Good on you for trying to put the brakes on your panic. Please follow through with your doctor for help going forward. Not crazy.

it is available without a prescription but it's formulated by one of the oldest herbal companies around.
Every time I need a solid sleep I drink a cup; it helps.
I used to toss and turn, and still do without this regular tonic. The main herb is the passion flower leaves. But it is in a powerful blend.
Or it could be the ritual of preparing the hot beverage; I don't know but it usually gives me a solid hours sleep.

see what pops up?

I guess going on 32 years (hard to believe). This tea is a new formula for Gaia and it comes in little tea bags. It's called Sleep and Relax. I have high bp and at times when I feel overly anxious I also take the Gaia Hawthorn Supreme in caps. it really calms me down. It is a heart tonic. I have to take prescription meds as well for bp daily but I use this hawthorn formula when I am overly upset/anxious and just consumed with disorientation and focus. Especially when I need to sleep. There is one other herb I use from another company called Dragon Herbs. I started using Dragon Herb Company during the lockdown when I stayed at home since I was unvaccinated and wanted to boost my immune system. But, this Dragon Herbs company has a good herb blend called Lights Out which works. So, CT, when I am so highly overanxious, need to sleep, and cannot, I take the recommended dose of all 3 of these herbs: 1 capsule of the Hawhorn Supreme (Gaia), 3 capsules of Lights Out (Dragon Herbs), and I make a little teapot with the Sleep and Relax teabag steeping in freshly poured hot water. I think there was only one time that my routine didn't work: I had a very upsetting day that day, was in a foreign country and there was construction going on in the hotel where I was trying to sleep. i was a total wreck. I may have only slept 3 hours and had to go to work the next day. I was devastated. It was the one time I did not take the tea. The Lights Out formula is a combination of Chinese herbs, I just looked at it and it recommends 4 capsules. I have been taking 3. I will up the dose to 4 capsules, then, when I need to. I wish you well. It is horrible to lose sleep when you need to sleep.
oh hi there dameatball, I thought it was CT with the question, lol, well I hope you find this helpful. sleep is very important to me.

I directed it to CT but I answered it in the thread!

And alcohol, marijuana withdrawal.

I take 2 meds that the doctors finally had to admit they possibly can cause depression. It must eat into their corporate profits to make anything without these problems. Ain't capitalism wonderful?

In fact, it's long been known that being awake between midnight and 4 am is when thoughts of doom and disaster are most likely to predominate. If we're awake for them, it's anxiety. If we're asleep, it's probably part of what our unconscious brain uses to problem solve. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

There are certainly a lot worse things to take than gabapentin. If it works, that's great. Just know what your brain is doing at that ungodly hour is normal and part of its function.

My go to is an extra Tylenol, that stuff always makes me sleepy and if something wakes me up to the point I can't sleep after the bathroom run, it's usually going to be pain.

I prefer not to take opioids. But if the question is pain or no pain I will choose no pain every time. I see no virtue in "toughing it out." To me, what works, works. Period.

It's a centrally acting non opioid pain reliever and fever reducer. While the complete pathway hasn't been mapped, it's not the opiate receptor pathway. It's also not a non steroidal anti inflammatory drug, it has no action on inflammation. It's an odd drug, big pharma has never been able to tweak it to get a similar drug on patent.

I don't take opiates at night even when I have them around. They do put you to sleep but it's pseudo sleep, not the deep restful sleep we need, meaning we wake up sleep deprived. Not good.