Insomnia: Should I Take Sleeping Pills?

Insomnia is a problem with falling asleep or staying asleep. You may wake up during the night or wake up too early the next morning. Without enough sleep, you may feel sleepy during the day. This can make you more likely to have an accident, and it also makes driving dangerous. You may feel grumpy from lack of sleep. Some people have trouble remembering things, don't get as much done, and don't enjoy being with family and friends.

Some people use caffeine to help them get over feeling tired, but this may make their sleep problem worse.

Almost everyone has trouble sleeping sometimes. Stress, for example, can keep you from sleeping well now and then. The problem can last for days or weeks. It often gets better in less than a month.

But trouble sleeping can turn into a long-term problem, especially when you worry about not sleeping well. A long-term sleep problem is called chronic insomnia. It is often a symptom of another health problem, such as depression or chronic pain. Chronic insomnia is less common than short-term sleep problems.

Sleeping pills work well to help you sleep.^{footnote 1} They can help for a short time to break the cycle of bad sleep. But over time, the medicine doesn't work as well as lifestyle and behavior changes do. And some sleeping pills may work in part because of a placebo effect.^{footnote 2}

Your doctor may have you take a sleeping pill every night for a few weeks. Or you may take them for only a few nights each week. This is called intermittent treatment. Make sure to take the pills exactly as your doctor says.

The best long-term way to sleep well is to make lifestyle and behavior changes. There are several things you can try, including:

• Changes in how you sleep. There are simple changes you can make that may help you sleep better. These include changing where or when you sleep, being careful about what and when you eat and drink, and being more active. It's also important to keep regular bedtimes and wake times—7 days a week—and to try to avoid taking naps during the day.
• Relaxation exercises. They can help slow your racing mind. Learning how to relax your muscles, such as through progressive muscle relaxation or meditation, is one way to relax your body. Breathing deeply is another way.
• Healthy thinking with cognitive behavioral therapy. Healthy thinking, or balanced thinking, is a way to help you stay well or cope with a health problem by changing how you think. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of counseling that can help you understand why you have sleep problems. And it can show you how to deal with them. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps reduce interrupted sleep over time.

Sleeping pills may:

• Have side effects, such as making you feel anxious or sick to your stomach (nauseated). You also may feel sleepy or drowsy during the day.
• Not work as well over time. After a while, they may not help you sleep the way they used to.
• Become habit-forming. You may come to rely on them so much that you can't sleep without them.
• Cause withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking them.

Your doctor may recommend sleeping pills if:

• You need help right away for a sleep problem that is causing problems in your life.
• You have tried lifestyle changes and you still have trouble sleeping.
• You plan to take them for only a few weeks.
• You plan to try lifestyle changes along with taking sleeping pills.