Can I stop taking Lemborexant after taking it for 10 days?

Lemborexant is a new drug used to treat insomnia. Its pharmacological mechanism is an orexin (orexin) receptor antagonist. It helps patients fall asleep faster and maintain sleep longer by inhibiting the activity of the brain's arousal system. Many patients want to stop taking the drug as soon as possible after taking it, especially if it is taken for a short period of time, such as only taking it for about 10 days. Whether the drug can be discontinued in the short term needs to be analyzed based on the drug's action characteristics, dependence risk and clinical practice experience.

The pharmacological effects of leborexan are not through enhanced sedation or benzodiazepine mechanisms, but rather through specific blockade of OX1 and OX2 receptors, which reduce arousal levels. Therefore, its risk of drug dependence and tolerance is relatively low, and it does not belong to the category of hypnotic drugs that are prone to drug dependence. This means that in most cases, patients will not experience severe withdrawal reactions or sleep disturbances after short-term use and discontinuation of the drug. However, since insomnia itself may be affected by many factors, such as mental stress, daily routine, underlying diseases, etc., even if the drug is stopped, the original insomnia symptoms may recur or worsen. This is caused by the characteristics of the disease rather than drug dependence.

In clinical practice, it is recommended that drug withdrawal should be combined with the patient's sleep quality assessment. If the patient's sleep improves significantly and his sleep pattern becomes stable during the 10-day period of taking the medication, he can try to gradually stop the medication under the guidance of a doctor and observe his sleep recovery. If you have difficulty falling asleep or wake up frequently at night after stopping the drug, you can temporarily adjust your work and rest, supplement with cognitive behavioral therapy, or reuse the drug appropriately for a short period of time. Overseas guidelines emphasize that the evaluation of short-term efficacy of leborexan usually requires at least one to two weeks of observation, while long-term maintenance of efficacy requires a combination of lifestyle intervention.

Reference materials:https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a620039.html