Insomnia is actually defined as having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. The reasons for this inability to sleep come from a large number of possible conditions. Psychological conditions such as temporary stress, too much noise in or near the sleeping area, or some physical conditions such as temporary pain can cause your inability to go to or stay asleep.
Insomnia, therefore, should be addressed by finding the cause and then eliminating them. When possible, you can change your poor sleep habits, reduce the stress, avoid the noise, and reduce the pain. Some short-term insomnia can be caused by changes in sleep patterns or environment such as jet lag or shift work. Occasionally, insomnia will be caused by a traumatic event or imminent deadline at work. In these short-term cases, when the cause goes away the sleep problem is also likely to disappear.
Some prescription and even some non-prescription medicines can cause sleep problems. Some of these are blood pressure medications, diet pills, hormone pills such as birth control pills, thyroid, cortisone and progesterone, antidepressants such as fluoxetine and paroxetine, steroids such as prednisone, and even long-term use of sleeping pills or medications. In any of these situations, you must talk to your prescribing physician before making any changes.
Some of the non-prescription drugs that may cause a sleep problem include medications that contain caffeine, such as Anacin, Excedrin, Empirin, No-Doz, cough medicines. Non-prescription cold medications such as Sudafed PE which contains phenylephrine, can be a problem.
Other causes that have been found to interfere with sleep are: Too much alcohol, alcohol or drug withdrawl, cigarettes and other types of tobacco, drinking and eating foods that contain caffeine such as coffee, tea, soft drinks, and chocolate, and changes of environment.
Altitude sickness, for example, occurs because of a reduced amount of oxygen in the air and until your body adjusts, this can trigger sleeplessness for a short period of time.
In many cases, your sleep problem will be temporary because it is caused by conditions that can or will change over time. If any of these conditions are in your control, you have a better chance of fixing the problem by becoming aware of them.
If you have any experience with, or questions about short-term sleep problems, please share them in the comment area below.
I wish I could say I had short term sleep problems but that would be far from true. I agree that stress may affect my sleep quality but mostly it is my inability to turn my mind off. I am always thinking and planning and creating. . . even in my slumber.
One thing that does help is exercise.
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