In the two years since FDA clearance for the device, the sleep physician-founder has new insights on what subsets of people with insomnia may benefit from a prescription for the cooling therapy.
Ebb Insomnia Therapy, formerly the Cerêve System, is a prescription device that physically cools the foreheads of people with insomnia, thereby reducing frontal cortex activity and reducing latency to Stage 1 and Stage 2 sleep. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared it in mid-2016, and Ebb has since been made available to select sleep centers around the country.
The real-world data collected since the limited commercial launch has provided additional insights into what subsets of people with insomnia are most likely to achieve the greatest benefits from the device, says Ebb Therapeutics founder Eric Nofzinger, MD, a board-certified sleep physician, at the company’s booth at SLEEP 2018. These insights consider aspects ranging from the patient’s motivation to type of insomnia to experience trying the device in the medical facility.
Patient Motivation
Ebb works well with people who are motivated to change their behavior to improve their health, according to Nofzinger. For example, “people who have bought mattresses, tried to change their lifestyle, or tried to do something with sleep hygiene,” he says. “Those are the individuals who this product really works well and works with their lifestyle. If, on the other hand, somebody doesn’t think insomnia is a big problem or they really aren’t motivated to change their lifestyle to improve themselves, this is probably not the product for them.”
Insomnia Type
A challenge for some patients with insomnia who are prescribed sleeping pills is that the medications half-life typically precludes middle-of-the-night dosing, even when patients wake up and can’t fall back asleep. As a nondrug therapy, here Ebb has an advantage in treating sleep maintenance insomnia specifically. “With this device, the patient is in control of the duration of the therapy. As soon as they’re done using the device, they take it off. There are no lingering effects,” Nofzinger says.
For patients who suffer from sleep onset insomnia, Nofzinger notes that the device should be put on about 30 minutes before the person wants to fall asleep. He explains, “It’ll take about 10 or 15 minutes for the device to cool down. Then the relaxation response starts to kick in. Once they start to feel that, then they can get into bed and drift into sleep.”
Ebb can be used nightly for those who have insomnia every night or can be used on an as-needed basis for people whose insomnia is episodic.
In-office Trial
Doctors should explain to patients the range of insomnia treatment modalities available, ranging from cognitive behavioral therapy to pharmaceuticals. “Through that discussion with the patient, they come to an understanding of what they want to try. We’re finding that people gravitate toward Ebb Insomnia Therapy if they want some type of physiological help with their hyperarousal,” Nofzinger says.
If Ebb seems like a good solution, Nofzinger recommends the patient put it on in the office for about 20 minutes. “We want to make sure the patient—before they go home with the device—they understand what the device is going to do, what it feels like, what kind of noise it makes, what the temperature is…to make sure they can tolerate the use of the device in their home.”
Ebb has found a high relationship with the patient’s experience in the office with the experience they will have at home.
Sree Roy is editor of Sleep Review.
I would like to see a trial in migraine patients.
I just purchased this device for this EXACT reason…I am hoping to have good results when it arrives. 🙂
Interested in Office trial system
I’m interested in being a part of this study
Who in Melbourne Florida can prescribe this and will tri care insurance apply?
How do I get a prescription for this
Why are the questions above not answered?
Same here, since I have the same question as the others..
That’s what i was thinking. Why aren’t the questions answered. Tjey should have a person assigned to answer potential customers questions before investing.
sounds worth investigating
I am very interested in the EBB Device, where can I try it? I live in Palm Desert, CA.
I live in nyc. Where can I try this device? I am intètested for my daughter, who can not fall asleep because of racing thoughts. Thank you
I would like to know if i you have a place in Carrollton TX were i can try your product?
I would like to get it .do Medicare & supplement insurance will pay for it
Does Medicare cover any of the cost?
I have experienced therapies and many pharmaceuticals. Does insurance cover this device. Is it available in my area?
Thank you
While I feel it is a bit expensive, I bought it after my trial. OMG I love it. I do not have insomnia. I have just the opposite. Using Ebb has helped me walk up. I’m not joking either. You know, even pills/medications can be used for “off label”. It also takes away headaches.
Don’t like the fact of not one answer so nope. Doesn’t seem too legit.
How does a 20-minute in-office trial determine if the product helps you sleep when they state separately it takes up to 30 days to know if it works for you? The doctor described good candidates for Ebb as people who have already spent heavily on mattresses, etc. That’s a marketing target market description and not a clinical description of appropriate candidates for the therapy. Could be a good product but it is poorly marketed.
Ebb helps some of my Insomnia patients. But It is not covered by any insurance.
This thing is $500 on Amazon.. pretty expensive and you have to buy special fluid refills for $30 every 3 months and replace the mask every 6 months for another $65…. I have yet to find an independent review on YouTube for this product. Won’t be spending my money without some independent feedback on how well it works. I don’t buy into 30 or 60 day no risk trials… they always make it too difficult to return. Not answering any of the comments is a little sketchy too.
I am 58 years old and started taking prescription meds to sleep right away after I went to a full face CPAP mask. After having a number of half-life of the meds issues, I went to over the counter meds. Then as the effectiveness of those started failing, I added Melatonin. Immediately all the problems with interacting with others came back like the prescription meds. I found myself having “Ambien Moments” again. EBBSleep seemed expensive but interesting. With high deductible insurance using a sleep therapist at the hospital is cost prohibitive, so for 12 years after changing employers I have been buying everything on the internet and following the journey where it leads me. I ripped the Band-Aid off and bought an EBB this past week. The sensation of freezing your brain does end at about 18 minutes, and frankly I just do not remember anything after it these past 3 nights. I wake up early (7 hours) and am completely refreshed and ready to start my day. I have a sleep monitor built into my mattress and it says the quality of my sleep is up.