I'm another in the 3-4 hour a night camp. I have a very hard time getting comfortable to get to sleep. Many times I get mad and take Advil PM. I'll often times be just about to sleep then start twitching or itching and wake myself up. Went to bed at 9pm last night and it was well after 3 when I finally settled enough to sleep... and that was after taking Advil PM. I have to wake up at 6-7am because that's when my three little ones get up for the day and Hubby has to get up to leave for work. I try to catch a 1 hour or so nap in the afternoon; but many days it just isn't possible with the kids.

Well pain and fatigue play a big role here. So I typically go to bed between 8 and 10, I have to get up at 6:30 on weekdays to get the kids off to school. Then I usually take a nap from about 8 to noon. I make hubby lunch so that I can at least see him a little, then nap again from 1 to 2:30. So between 16 and 18 hours a day. Wow, that's a lot, this is the first time I've actually done up the math. But my insurance company wont cover provigil for the fatigue and nothing else we have tried has worked.

My insurance company wouldn't cover Provigil either because......its used for Nacalepsy and my doctor submitted it for Multiple Sclerosis. So I called the company and told them it was for the FATIGUE IN MS. So once my doctor put the script in for FATIGUE....they gave it to me.

Yeah... My insurance company sent me a "lovely" letter telling me that Provigil is not approved for MS fatigue, that is off label use. They even went on to say that there have been studies that prove it has no better effect on MS fatigue than a placebo!

Needless to say, my insurance company is not my best friend right now.

Right now I'm in a semi-normal sleep pattern. Well, all things considered. I very rarely sleep in my bed anymore

I sleep in my recliner. My combination of egg crate pad, leg pillows, arm rests, etc. keeps me in a position favorable to my various ailments and body parts. I don't drink much water after maybe 5 p.m., so I only get up at night to use the bathroom about once, maybe twice a week.

I have an occasional night where I'm freaked out or have serial nightmares or have an unusually high level of pain, but I usually sleep about 8 hours. I could probably sleep 9, but my bladder will only last 8.

I doze/nap a few times a week. But periodically I have a spell--sometimes a day or two, sometimes several days--when I can just barely keep my eyes open, and I'll take a couple of naps a day.

Back when I was first diagnosed, I could sleep ten hours a night, and most of the week-end. And still be tired all the time.

I do best with a 10 hour sleep but when I need to get up with less than 10 hours I can do it. I don't know if it is due to adrenalin or not since the only times I do that is when I am traveling to see the kids. When my husband had his heart attack and I had to get less than 10 hours I was a jombie. The only aide I take at night is my Clonazepam and Amitryptyllin. Spelling I'm sure is wrong on both those meds. But if I don't take them I don't sleep well at all. So is that addiction???

I take Amitriptyline for headaches and can only take it at night because of side effects. But it makes me sleep very sound. Maybe you have trouble sleeping and just don't realize it because of the medicine you already take.

Weren't you a nurse? Its about the risks vs. benefits becaues yes, long term benzodiazepine use can result in physical dependence and tolerance.

http://www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/drugs/benzos.asp

If that's how it's prescribed, then I'd say, it's not an addiction. I'm sure, if there were concerns, your doctor wouldn't have placed you on these meds, no?