Quote Originally Posted by solobiker View Post
I actually tried Benedryl and it did the exact opposite..I took it at 9pm, fell asleep and was wide awake by about 1030 that same night. I guess some people it does that to. I have tried Ambien...does not work at all..I have tried it several times without luck. My Dr started me on a different one on Friday...no luck with it yet..I will give it some more time. I just really really want to know what it is like to sleep again. It has been way too long..several weeks.
The one sleep aid that worked like magic for me was Lunesta. I requested an Rx after my dad died and I just could NOT sleep. It put me to sleep fast but wore off early enough that I didn't have any "hangover" feeling. I went off it because it was expensive, so I switched to generic Ambien instead. That worked pretty well at putting me to sleep fast, but I'd still sometimes wake up in the middle of the night. There's now an Ambien CR (continuous release) that is supposed to counteract that problem, but it's more expensive and was not available in generic at the time. I found Ambien to be slightly habit-forming, though, and there was definitely a rebound effect when I stopped taking it: my insomnia would be very bad for a couple of weeks. So it really shouldn't be used long-term but can get you through a rough patch.

Benedryl doesn't put me to sleep quickly but it seems to help me fall back asleep instead of lying awake worrying when I wake up in the middle of the night, and it helps me sleep a little later in the morning.

Good luck -- insomnia is not fun.