Insomnia

Insomnia and Chinese Medicine

Insomnia is the inability to have a good quality sleep. One will have a difficult time falling
asleep or staying asleep or both which gives them functional impairement throughout the day.
Generally speaking there are 3 types of insomnia: Transient, Acute and Chronic. Acute Insomia
lasts anywhere from 3 - 6 weeks while chronic insomnia lasts years and years. Transient
insomnia is one that generally lasts from a few days to a few weeks and is commonly caused by
a change of sleeping location, diet or stress.

Insomnia effects peoples quality of sleep and can be different every night in 3 main ways. Onset
Insomnia effects people when just trying to fall asleep at the beginning of their sleep time.
Middle insomnia occurs after falling asleep and will wake them up in the middle of the night
with a difficulty of falling back asleep. Terminal or end of the night insomnia happens in the
early morning hours where one will wake up and not be able to fall back asleep before having to
get up.

These conditions can be caused by or aggravated by many different factors such as stimulants
(caffiene), pain (wakes one up because of discomfort), Hormonal changes (ie PMS ), shift work,
jet lag, anxiety, depression , ...

A lack of sleep due to insomnia can have extreme detrimental effects on your health. A recent
study on 1.1 million americans showed that those who slept less than 6 hours per night when
compared to those that slept more than 7 hours per night had a higher mortality rate.

Herbs Commonly Given for Insomnia:

Valerian Root - Valeriana Officinalis

Melatonin

Treatment of Insomnia with Chinese Medicine:

Heart Blood and Spleen Qi Deficiency

Difficulty falling asleep with an excess of dreams. One will never have a deep sleep and often
wake still tired feeling as if they haven't rested.In this type of insomnia not only is it difficult to
fall asleep but also difficult falling back asleep. There will be a general sense of fatigue,
dizziness, dry skin, floaters in the eyes and digestive complaints like bloating and loose stools.

Herbal Medicine Formula : Gui Pi Tang or Suan Zao Ren Tang

Heart and Kidney Yin Deficiency

There will be commonly night sweats, general sense of heat especially in the hands, feet and
chest. Insomnia with irritability where one has a difficulty falling and staying asleep.

Herbal Medicine Formula : Tian Wang Wu Bu Xin Dan

Liver Blood Insufficiency

Difficult sleeping where one will wake frequently and have a great difficulty falling back aslep.
There will be many dreams and a short fused temper. They will also have a discomfort in the
upper abdomen and lower ribs and lots of PMS symptoms.

Herbal Medicine Formula : Suan Zao Ren Tang or Dan Zhi Xiao Yao San

Heart with Gall Bladder Qi Deficiency

General sense of insomnia in a person who always is thinking and is fairly timid making it
difficult for them to make decisions. They will sweat very easily, feel easily fatigued, have
palpitations and easily become short of breath.