Suvorexant and Trauma Related Insomnia

Summary

Problems sleeping are common after exposure to highly threatening experiences and can occur with and without a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Established treatments for PTSD are limited for addressing insomnia and many insomnia treatments appear to be limited in the context of PTSD. Suvorexant is FDA approved for insomnia and among approved drugs has a unique mechanism of action that may be well suited for targetting arousal at night dysregulated by trauma. The investigators will evaluate the efficacy of suvorexant for insomnia that developed in relation to trauma exposure, utilizing a placebo control, and polysomnography to identify biomarkers of response, in a six week trial.

Timeline

Start

2016-05-01

Primary completion

2021-04-30

Completion

2021-04-30

Publications

• Background Mellman TA, Birku K, Sandhu I, Lavela P, Kobayashi I. Evaluation of suvorexant for trauma-related insomnia. Sleep. 2022 May 12;45(5):zsac068. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsac068. Epub 2022 Mar 18.

Drugs

Indications