Will Lunesta really turn off the voices in my head so I can sleep at night?

I have problems sleeping at night. I am sure that this is a culmination of several factors.

1) My sleep habits
2) My mind won’t turn off
3) I need a new bed

So I have attempted to address these problems in an effort to get a great night’s sleep.

I will admit that I stay up late and try to get up early in the morning. Please note the word “try”. I usually hit the snooze button about fifteen times before I actually get out of bed. Why don’t I just set the alarm for later? Right?

I usually get sleepy when I get home from work, but I resist the urge to catnap, knowing full well that if I do, I’ll be up all night. I have always been a night owl. I love the nightlife and I worked in theater for 10 years – my day was usually split in two: school/day job then 5-8 shows a week at night. I was always hyped up when I came home from rehearsal or a performance. This always made the next day hard – burning the candle at both ends will do that to you.

Since that time, I have taken to late nights out on the town and late-night television. I just can’t seem to get myself to bed at normal times. And weekends are even worse. I’ll stay up till dawn and sleep until way past noon. My poor body just doesn’t know what to do with itself.

My mind is always thinking, usually crazy thoughts about how much I hate life and the world…so imagine what it does when I attempt to go to bed early. The silence is filled with the insane ramblings of my unsettled mind. My work/life drama seems to be the current fodder for my nightly monologues. In an effort to silence the voice, I have turned to drugs – don’t worry, no intervention needed. I am just taking an occasional Ambien (I know the headline mentions Lunesta, but my doctor gave me Ambient instead. I have only used three so far. And while they do knock me out, I feel groggy the entire next day. Like I am in a haze. So those aren’t really helping, now are they?

Last weekend, I went bed shopping. I’ve been sleeping on the same $160 mattress since I moved to NYC in 1997. I assume it is time to put old Bessie out to pasture. So on said shopping trip I went to Sleepy’s (the mattress professionals) where I fell in love with a $3000 mattress and box spring. Those who know me, know that I would never spend that much on a bed, and now I have tasked myself with finding a comparable bed that costs much less.

So the vicious cycle continues, my back is sore so I don’t sleep through the night, I think about how much a new bed costs and freak out about the money and don’t sleep at night, I taken another Ambien and feel exhausted the next day and the drama continues…