Insomnia is prevalent and
complementary therapies are common, but data are lacking on the effectiveness and tolerability of preparations beyond valerian. Here we report on an open-label, prospective cohort study in 89 German centers offering both conventional and
complementary therapies. Subjects received the homeopathic preparation
Neurexan or valerian for 28 days. Doses were at physicians' judgments. Sleep duration and latency were evaluated based on patients' sleep diaries over 14 days; sleep quality was evaluated at 28 +/- 1 days. A total of 409 subjects were enrolled. The groups were balanced at baseline for age, sex, weight, and sleep disturbances. At day 14, both groups reported improved sleep latency and duration; latency was reduced from baseline by 37.3 +/- 36.3 min with
Neurexan and by 38.2 +/- 38.5 min with valerian. The duration of sleep increased by 2.2 (+/-1.6) h in the
Neurexan group and by 2.0 (+/-1.5) h in the valerian group. Differences between the groups in improvement on sleep duration were significantly in favor of
Neurexan therapy at days 8, 12, and 14. At day 28, quality of sleep was improved in both groups with no significant differences between the treatments. Significantly more patients reported lack of daytime
fatigue with
Neurexan than with valerian
therapies (49% vs. 32%; p < 0.05 for the comparison). For patients favorable towards a CAM-based
therapy,
Neurexan might be an effective and well-tolerated alternative to conventional valerian-based
therapies for the treatment of mild to moderate
insomnia.