The sleepless nights will no more haunt you as the treatment of insomnia has been introduced.
According to the American College of Physicians the cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT) should be the first line treatment for adults with chronic insomnia.
CBT-I consists of combination of treatments, including behavioral intervention such as sleep restriction and stimulus control, cognitive therapy around sleep and education such as sleep hygiene (habits for a good sleep).
A woman unable to sleep at night due to Insomnia
CBT-I is an effective treatment according to a review published that can be initiated in a primary care setting.
The reviewers found insufficient evidence to compare CBT-I and drug treatment, CBT-I is likely to have fewer harms than sleep medications (https://ringandfitness.com/meds/ambien-online/) associated with significant side effects.
If the CBT-I is unsuccessful then ACP has recommended that doctor should use a shared decision making approach to the patients in order to decide whether drug therapy should be added to treatment. This will also include discussing the benefit, costs and harms of medication.
The study has been published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
