*nod* I'm aware of the addiction risk and a bit scared of it, much as I am with the narcotics. I try to be careful. This is one of the reasons that I keep a log of all the drugs I take (okay, so I don't log my chocolate consumption even though I should); it's partly to monitor how often I need various drugs, partly to track their effectiveness against my "how I felt today" log, and partly to be able to spot "Gee, I'm falling into a pattern here, aren't I?" conditions to watch for usage becoming habit instead of response to conditions.
I figure I can't use alcohol as a sleeping aid too often for three reasons -- 1) risk of plain old addiction, 2) risk of dependence on a sleeping aid even when the current, immediate causes of insomnia are absent, and 3) lower quality sleep when I use alcohol to get there. So it's not something I do more than a few nights in a row or more than a few nights in a single month.
The prescription and herbal sleeping aids I've tried have not done me much good. (No, I've not exhausted the entire list yet...) Chamomile doesn't help; lavender is somewhat relaxing but doesn't make me sleepy; the prescription stuff either doesn't work at all, or works the first night, almost works the second night, and then stops working entirely.
I haven't given up the search for solutions in general, but I have given up on the idea of an easy answer.
Re: Alcohol as a sleeping aid
I figure I can't use alcohol as a sleeping aid too often for three reasons -- 1) risk of plain old addiction, 2) risk of dependence on a sleeping aid even when the current, immediate causes of insomnia are absent, and 3) lower quality sleep when I use alcohol to get there. So it's not something I do more than a few nights in a row or more than a few nights in a single month.
The prescription and herbal sleeping aids I've tried have not done me much good. (No, I've not exhausted the entire list yet...) Chamomile doesn't help; lavender is somewhat relaxing but doesn't make me sleepy; the prescription stuff either doesn't work at all, or works the first night, almost works the second night, and then stops working entirely.
I haven't given up the search for solutions in general, but I have given up on the idea of an easy answer.