Efficacy and side effects of flunitrazepam and pentobarbital in severely insomniac patients

One hundred thirty-seven current or prospective recipients of hypnotics were screened to obtain a sample of 12 severely insomniac patients for a study concerning efficacy and side effects of 2 mg flunitrazepam and 100 mg pentobarbital as hypnotics. During the baseline period, these 12 subjects showed wide intraindividual variability of sleep and performance. This variability was not reduced by the hypnotics, which on the average did not adversely affect performance. Flunitrazepam, but not pentobarbital, slightly reduced sleep latency. Neither hypnotic prolonged sleep duration or reduced the number of wakings. The generalizability of the results to the population of recipients of hypnotics is discussed.