INSOMNIA HELP! Please tell me there is a cure. I cannot live like this

[cruisemum1]

I have suffered bouts of insomnia on and off for a years but never as prolonged as this. Usually just a couple of nights in a row but now this has been going on for months. i am the living dead - dragging myself around, going through the motions, trying to look after a home, dh and two lo's. I have tried valerian (worked for a while), nytol - occasionalloy works and hypnosis cd on my i-pod, works sometimes. But I am getting depressed at the thought that I could be like this forever. PLEASE HELP ME!

Only just come across this thread.

I'd recommend extreme caution before taking Stillnoct (zolpidem hermitartrate) or any similar sleeping pills (Sonata, Zopiclone, etc).

I was prescribed Stillnoct around 7 years ago when I had very bad PND. Essentially I ended up addicted to it for nearly three years. If you take and don't immediately go to bed (i.e. you suddenly remember you need to do something...get a glass of water...anything) you can often enter a bizarre semi-conscious phase where essentially you're awake and walking around, but totally out of it (akin to sleep walking I imagine). I did some seriously crazy stuff when I was taking the pills - binge eating, calling people at 5am, hallucinating and having picnics with fairies in my kitchen, before passing out.

Then, the next morning I'd have complete amnesia until something jogged my memory (for example, a confirmation email from Amazon, thanking me for ordering 15 DVDs....)or a friend asking me why I was calling them at 5am, making no sense.

So, by very wary! Plus, they're a nightmare to get off once you're used to them. I had rebound insomnia and some of the worst nightmares I've ever experienced.

Hope your sleeping issues get resolved though....

rockinsockbunnies - sounds horrendous I will steer well clear!