There are plenty of medical treatments for insomnia. A healthy diet and good sleeping habits serve as an excellent remedy for treating insomnia. Medication or behavioral therapy will also be helpful in certain cases. Mostly, insomnia is caused due to stress and certain physical or emotional conditions that require separate treatment. It is necessary to find out whether the medical condition or underlying issue is causing insomnia. Most times, sleep patterns become normal when the patient receives the right treatment.
By making the right lifestyle changes, insomnia can be cured easily. We have shared some suggestions that will help you in making appropriate changes.
If possible, you can also integrate other lifestyle changes like:
Read More About : Understanding Insomnia And Different Medical Treatments For Insomnia
If you have the habit of smoking, try to quit the habit completely. Insomnia is mostly triggered due to a stimulant- nicotine. Smoking has chances to result in cancer, strokes, heart attacks, and high blood pressure.
Do not drink too much alcohol. It may induce sleep at the start but has chances to disturb your deep phases of sleep, thereby you cannot rest entirely. Individuals who are drinking long term can experience a stroke, heart failure, and high blood pressure.
Also, caffeinated drinks like soft drinks and coffee should be avoided. Drinking coffee before bedtime can directly affect your sleep. It is recommended to avoid drinking coffee at least six hours before sleep or your bedtime. In the same way, drinking excessive fluid before bed has chances to disturb sleep since it may end up in repeated visits to the bathroom.
Exercise
To have a peaceful and complete sleep, follow the habit of exercising twenty to thirty minutes a day. Most people say that they could not see any immediate results. But we suggest you keep continuing to see results after some time. When you regularly exercise for about four months, your overall sleep habits and quality of sleep would gradually improve. Regular exercise helps in preventing serious medical conditions like diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.
Follow a healthy diet
Do not consume foods that contain high saturated fat. It has chances to cause indigestion and heartburn. Moreover, it is hard to digest high saturated foods when you eat at late night hours. It also makes the sleeping pattern difficult.
Over the counter sleep medications
Most people consume non prescription sleep aid medicines like antihistamines as it causes drowsiness. It has chances to reduce sleep quality and result in side effects like blurred vision, dry mouth, and daytime drowsiness. Some people use melatonin for getting sleep. It is not a medicine. It is a dietary add-on available at pharmacies.
Insomnia drugs
In most cases, the physician may recommend medication when behavior therapies and lifestyle changes do not treat insomnia. They do not recommend sleep pills for a long time as they are addictive. They usually recommend one week to a few weeks. Discuss with your physician about the treatment plan. The kind of dosage and drug will be according to the patient’s medical history and symptoms. If you are experiencing depression symptoms, inform your physician. It can also be a root cause of insomnia.
Prescription sleep aids
Some of the prescription medical treatments for insomnia are anti-anxiety drugs, tranquilizers, and sedatives. Doctors do not recommend consuming sleeping medicines for a long time since it becomes a habit. Duration and dosage will depend on the current condition, medical history, and diagnosis.
Sleep aid medications help in enhancing overall sleep quality, decreasing the time a person wakes up, increasing the sleep length, and reducing the take required to fall asleep.
There are certain side effects due to prescription sleeping drugs. It is mostly seen in older adults and they are as follows:
If you are experiencing any of these side effects, consult your physician.