![]() If you're taking sleeping pills for more than a few weeks, talk to your provider about an appropriate follow-up schedule to discuss your medicines. Often your provider may be able to find specific causes for your insomnia. Before you take sleeping pills, see your health care provider for a thorough exam. Here's some advice on how to use them safely. If your best attempts to get a good night's sleep have failed, prescription sleeping pills may be an option. Prescription sleep medicine options include the following. And they may require that you try other approaches first to try to manage your insomnia. Insurance companies may have restrictions on which sleeping pills are covered. Help you determine whether there is a generic version, which is typically less expensive than brand-name medicine.Have you try a different prescription sleeping pill if the first medicine you take doesn't work after the full prescribed course.Prescribe a sleeping pill for a limited period of time to determine the benefits and side effects for you.Discuss options for taking prescription sleeping medicine, including how often and when to take it and in what form, such as pills, oral spray or dissolving tablets.Order tests to rule out any underlying conditions that may be causing difficulty sleeping.Ask questions to get a clear picture of your sleep patterns.Prepare for your visit by making a list of questions to ask. Talking with your health care team about sleep problems The sleep medicine prescribed will depend on your specific problem (such as trouble falling asleep or trouble staying asleep) as well as other medicines you are taking. Your doctor may prescribe sleep medicine, for a short period if other strategies don’t work. While it’s important to keep active during the day with regular exercise, exercising a few hours before bedtime may make sleep more difficult. Stop watching television or using other electrical devices a couple of hours before going to bed. If you do not fall asleep, get out of bed and return to bed when you are sleepy. Go to bed only when sleepy, in a quiet and dark room, and in a comfortable bed. Strategies such as muscle relaxation, guided imagery, and self- hypnosis may also help you. For example, a CBT therapist can help you learn to change negative thoughts and beliefs about sleep into positive ones. Practicing these therapies can help you to relax. Cognitive behavioral therapy ( CBT) and relaxation therapy may help.Getting treatment to lower problems such as pain or other side effects such as urinary and bladder problems, or diarrhea, may help you sleep better. Tell your doctor about problems that interfere with sleep.Talk with your health care team if you have difficulty sleeping, so you can get the help you need. There are steps that you and your health care team can take to help you sleep well again. Sleep problems that go on for a long time may increase the risk of anxiety or depression. A good night’s sleep may help you to think more clearly, lower your blood pressure, help your appetite, and strengthen your immune system. Sleeping well is important for your physical and mental health. Learn more about when a sleep study may be useful, what to expect, and what your doctor may recommend after a sleep study. Assessments may be repeated from time to time, since sleeping problems may change over time. Your doctor, or a sleep specialist, can do an assessment, which may include a polysomnogram (recordings taken during sleep that show brain waves, breathing rate, and other activities such as heart rate) to correctly diagnose and treat sleep problems. Studies show that as many as half of all people have sleep-related problems during treatment for cancer. Sleep problems may be caused by the side effects of treatment, medicines you are taking, long hospital stays, stress, and other factors. Sleep problems such as being unable to fall asleep and/or stay asleep, also called insomnia, are common among people being treated for cancer. Credit: iStock What sleep problems are common in people being treated for cancer?
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