Ramelteon (Rozerem) Pharmacology Podcast
Real Life Pharmacology - Pharmacology Education for Health Care Professionals
Eric Christianson, PharmD; Pharmacology Expert and Clinical Pharmacist
4.9 • 773 Ratings
🗓️ 9 February 2023
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode, I discuss the pharmacology, adverse effects, and drug interactions of ramelteon (Rozerem).
Ramelteon is primarily only helpful for sleep onset and generally is not that helpful in sleep maintenance.
CNS depressant drug interactions will be a common concern to monitor. Opioids, benzodiazepines, and alcohol are common sedatives that can add to the effects of ramelteon.
Some of the CYP enzymes break down Ramelteon. I discuss this in greater length in this podcast episode.
Be sure to check out our free Top 200 study guide – a 31 page PDF that is yours for FREE!
Support The Podcast and Check Out These Amazing Resources!
Meded101 Guide to Nursing Pharmacology (Amazon Highly Rated)
Guide to Drug Food Interactions (Amazon Best Seller)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey all, welcome back to the Real Life Pharmacology podcast. |
| 0:03.5 | I'm your host, pharmacist, Eric Christensen. |
| 0:05.4 | Thank you so much for listening today. |
| 0:07.8 | Go check out Real Life Pharmacology.com. |
| 0:10.5 | Get your free 31-page PDF on the top 200 drugs. |
| 0:16.0 | Great review for you. |
| 0:17.6 | If you're taking pharmacology classes, looking to take your board exam soon, or just |
| 0:22.7 | want a little refresher if you're out in clinical practice. So again, absolutely get that for free, |
| 0:27.2 | simply in email is all it's going to cost you. So with that, let's get into the drug of the day |
| 0:33.0 | today. And that is Rameltyon. Brand name of this medication is Rosarum. |
| 0:40.3 | And this medication is primarily used for sleep. |
| 0:44.6 | It's classified as a hypnotic. |
| 0:47.3 | And it works as a melatonin receptor agonist. |
| 0:54.7 | And so there are some differences with melatonin receptor agonist. And so there are some differences with melatonin receptors. |
| 1:00.0 | This drug primarily works in melatonin 1 and melatonin 2 receptors. |
| 1:05.5 | Melatonin 1 is believed to be most responsible for inducing sleepiness and having that sedative-type feeling. |
| 1:17.2 | Melatonin 2 is thought to be more responsible for circadian rhythms involving and in relation to sleep. |
| 1:26.9 | With that said, Rameletheon primarily works on the melatonin-1 |
| 1:32.4 | receptor. So it, I believe it's like six to eight times more potent at the melatonin-one-one |
| 1:40.4 | receptor. So that explains the effects that you're likely to get. Melatonin 1, as I mentioned, |
| 1:47.6 | we get that induction of sleepiness, the sedative type feeling. And as you can imagine, because it |
| 1:55.2 | does that action, it's going to be used primarily for sleep onset versus sleep maintenance. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Eric Christianson, PharmD; Pharmacology Expert and Clinical Pharmacist, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Eric Christianson, PharmD; Pharmacology Expert and Clinical Pharmacist and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.