Sleeping tablets and sedatives,

Good going.

Hi, I was wondering why you have been on "sleepers" for 40 years. It seems that you were treating the symptom and not addressing the actual cause of your sleeplessness. Anxiety is the biggest barrier to a "normal" sleep pattern. Whatever "normal" is. Few peple have an constant sleep pattern and worrying about it exacerbates the problem. Perhaps your past worries are now not so unsettling and you are able to face the future without medication. I hope that is the case. As an ex health worker I often found that when practical or psychological problems were resolved a more regular sleep pattern resumed. It was often the case that people expected a physical (medication) resolution rather than taking the opportunity to explore any psychological barriers to sleep. I hope you are on the road to a more enjoyable life without the need for medication and wish you well.

Inquisitive: In the sixties when I was first prescribed Amitryptaline, the popular drug of the day. It was far more expedient to prescribe  than make enquiries as to why the patient could not sleep. Advice was not given then and my first appointment with my GP lasted but a few minutes. He told me I was depressed (Which I was not) and a prescription issued. From thence, for over forty years I took such medicine which became additive and less effective. I even attended a NHS Sleep Clinic, which did no good at all. It was only recently when a doctor took the trouble to talk to me for twenty minutes to explain about my almost lifelong problem that I decided to go "cold turkey" and give up the lot. I have now been free of these despicable drugs and am now living again after half my life in a indescribable gloom. I have come to the conclusion that the health authorities have no effective treatment for insomnia, except perhaps meditation and talking the problem through. But beware, you need the right person with training to help in this direction.