How to Cure Insomnia Without Drugs for Chronic Insomnia
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Insomnia cannot be cured in a day or two. For chronic insomnia, which lasts a month or longer, non-drug treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy is the recommended first step and has fewer risks than sleeping pills.
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Many people with insomnia focus on sleeping pills and overlook sleep habits. Insomnia is often linked to stress, anxiety or other health problems, so pills alone rarely fix the cause.
The non-drug approaches below can help you improve your sleep.
How to cure insomnia without drugs
Non-drug treatments take longer to work but last, which makes them a good fit for chronic insomnia. Here are methods recommended by doctors and sleep experts:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) helps you understand how thoughts, feelings and behaviors affect your sleep. It teaches you how to change them to sleep better.
In many cases, CBT-I works as well as or better than medication, and its benefits tend to last after treatment ends. MedlinePlus notes that CBT can also ease the anxiety tied to chronic insomnia.
If you want to use CBT-I to improve sleep, you can learn about and participate in this therapy through an online program or consult a sleep psychologist.
Limit time in bed when you can’t sleep
If you lie in bed for a long time trying to fall asleep, your brain can start linking your bed with being awake. That link makes it even harder to fall asleep there.
If you can’t fall asleep after about 20 minutes, get up and go to another room. Do something relaxing in dim light, like reading or listening to soothing music. Then go back to bed when you feel sleepy. The purpose of this activity is to help you blur the link between “insomnia” and “bed”, helping your brain understand that being in bed is synonymous with going to sleep.
Pay attention to practice sleep hygiene
Good sleep habits (sleep hygiene) help many people with insomnia, though severe insomnia usually needs CBT-I as well. These habits are worth following even if you sleep well:
- Avoid long daytime naps. If you have chronic insomnia, skip naps or keep them short and early in the day.
- Try to get as much exposure to light during the day as opening a window or going for a walk outside. At the same time, you should make sure the bedroom is dark enough and quiet at night.
- Avoid caffeine (coffee, tea, soda) and nicotine in the afternoon and evening, and limit alcohol, which disrupts sleep later in the night.
- Avoid overeating in the evening to avoid indigestion and insomnia.
- Take a warm bath in the evening.
- Exercise regularly, such as jogging or cycling, preferably earlier in the day. Gentle, relaxing practices such as yoga or meditation can help in the evening.
- Avoid stimulating activities before bed, such as loud music, intense movies or scrolling on your phone.
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time, even on weekends.
- Keep the bed for sleep and sex only, not for work or screens.
When should you take sleeping pills?
Sleeping pills can be useful for short-term insomnia, such as during travel or a stressful period, when prescribed by a doctor.
If non-drug treatments are not enough, your doctor may suggest prescription sleep medicine, alone or combined with CBT-I. Common options include eszopiclone (Lunesta), ramelteon (Rozerem), zaleplon (Sonata) and zolpidem (Ambien, Edluar, Intermezzo, Zolpimist).
These require a prescription and medical supervision. The FDA added a boxed warning to eszopiclone, zaleplon and zolpidem because they can cause sleepwalking, sleep driving and other activities while not fully awake, which have led to serious injuries and deaths.
Sleeping pills can also cause next-day drowsiness and dizziness, which raise the risk of falls and accidents. They do not fix the underlying cause of insomnia, so it is best not to rely on them alone.
Instead, you should discuss with your doctor or specialist about the situation and cause of your insomnia for advice with the appropriate solution. Treating insomnia always requires patience. You can try a variety of methods, including non-drug insomnia treatments, to find the most effective way to get yourself out of your chronic insomnia.
Health My Lives’ articles are for reference only and are not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment.
Sources
- Insomnia, MedlinePlus
- Certain Prescription Insomnia Medicines: New Boxed Warning, FDA
