1. Treat Sleepwalking Through Prevention
It may sound counterintuitive, but getting more sleep can help prevent sleepwalking. Someone who walks in her sleep is not getting enough rest, as the sleepwalking state occurs only in the upper stages of sleep, rather than deep or REM sleep. Go to bed earlier each night until instances of sleepwalking cease. Additionally, getting plenty of exercise during the day can help prevent sleepwalking by tiring you out before bed. At least 20 minutes of walking is typically sufficient to help fatigue you for the night.
2. Make Your Home Safe
It's safe to wake someone who is walking in his sleep, but be aware he may be disoriented, confused or startled. In addition, you should take steps to ensure that the environment is safe for those who walk in their sleep. This means removing any sharp objects and placing soft pads on the corners of furniture. Hang bulky, heavy drapes on the windows so it will be difficult for someone who is sleepwalking to open them. One of the best ways to rouse someone who is sleepwalking is to use alarms and bells on the doors and windows. An additional safety measure could include moving the bedroom to the bottom floor so there's very little chance of injury should the sleepwalker manage to open a window.
3. Take Sleepwalking Medication
While medication is not typically necessary to treat sleepwalking, there are several drugs available should your case be severe enough to warrant their use. The three leading medications used to treat sleepwalking are clonazepam (sold under the trade name Klonopin), estazolam (ProSom) and trazodone (Desyrel). These medications can be taken as long as necessary. Once occurrences of sleepwalking cease, patients can stop taking the medications. Recurrences can then be treated with new prescriptions. Additionally, non-prescription sleep aids such as melatonin or over-the-counter antihistamines such as Sudafed have shown some effectiveness in treating sleepwalking because of their ability to cause drowsiness.
