Treatment Options for Your Insomnia

Best Insomnia Treatment Options

      Insomnia is a sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or wake you up too early and can't get back to sleep.
You may still feel tired even if you just woke up in the morning. Insomnia can sabotage not only your energy levels and mood, but also your health, performance and quality of life. How much sleep is enough for each person? In general, adults need 7 to 8 hours each night. (Mayolinic.org)

At some point, many adults experience short-term (acute) insomnia, lasting days or weeks. These are usually the result of stress or a traumatic moment. But some people have long-term (chronic) insomnia that lasts a month or longer. Insomnia may be a big problem, or it may be related to another medical condition or treatment.

You don't have to fight sleepless nights. Simple changes in daily habits can sometimes help.

Diagnosing Insomnia

Getting the right insomnia treatment begins with seeing your doctor to find out what is keeping you up at night.

Your doctor will perform tests to rule out other possible causes of insomnia, such as thyroid disorders or pain. You may be required to stay at a sleep center.

A sleep study can help your doctor find out if you have insomnia or another sleep disorder such as restless leg syndrome (RLS) or sleep apnea.

What Is The Treatment for Insomnia?

Treatment for your insomnia will likely involve non-medical therapies, such as developing better sleeping habits or psychotherapy and medication.

If medical conditions such as diabetes or menopause are causing insomnia, treating those conditions may help.

If the insomnia occurs as a side effect of a medication, changing medications or lowering the dose may help.

Always talk to your doctor before making changes to any insomnia medication you take.

Short-term insomnia, often caused by travel or stress, usually improves once the stress is relieved, or once the body adjusts to a new sleep schedule.

Short-term use of over-the-counter sleeping pills may help.

For chronic insomnia that disturbs your sleep for a long time, it may require a thorough physical examination.

Lifestyle changes, medical treatment, and possibly psychotherapy to find hidden causes of insomnia are important, for treating any issues causing signs and symptoms of insomnia.

Treating insomnia without getting to the root cause will not help.

Cognitive Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is a type of treatment specifically used for insomnia.

This can help improve your sleep patterns, so that you can get better quality sleep.

Part of CBT-I is learning how to have good sleep hygiene, including dealing with distractions in the room, and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule. You also focus on targets such as:

- Changing the thoughts and habits that interfere with a good night's sleep.

- Establish a gradual sleep schedule to help you sleep longer over time.

- You can work with a specialist who can help you identify and change your thoughts and habits that are preventing you from sleeping well.

Chronic Insomnia Treatment Options

Treating chronic insomnia has two main goals: Improving sleep quality and duration, and reducing subsequent daytime disturbances.

Chronic insomnia treatment regimens usually include at least one behavioral intervention, which is often cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i).

If insomnia medications and other behavioral interventions aren't effective, your doctor may suggest some form of sleeping pills.

Medical Treatment Plans

The first step in an insomnia treatment plan is to have a goal of changing your sleeping habits, and addressing any issues that may be triggering the sleep problem or condition.

Working frequently to relieve stress, dealing with medical conditions, or switching from any medication that makes it hard to sleep can restore healthy sleep patterns.

If these steps don't work, discuss with your doctor next steps for recommended medical sleep disorder treatment.

Lifestyle Changes Alone Can Help With Insomnia

For mild cases of insomnia that last only a few days or weeks, a specialist may recommend making some lifestyle changes to improve sleep quality.

It is recommended that you start by making changes to your sleep hygiene, daily habits, and routines that can affect sleep.

Good Sleep Hygiene

Practices that encourage healthy sleep, include:

- Turn off your electronics at least an hour before your bed time.

- Keep anything that might interfere with your ability to fall asleep away. Substances such as caffeine and tobacco, for example, can remain in the system for up to 8 hours. And don't depend on a night cap either. Maybe some of you think that alcohol can help you sleep, but in fact it actually destroys your sleep.

- Sticking to a bedtime schedule means going to bed and getting up at the same time, no matter Monday or Saturday.

- Limit your afternoon naps to no more than half an hour.

- Creates a quiet, dark and cool sleep environment

- Set the bed only for sleeping.