What's a sensible way of using sleeping pills for insomnia?

[Felicity]

I've had persistent insomnia for about 8 weeks now, and Ive been doing all kinds of things to try to deal with it. 

 But I still have insomnia.  If i take a sleeping pill or anxiety pill i can sleep for 6 or seven hours, though not for sure. If i don't take anything i might sleep for 5 or 6 hours or , like last night, about 3. When i have so little sleep i easily get overwhelmed and confused and fall into negative thinking / crying easily. Things just feel too difficult and i feel very tired and a bit hopeless. 

Does anyone out there have a good stategy regarding using sleeping pills/anxiety medication to help with sleep. I dont want to get addicted physically or psychologically to sleeping medication. But i dont want to be cruel to myself either. So i wonder, what do you do?

Like,  do you have a rule of thumb about when to take medication ?  eg 'If im not asleep by 1 am I will take something'  Or do you take medication on Mon, Wed, and Fri, during an ongoing period of insomnia? Or , what do you do? Sometimes i just take  a pill on the grounds that i feel I cant face another night like the one the night before, but i think it might be better to have a different approach...less desperate 😉 

 The thing is I dont want to be dependent on medication, but i don't want to make  myself suffer and i know that insomnia leads to greater anxiety and sadness ( and the risk of depression, which I fear, having been there before). 

Any strategies anyone?

[geoff]

dear Felicity, there maybe others with more advice than I can offer, however your doctor will monitor how many tablets you are allowed, for safety reasons, or this responsibility  maybe given to your pharmacist.

This medication is addictive and that's the reason why your doctor keeps an eye on how many you need, and whether they last 4 hours or more, it's possible to take them in the middle of the night, but that's by your choice.

If you take them every night then it can be becoming to be addictive, and that's not what you want.

There are many sites on the net which can teach you how to get a better night's sleep, plus there is meditation.

One thing you should do is get some counselling, and I only so this because it has only happened over the last couple of months, so there must be something that caused this. Geoff. x

[Felicity]

Thanks Geoff,

I appreciate this advice. I'm without my regular GP as I'm away, but have managed to see a new one, and your points re the addictiveness of sleeping pills are well taken, and  continue to use them only intermittently and not 2 days in a row. I do daily mediation and yoga and aerobic exercise, and have recently started to do a second yoga session before bed as a way of winding down, and easing some of the muscles that get very tense during the day, and this last addition to my routine is helping. Forward bending poses like 'the child' and 'extended puppy' are said to be particularly helpful for sleep problems and there are lots of routines available on the internet. Also I'm limiting my exposure to my iPad/computer/phone so that I don't look at it after about 9 or 9:30 has helped I think. I know there are issues I need to work through but I don't have access to a psychologist but I am finding this website, with all the generous advice and sharing, extremely helpful. So thanks to you and everyone else who participates in this supportive community. It's great to learn from each other 🙂