The treatment of insomnia varies depending on its type
The treatment of insomnia varies depending on its type. Questioning the patient about his habits is paramount. Indeed, consumption of tobacco, alcohol, coffee and other stimulants and drugs may have a deleterious effect on sleep quality. Other hand, the patient’s psychological state is important to consider. One patient anxious or depressed, of course, requires a psychotherapeutic care and sometimes medication.
In some cases, some simple measures such as reorganization of the sleep time and sunrise are sometimes sufficient to give the patient a good quality of sleep. Thus, the fact of getting up an hour earlier can fall asleep half an hour earlier and have a restful sleep. The use of drugs and specifically of hypnotics (drugs designed in theory to promote sleep) should be done, of course, with the approval of a doctor.
The molecules are most frequently used benzodiazepines, when the dietary and lifestyle advice are not sufficient to restore sleep. They are also prescribed when the patient calls insistently sleep medication. In this case, they must be used over a short period. It is necessary to use benzodiazepines that experts call for short half-life or intermediary.
This means that these drugs are eliminated fairly rapidly from the blood of the individual. Benzodiazepines are cons-indicated when there is a risk of depression or suicide, myasthenia gravis (muscle disease) or sensitivity of particular importance.
The cons-indications for the use of benzodiazepines are common: drivers, absorption of alcohol prohibited paradoxical reaction in the aged or the child (agitation, excitement, confusion). Benzodiazepines are not the only molecules used in cases of insomnia.
However, barbiturates used frequently in the past are virtually deserted today. Indeed, there is a narrow margin of safety compared to benzodiazepines and risk of poisoning sometimes very serious. With barbiturates, the clock is also more difficult. Patients often complain of heavy head, impressions of intoxication (hangover), pasty mouth, etc…