Gaining Control Over Sleep Pr... Video Transcript

Webcast Transcript

DANIEL BUYSSE, MD: There are some hypnotic drugs that have a very short duration of action, may be appropriate for sleep onset problems. Other hypnotic drugs have a slightly longer duration of action and may be useful for people who have some middle of night awakenings. There are also longer acting hypnotic drugs that may be useful for people with late night awakenings but the problem with those drugs is that they may be so long acting that they lead to next day sedation.

ANNOUNCER: Over the counter medications can also help people with difficulties sleeping.

DANIEL BUYSSE, MD: There are actually several different types of over the counter drugs that have been used to treat insomnia. The most common are the antihistamines, diphenhydramine and doxylamine.

GARY ZAMMIT, PhD: Some people respond reasonably well to these medications. Other people, though, report that these medicines fail to produce the desired effect, or that they experience significant adverse effects when using these medicines. These can be things like dryness, morning grogginess, fogginess. So the thing that the over-the-counter medication is supposed to help-waking up feeling rested and refreshed-is exactly what doesn't happen.

ANNOUNCER: Whichever method is used, it's important to address whatever is preventing you from getting a restful sleep.

DANIEL BUYSSE, MD: The factors that can disrupt a particular person's sleep may differ substantially from those that disrupt another person's sleep. So the important thing is to really do an inventory of your waking and your sleeping life. Look for factors that can disrupt your sleep and really do your best to minimize those factors.

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