Calmettes is a name people encounter on a pack, usually in connection with calming or sleep. It does not appear in South Africa’s Medicine Price Registry as a registered medicine, so its contents cannot be established here. This guide explains how to find out what your pack contains and why it matters.
What is Calmettes?
We cannot tell you what Calmettes contains, and this page will not guess.
A search of the South African Medicine Price Registry — the authoritative database of SAHPRA-registered medicines, listing active ingredients, strengths and schedules — returns no product under this name.
Possible explanations:
- It may be a complementary or herbal medicine. Calming and sleep products are commonly sold this way in South Africa, following a different regulatory route.
- It may be a general-sale product rather than a scheduled medicine.
- It may be spelled differently on the actual packaging.
- It may be an imported or discontinued product.
The name suggests calming, but a brand name is marketing rather than an ingredient declaration. Products sold for calming and sleep span an enormous range — herbal preparations such as valerian and passionflower, sedating antihistamines, melatonin, and in some cases prescription sedatives. These are not remotely equivalent, and their interactions and risks differ completely. That is why guessing would be unhelpful.
What is Calmettes commonly used for?
Without knowing the contents, no honest page can tell you what it treats. Finding out takes minutes:
- Read the pack. Active ingredients are listed on the side or back panel. This alone answers most questions.
- Look for a registration number, often formatted like
28/2.7/0019, or a complementary medicine designation. - Take the pack to a pharmacist — the most reliable option, and free.
- Search the Medicine Price Registry using the exact spelling on the pack.
- Ask whoever supplied it.
Do not take a medicine you cannot identify, particularly alongside other medicines, during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or when giving it to a child.
If it is a calming or sleep product, the category matters more than usual, because sedating substances combine dangerously with each other:
| Type | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Herbal sedatives | Valerian, passionflower, chamomile | Modest evidence; still interact with medicines |
| Sedating antihistamines | Promethazine, diphenhydramine | Marked drowsiness; not for long-term use |
| Melatonin | Melatonin | Mainly for sleep timing and jet lag |
| Benzodiazepines | Diazepam | Prescription-only; dependence with regular use |
| Antidepressants | Amitriptyline | Prescription; sometimes used for sleep at low dose |
Anything sedating adds to anything else sedating — including alcohol, opioid painkillers and sleeping tablets. That combination is a genuine cause of harm, and it is the main reason to know what you are taking.
How Calmettes fits into this medicine category
This page sits in mental health and neurology. Once you have identified the ingredient, look that up directly — see the mental health, nerve and neurological medicines hub and the carbamazepine guide for other pages here.
A note on sleep and anxiety worth stating regardless of the product. Medicines of any kind are rarely the most effective long-term answer to either:
- For persistent insomnia, cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) has better evidence than any sleeping medicine, and its benefits last after treatment ends.
- For ongoing anxiety, psychological therapy and, where appropriate, antidepressants work better over time than sedatives, which lose effect and can cause dependence.
- Sedatives taken nightly tend to stop working within weeks while becoming difficult to stop — the worst of both.
That does not mean short-term help is wrong. It means an ongoing problem deserves a proper approach rather than an indefinite supply of something calming.
What to check before using Calmettes
Whatever the product turns out to be:
- Identify the active ingredients before taking it.
- Check whether it is sedating, and do not drive or operate machinery until you know how it affects you.
- Do not combine it with alcohol, opioid painkillers, benzodiazepines, sleeping tablets or sedating antihistamines without advice.
- Check it against everything else you take, including supplements and traditional remedies.
- Check the expiry date, and that packaging is intact and unopened.
- Ask specifically if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have liver or kidney disease, depression, or are giving it to a child or an elderly person.
Herbal does not mean free of interactions. Several herbal sedatives interact with prescription medicines, and St John’s wort in particular affects a long list including the contraceptive pill, antidepressants and HIV medicines. Tell your doctor and pharmacist about everything you take, including remedies you might not think of as medicine — many people omit these when asked, which is precisely how avoidable problems arise.
Possible cautions and when to ask a pharmacist or doctor
Stop and seek advice if you develop a rash, swelling of the face or lips, difficulty breathing, or symptoms that worsen after starting any product.
Seek medical attention urgently for:
- Unusual difficulty waking someone, or slow or shallow breathing — particularly if a sedating product has been combined with alcohol or an opioid.
- Marked confusion, especially in an older person.
- A fall, or repeated unsteadiness.
See a doctor rather than self-treating if:
- Sleep problems persist more than a few weeks.
- Anxiety is affecting your work, relationships or daily functioning.
- You feel unable to cope without something calming.
- You have low mood, loss of interest in things, or thoughts of self-harm. Seek help promptly — these need proper assessment, not a calming remedy.
- Sleep is disturbed by snoring with pauses in breathing, or daytime sleepiness — possible sleep apnoea, which is treatable and often missed.
- You have palpitations, weight loss, tremor or heat intolerance with anxiety — an overactive thyroid can mimic anxiety exactly.
- Symptoms began after starting a new medicine.
Anxiety and insomnia are common and treatable. A pharmacist can identify your pack; a doctor can help with what is behind the symptoms.
Related medicine guides
- Browse Mental Health, Nerve & Neurological Medicines guides
- Read: Trepiline used for
- Read: Nurika used for
Frequently asked questions
What are Calmettes tablets used for? We cannot say. No product under this name appears in South Africa’s Medicine Price Registry, so its ingredients are not established. Read the pack or ask a pharmacist.
Why does this page not name the ingredients? Because guessing would be unsafe. Calming products range from mild herbal preparations to prescription sedatives, with entirely different risks.
How do I find out what my pack contains? Read the active ingredient list on the label, and take the pack to a pharmacist. Identification is free and quick.
Is it a registered medicine? It does not appear in the medicine registry under this name. It may be a complementary or general-sale product, or registered under a different spelling.
Is it safe to take with my other medicines? Not until you know what it contains. Sedating substances add to one another, and herbal products interact with prescription medicines.
Can I drive after taking it? Not until you know whether it is sedating and how it affects you.
Are herbal calming remedies safe? Not automatically. Several interact with prescription medicines, and “natural” does not mean without effect.
When should I see a doctor? If sleep problems last more than a few weeks, anxiety affects daily life, you feel unable to cope without something calming, or you have low mood or thoughts of self-harm.