<b>Seven Cases of Insomnia Successfully Treated with H</b><b>ochuekkito</b> / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

We present seven cases of insomnia successfully treated with hochuekkito. Two patients showed improvement of their insomnia after taking hochuekkito before going to bed, and three patients showed improvement after taking hochuekkito twice per day. The other two patients could sleep better after adding hochuekkito to other Kampo formulations. All these patients were light sleepers, and became easily tired, excessive sleepy after meals, and had daytime sleepiness. However, they had no gastrointestinal symptoms, such as appetite loss. Five of the seven patients reported waking up feeling better after taking hochuekkito. Two other Kampo formulations, sansoninto and kihito, were also given to patients with deficient constitution, who complained of insomnia. Sansoninto and kihito are formulae that compensate for qui and blood deficiency. Kihito contains more herbs with beneficial effects on “spleen and stomach”, and “heart” functions more than sansoninto, and therefore, kihito may be preferred for patients with a more deficient constitution. The reason why our patients were able to sleep more deeply and wake up smoothly with hochuekkito may be that they exhibited remarkable qui deficiency, showing general fatigue, excessive sleepiness after meals, and daytime sleepiness, but without the symptoms of blood deficiency, such as palpitations or uneasiness, being easily frightened or forgetful, or showing anemia or bleeding.