Doctors Answers (3)
If you are haveing trouble initiating sleep on a regular basis you may have sleep onset insomnia. You should try and have a uniform bedtime and rise time everyday even on weekends. Try and prepare before going to bed with adjustment of the room temperature and lighting. Taking a shower or bath for 20 minutes to warm up the skin may help to initiate sleep. If you still have problems then leave the sleep environment for a little while and read something nonstimulating until your eyes get heavy again and try to re-initiate sleep.
Insomnia is a very common problem affecting millions of people. Dont panic !! this common medical condition is treatable.Insomnia is usually divied into acute and chronic forms.Acute insomnia is due to social stressors and if it last more than 3 weeks it could devlop into chronic form.treatmnet of insomnia depends on the cause of the inosmniapsychosocial insomnia is usually treated intially with sleeping pills for a short period of time and working on solving the underlying cause of the stress .if the insomnia is due to restless leg then treatment of the restless leg will help in resloving the insomniaif there is underlying sleep apnea then treatmnet of sleep apnea will help in resolving the insomnia.A physician specializing in sleep disorder can help you figure out what type of insomnia you have and if there is any underlying sleep disorder leading to this insomnia and can prescribe for you the appropriate medicine and lay out a treatmnet plan that will definitely help you.
I am assuming that you have no medical disorders and are on no medication. How long you have been walking around at night is an important issue. Years?, weeks? months? If you have so called Primary Insomnia which means there are no obvious causes for your problem such as anxiety, pain, poor sleeping conditions, etc. then you would likely benefit from a combination of medication approved by the FDA for sleep and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. (CBT) Avoid over the counter medications which disrupt sleep patterns. CBT is a combination of relaxation, biofeedback and imaging techniques which help induce sleep. If you are literally walking at night you may be suffering from Restless Legs Syndrome. (RLS). There are specific treatments for this disorder. You should be tested for iron deficiency and evaluated for other causes for RLS.
