I've done two, but I didn't find them very helpful. They take several months to schedule, which is quite inconvenient, and they require dedicating a lot of time staying overnight in clinics with wires strapped to you.
The end result is the same, too. Current medical advice is a mix of sleep hygiene and meditation strategies (some insomniacs feel extremely anxious when they can't sleep, which makes things worse) and medication.
I'm currently not taking medication, but for many years it was a pretty constant cycle 6-9 months on medication, and then a few months tapering off because my body would quickly build tolerance to them. Medication was pretty critical when I was in college, but in the decade since I've graduated I think I've just come to see the cycle as unsustainable and ultimately kind of pointless which is why I haven't taken them for about a year now.
Just curious if the medication was a benzo or z-drug (e.g. Ambien). If so, did you take it nightly during your 6-9 month cycles? Did the tolerance reset after a few months' break?
I've tried pretty much everything. Of course Melatonin and Benadryl don't work much. Klonopin and Ambien both work well, but I try not to use it more than 1x a week to avoid a tolerance.
I tried a whole slew of them. Zaleplon was actually the one that worked the best for me and the one I took for the longest. The tolerance would reset after a few months break, but it would always get back to the point where it was ineffective. I've also never noticed melatonin to have any effect, even when taken correctly.
