The FDA has now approved the first drug for treating patients who wake up in the middle of the night and then have difficulty falling back asleep. It is called Intermezzo, which is actually a lower dose formulation of the key ingredient in the insomnia drug Ambien. The drug should not be taken if you have less than 4 hours of sleeping time remaining.

COMMENT: In my practice, I find a significant number of people who can fall asleep but then wake up a few hours later and can't get back to sleep. This drug will hopefully help these patients and dissolves quickly under the tongue.  However, please note that the drug previously failed approval twice because of concerns about its impact on driving since people may  get out of bed not fully awake and be unaware of doing things or remembering you did them, including driving. It will also cost about $2-$3 per pill. If you can, avoid taking a pill for sleep...there are many other actions you can take to help you get back to sleep.