Millions of people suffer from TMJ, or temporomandibular joint disorder. This condition is marked by pain in the jaw and neck, and can make it difficult to sleep or eat. If you’re one of the millions of people who suffer from TMJ, you know how debilitating it can be. Here are some tips for getting ..read more

Blog posts I’ve written about sleeping pills get a lot of traffic. Among people with sleep problems, interest in drugs to relieve insomnia is high. Pharmaceutical companies don’t seem to share this interest, though. A quick survey suggests that few companies are actively working on new drugs for the treatment of insomnia. Those with sleeping ..read more

I love coffee and I’m always glad to hear coffee is beneficial to my health. Two new studies—one of humans and the other of mice—add to this growing body of knowledge. Yet coffee contains caffeine, and people with insomnia are often advised to cut down on caffeine because it interferes with sleep. Is there a ..read more

Occasionally I hear from long-term users of sleeping pills who suspect the pills are doing more harm than good. Their sleep is not very satisfying and they don’t feel rested during the day. They’re toying with the idea of going off sleeping pills but afraid that if they do, their insomnia will return worse than ..read more

A reader named Gunjan recently asked a question about trouble sleeping due to temperature changes at night. Here it is, lightly edited: “It seems my body is very sensitive to temperature while I am sleeping. Many times it has happened that I went to bed at an optimal temperature. But as soon as my body ..read more

It’s been 10 years since I experienced persistent sleep onset insomnia, but I was reminded of what my nights used to feel like when recently I took a red-eye flight on Spirit Airlines. Conditions on that plane were not conducive to sleep: seats locked in the upright position; flight attendants whose nattering could be heard ..read more

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) has become the gold standard in drug-free treatments for insomnia. Between 70 and 80 percent of the people who try it see results: They fall asleep faster and have fewer awakenings. Their sleep quality improves and they feel more rested in the morning. The gains are often long lasting ..read more

Jessica recently wrote to Ask The Savvy Insomniac with concerns about sleep restriction. I’m on Day 6 of sleep restriction and I don’t think it’s working. The first 3 nights were miserable. I kept looking at the clock and thinking, just 4 more hours to sleep, just 3 more, just 2 . . . I ..read more

How do people with insomnia feel about sleeping pills? Attitudes toward sleep medications differ from one American to the next, and between Americans and Australians, it turns out. Here’s a brief comparison that I hope will start a conversation. How do people with insomnia feel about sleeping pills? Among 51 insomnia sufferers interviewed by Australian ..read more

A friend recently called to talk about insomnia. Her problem, she said, was that she couldn’t sleep past 3 a.m. Her doctor recommended taking melatonin and she wanted to know what I thought of this advice. Coincidentally, last week ConsumerLab, a company that tests and reviews dietary supplements, published a review of melatonin supplements. If you’ve got the type of insomnia where you wake up too early or too frequently (sleep maintenance insomnia), you may be interested in this update. Hormone and Supplement The melatonin found in supplements is chemically identical to the sleep-friendly ho ..read more