Insomnia: What Helps, What Doesn't, and What Might Be Keeping You Awake

A bad night's sleep happens to everyone. Insomnia is different. When you repeatedly struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep, or return to sleep after waking, the problem can affect your energy, concentration, mood, and quality of life.

The sleep industry offers plenty of solutions: supplements, special glasses, sleep gadgets, and pills that promise a better night. But the evidence is uneven, and some products create their own problems.

For older adults especially, the first priority is to check whether a sleep aid could be doing more harm than good. From there, the focus should be on effective treatment, everyday habits, supplements, and underlying health conditions.

1. Check Your Sleep Aids First

Benadryl-Type Medicines Can Be Risky for Older Adults

Many over-the-counter nighttime sleep products contain diphenhydramine or doxylamine, antihistamines also used in allergy medicines.

These drugs can cause next-day drowsiness and other side effects. In older adults, their anticholinergic effects can contribute to confusion, memory problems, constipation, urinary difficulties, and falls. They may also become less effective when used repeatedly.

Check the active ingredients on the label. The same drug may appear in allergy, cold, and nighttime sleep products.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends against using diphenhydramine as a treatment for chronic insomnia. That doesn't mean every use is dangerous, but routinely taking antihistamines to sleep deserves a medication review—particularly as you get older.

Prescription Sleeping Pills Need an Individual Risk-Benefit Discussion

Prescription medicines can help some people, especially when symptoms are severe or short-term relief is needed. But their benefits and risks depend on the drug, dose, duration, and individual circumstances.

Some sleep medicines can cause next-day impairment, confusion, dependence, or an increased risk of falls. These concerns are particularly important for older adults and anyone taking other medicines that cause sedation.

This does not mean prescription sleep medicines are never appropriate. It means the decision should include a discussion of likely benefits, potential harms, duration of use, and alternatives.

Do not abruptly stop a regularly used prescription sleeping medicine without medical advice. Some medicines require a gradual, supervised reduction.

2. The Treatment With the Strongest Support

CBT-I: More Than Sleep Hygiene

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, or CBT-I, is recommended as a first-line treatment for chronic insomnia by major clinical guidelines.

It is a structured treatment that addresses the behaviors and thoughts that can keep insomnia going. It may include relaxation techniques, stimulus control, strategies for reducing anxiety about sleep, and carefully adjusting the amount of time spent in bed.

That last technique, called sleep restriction therapy, needs some explanation. It temporarily limits time in bed to help consolidate sleep and rebuild a stronger connection between bed and sleeping. Despite the name, it is a planned therapeutic technique, not advice to deprive yourself of sleep.

A caution: Sleep restriction can initially increase daytime tiredness. It needs to be tailored to the individual, particularly for older adults or anyone at risk from falls, excessive sleepiness, or other medical complications. Don't impose an aggressive sleep restriction schedule on yourself without appropriate guidance.

CBT-I can be delivered by a trained professional, through telehealth, or through a structured digital program. It aims to address the cycle that sustains insomnia rather than simply sedating you for a night.

Ordinary sleep-hygiene advice—such as avoiding caffeine late in the day and keeping a regular schedule—is useful, but it is not an adequate stand-alone treatment for chronic insomnia.

The takeaway: If insomnia has become a recurring problem, ask about CBT-I before assuming you need a supplement or a sleeping pill.

3. Look for What Is Disrupting Your Sleep

Before buying anything, examine the factors that may be keeping you awake.

Your Phone May Be the Problem—Not Just Its Blue Light

Late-night phone use can delay bedtime, expose you to upsetting or stimulating material, and encourage you to keep scrolling long after you intended to stop.

Blue light is part of the discussion, but it isn't the whole story. A phone can keep your mind active even if its display has been adjusted to warmer colors.

Try silencing notifications, setting a stopping time, and avoiding stressful content before bed. If your phone is interfering with sleep, changing the behavior is a sensible first step.

Keep Your Sleep Schedule Reasonably Consistent

Getting up at roughly the same time each day helps regulate your body clock. Morning daylight and regular physical activity can also support a healthy sleep-wake rhythm.

After a poor night, it is tempting to sleep late or go to bed unusually early the next evening. Occasionally that may be unavoidable, but repeatedly changing your schedule can make sleep less predictable.

Aim for a routine that allows enough sleep without turning bedtime into a test you must pass.

Be Strategic About Caffeine and Alcohol

Caffeine can interfere with sleep for hours after consumption. Sensitivity varies, so experiment with reducing the amount or moving it earlier in the day if you have trouble sleeping.

Alcohol is not a reliable sleep treatment. Although it can make you feel sleepy initially, it can make sleep problems worse later in the night. Older adults are also more sensitive to alcohol's effects on balance, coordination, and alertness. Combining alcohol with sleep medicines or other sedating drugs can be dangerous.

Can Music Help?

Quiet, relaxing music may help some people wind down. It is a reasonable, inexpensive experiment, but the evidence is not strong enough to treat music as a dependable insomnia treatment.

Are Blue-Light-Blocking Glasses Worth Buying?

A 2023 Cochrane systematic review found that six randomized trials involving 148 participants reported mixed results for sleep quality. Three reported better sleep scores with blue-light-filtering glasses, while three found no statistically significant difference. The reviewers rated the evidence as very low certainty.

That does not mean light exposure is irrelevant to sleep. It means the evidence does not justify treating these glasses as a proven solution.

Before spending money on them, try reducing bright light in the evening and addressing the habits that keep you awake.

4. Supplements: What the Evidence Actually Says

Supplements are not automatically harmless, and a product that makes you feel drowsy is not necessarily a good long-term treatment for insomnia.

Melatonin: Popular, but Not a Proven Fix for Chronic Insomnia

Melatonin is a hormone involved in the body's timing of sleep. Melatonin supplements are widely used, but evidence does not establish them as an effective general treatment for chronic insomnia.

They may be useful in particular circumstances involving the body clock, such as jet lag or a delayed sleep schedule. That is different from treating every form of difficulty falling or staying asleep.

Short-term use appears relatively safe for many adults, but long-term safety is less certain. Side effects can include daytime sleepiness, headache, and dizziness. Older adults may experience prolonged effects, and melatonin can interact with medicines.

Product quality and actual melatonin content can also vary because supplements are not regulated like prescription medicines.

The takeaway: Melatonin is not automatically harmless just because it is sold over the counter. The reason for taking it, the timing, the dose, and other medicines all matter.

Vitamin D: No Good Evidence That It Routinely Wrecks Your Sleep

Some research has examined the relationship between vitamin D status and sleep, but association does not prove cause and effect.

A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention studies found an overall improvement in self-reported sleep quality with vitamin D supplementation. Results for specific sleep disorders and other outcomes were less consistent.

There is no good evidence that vitamin D supplements routinely wreck your sleep, and the claim that high doses suppress melatonin production in humans should not be presented as an established fact.

That is not a reason to take excessive doses. Use vitamin D for an appropriate reason and at an appropriate dose, rather than assuming more is better—or blaming it for insomnia without evidence.

CoQ10 and Ubiquinol: Watch the Timing if Sleep Changes

CoQ10, including ubiquinol, is generally well tolerated, but mild insomnia has been reported in some people, including at doses of 100 milligrams per day or more.

If your sleep problems began after starting CoQ10 or increasing the dose, discuss whether adjusting the dose or taking it earlier in the day makes sense.

CoQ10 is also sometimes used by people taking statins in the hope that it will reduce muscle symptoms. Research findings are mixed, and it is not an established treatment for statin-associated muscle symptoms. Any improvement in sleep from relieving muscle pain remains uncertain.

Review the Whole List

Caffeine-containing products, prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, and supplements can all affect sleep. Some can cause alertness; others can cause drowsiness that carries into the next day.

If insomnia started after you began taking something or changed its dose, record the timing and discuss it with a healthcare professional. A medication review can be more useful than adding another supplement to the mix.

When Poor Sleep May Signal a Health Problem

Insomnia is not always caused by poor habits. Pain, anxiety, depression, medication effects, and other health conditions can disrupt sleep.

Pay particular attention to signs of sleep apnea, including loud habitual snoring, gasping or choking during sleep, and excessive daytime sleepiness. Sleep apnea can occur even in people who do not fit the stereotype of someone with the condition.

Restless legs, persistent pain, frequent nighttime urination, and a marked change in sleep can also warrant assessment.

If sleep problems continue and affect your daily life, seek professional advice. Identifying the cause may be more useful than trying a succession of sleep aids.