Insomnia

When you have insomnia, you have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. And when you aren’t getting enough rest, you often don’t feel like yourself. Your thinking may become cloudy and everyday tasks are challenging.

At Allegheny Health Network (AHN), our sleep medicine physicians deliver the care and treatments, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi), that help more people find lasting relief.

Symptoms of insomnia

You may have insomnia if you are:

• Spending more time at night awake than asleep
• Feeling as if you haven’t slept enough
• Taking a long time to fall asleep
• Waking up several times throughout the night
  

If you experience one or more of these problems three times a week, for three months or more, you should talk to a physician to get help.

Insomnia care at AHN: Why choose us?

At AHN, our Center for Sleep Medicine is one of the few sleep centers in western Pennsylvania.

Our center’s offerings include:

• Team approach: Experienced sleep medicine physicians work with other AHN doctors, including sleep psychiatrists, to pinpoint what’s causing the insomnia. They work with you to explore all possible causes of your insomnia, including daytime habits or thought patterns. This information helps us develop a care plan that covers all bases and deliver the treatments that are right for you.
• Advanced treatments: We design treatment plans to meet your unique needs. Your personalized care plan may include medication and a special form of counseling known as CBTi. This therapy helps many patients achieve lasting results, including a better night’s rest.
• Innovative research: Our participation in sleep medicine research gives you access to new treatments before they are widely available. You may be able to participate in clinical trials testing technologies that help you fall asleep. These technologies include a device that cools down a part of the brain responsible for sleep.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTi)

Insomnia can be a symptom of other health problems, such as depression and anxiety. For many people, stress from everyday life, including issues at work or home, is a factor. We use CBTi to address these problems so you are more at peace when it’s time to go to bed.

Our team includes sleep psychiatrists with years of experience in delivering CBTi. They work with you to address life challenges that may be affecting your sleep.

Therapy may include deep breathing and relaxation techniques to help quiet your mind. And when you’re getting better sleep, you may find it easier to also better manage problems during the day.

Other insomnia treatments

We’ll get to know you and your current sleep habits so we can make recommendations to help you get better. These recommendations may include adding exercise to your daily routine and having consistent times for going to bed and waking up.

Your personalized care plan may also include:

• Taking medications: We may prescribe sleeping pills for short-term relief that helps you establish a regular sleep routine. Additional treatments, such as CBTi, make it possible to maintain your sleep routine in the long run.
• Adopting new eating habits: Avoiding heavy or spicy meals late in the day can make it easier to fall asleep. We may also recommend eating dinner by a particular time and avoiding snacking afterward.
• Making lifestyle changes: We may recommend reducing or eliminating stimulants, such as caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco.

Contact us

Call (412) DOCTORS (412) 362-8677 or request an appointment to learn more about AHN sleep medicine services.