I used to do that with a similar med. I took the med, then I couldn't sleep anyway and I took more and I was sure I was going to go to sleep. But didn't. So had to start my day without having slept on the med, just taken it anyway.

Benzenering, it is nothing one plans for, to be awake on a sleep med. One hopes to actually fall asleep but I couldn't see into the future and know if I would sleep or not. So it happened sometimes that I slept and sometimes that I did not.

I managed to function BUT I did feel drugged for quite a bit. The weird thing is if I took the med at 3 am and slept unto 6 that was fine. But if I took it at 3 and did not sleep but had to get going anyway, I felt drugged. It was like sleeping in itself consumed the med. Weird!

I noticed I was more careless while on it and also had worse balance. No one else could tell though.

But it does not harm your brain to not have slept on your med. It is broken down by the body just the same as it would be if you had slept. The only danger is what you mention, that you might make mistakes.