Treatment of anxiety-related insomnia with chlormezanone

Twenty-nine patients seen in general practice suffering from sleep disturbance due to mild neurotic anxiety were treated with 400 mg chlormezanone per night for 2 weeks. Patients' and doctors' assessments of quality of sleep and Hamilton anxiety rating scores were carried out initially and after 1 and 2 weeks. Patients also completed a daily record card assessing their sleep. The results suggest that chlormezanone produced prompt improvement within 2 nights of the start of treatment, and by the end of the study period only 2 (7%) patients still reported their sleep as being poor compared with 80% initially, and 19 (66%) rated their sleep as good or excellent. There was a steady reduction in anxiety rating scores throughout treatment. Only 1 patient reported a transient mild side-effect.