Hi Solobiker,
I feel your pain. I have struggled with insomnia before, and it is not fun at all. I am also in social work grad school and have all kinds of ideas/suggestions for you if you want to talk further about any of this stuff---shoot me a PM.

I'm pro-therapy as well. But, I think everyone should go/could benefit from therapy. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right therapist. And, sometimes, when people try to go to therapy before they are "ready" it can be really challenging too. So many elements go into therapy "working" or "not."

Anyway...if you came into my office... I would ask about: (Maybe this could be helpful just to generate things for you to think about?? Or, if you want to talk more later...)

-what have you tried before for your insomnia? Have you found anything to be particularly helpful? Anything that makes the insomnia particularly worse?

-can you identify any common themes in the days/evenings that you do sleep well? What about those in which you struggle with your sleep?

-what do you do when you wake up at two and can't fall back to sleep?

-what lets you know that it is stress that is keeping you up/keeping you from falling back to sleep?

-what does that time of waking up/being stressed/not being able to fall asleep look like to you?

-Do you feel these stress feelings any other time in your day?

-are there common themes about what you are thinking about during this middle-of-the-night stress time?

-how would you know that you had overcome this problem?

- tell me about a normal day for you all the way from when you wake up to going to bed.

-what keeps this problem from being worse than it already is?

-If you feel stressed during the day, what do you do? Is this helpful?

-How does this lack of sleep affect your day-time life?

-Can you identify anything that changed or may have "set this off" two years ago when this started?

-What else in your life has changed because of this?

-Tell me more about your hesitancy to take prescription drugs.

-etc. etc. depending on the answers


I don't expect you to answer all of these questions or anything in the thread...I am just trying to be supportive/identify things for you to think about that may help you isolate the problem/notice a pattern or something of the sorts

There are so many elements that often go into insomnia. And, there are lots and lots of different types of interventions. (Behavioral, environmental, medication, therapeutic etc. etc.) Often, people find a combination of these approaches helpful depending on how the difficulty ends up being identified/diagnosed. (i.e. could it be a lifestyle issue? is it related to an anxiety disorder? An adjustment disorder? A biological component? A hormonal component? a thyroid issue? depression? Some other psychiatric/clinical/medical issue?).

I think it is great that you are going to see your doctor. Whether or not you want to see a therapist or some other "helping professional", a doctor is a good place to start. If the issue is not solely medical, then it may be challenging for you to find a 100% fix with a solely medical approach. Most therapists would want to ensure that you ruled out any medical/health issues if you came in presenting with this problem to their office regardless.

On a more personal note, I have tried medication for insomnia. My insomnia has largely subsided, (save a random tossy-turny night every few months). I have tried LOTS of different things. I imagine you will discuss all of this with your doctor...but there are lots of different types of sleeping drugs.

Ex: Ambien is a "short-acting," "fast-acting" drug that you take just before crawling into bed. (If you take it and stay out of bed for a long time after, it can cause hallucinations etc.) Ambien pretty much knocks you out hard. It may not solve your problems (since you seem to be able to fall asleep well?? and then wake up?) But, anyway, Ambien then wears off after 5-6? hours I believe. ((I'm not a doctor---so this is all just off memory...def. talk to your doc!)) Ambien is also something you don't have to take daily--just when you need/want. (It is also a controlled substance) (I have taken this)


Whereas, something like trazadone is a slower-longer-lasting medication ( think it may actually be a muscle relaxer??). (I'm sure there are major classes these medications fit into--but medication isn't my speciality... talking about it, issues around it, taking it, lifestyle and such is..but not the medication itself )

Certain medications can make you feel kind of "hung-over" in the morning. This can often be tweaked by changing dosage. It may take a bit to find a medication that works well for you if you want to go that route. What natural supplements have you tried?

So...I feel like I'm super rambling right now. But, I hope that maybe a bit of this was helpful? Feel free to PM me if you want me to direct you to some more resources pertaining to sleep issues or talk more. Or if you want some ideas to try or whatnot.

Good luck friend! I hope you find better sleep soon