan of frequent dose changes, until you show an optimum response.
