The side effects of sleeping pills are the following: 1. Dependence and addiction. If you take sleeping pills for a long time, you will unconsciously form a habit, and over time the dependence on the drug, then if you stop the drug will appear rebound symptoms, that is, insomnia more serious than before, which will make people think that the drug must be eaten, so lead to addiction. 2, slow reaction. Especially the elderly, long-term use of sleeping pills, so that the cerebral cortex is always in a state of inhibition, will make memory impairment, slow response and intellectual decline. 3, liver and kidney function damage. Because most sleeping pills are decomposed by the liver and excreted by the kidneys, long-term use of liver and kidney function may cause damage, so people with poor liver and kidney function should be careful with the drug. 4, respiratory depression. For people with obstructive lung disease, sleep apnea syndrome or other pulmonary insufficiency, a small dose of sleeping pills may lead to respiratory depression or respiratory failure and endanger life, so such people should not take sleeping pills at will. 5, other side effects. For people who take sleeping pills for a long time, especially the elderly, because of the slow metabolic rate, over time, easy to accumulate in the body, can appear unstable walking, ataxia, or because of the slow excretion of drugs, the daytime drowsiness, lower limb weakness and accidental falls caused by fractures, etc. 6, a large dose of sleeping pills swallowed, can lead to death. So if you need to take sleeping pills, be sure to use them under the guidance of a doctor.