How to Compare Insomnia Treatments

When insomnia is interfering with your work and your life, it's time to get treatment. If you aren't ready to commit to a prescription, there are other treatments available. To compare the range of treatments available, you need to determine your priorities. Read on to learn more.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Identify the cause for your insomnia. Medications, pain, mood disorders, addiction, acute skin conditions and interruption of the circadian rhythm are physical causes of insomnia. Decide whether you need to treat any of these first.
2. Decide if you want to use medication or nonpharmacologic techniques. Methods such as increased exercise, meditation, self hypnosis, restricted sleep therapy and scheduling therapy involve no drugs.
3. Determine whether you feel comfortable with addictive drugs. Some of the medication for insomnia is addictive and cannot be used for extended periods of time. Determine whether this is a temporary interruption of your sleep behavior and only needs short term help, or if this is a lifetime problem.
4. See if you have an immediate need for sleep. While insomnia is uncomfortable and can interfere with work, sometimes the non-medicinal forms of therapy can work successfully. However, they take longer than medications. Decide whether you'd be better off to combine the two treatments.
5. Compare the side effects of drugs. Some drugs have few side effects and others may have a great many. While antihistamines cause sleep, the quality isn't good. Unless there is a circadian rhythm problem, melatonin may give headaches and actually cause sleep disturbance in higher quantities. Nonbenzodiazepines can cause amnesia, hallucinations and rebound insomnia. Benzodiazepines are addictive.
6. Look at studies. The best treatment over the long haul for most non-medical related insomnia is exercise. Antidepressants are also equally helpful when emotional problems are the primary cause.