Hi Courtney, thanks for the detailed post. Here's my take on your situation.

First, it looks like you recognize the root causes for your insomnia, because you have stated it clearly: anxiety/stress. Your inability to sleep at the moment is not some inherent defect. You, like all of us, have a built-in capacity to sleep well. It's just a matter of enabling it, and in your case, because you have history of being a good sleeper, re-enabling it.

The middle of the night panic attacks are something many insomniacs experience, especially those of us with excessive levels of stress and anxiety. They generally come between cycles of sleep, when sleep is lightest. If and when that happens, you can use in-bed relaxation methods, such as deep diaphragmatic breathing and progressive muscle relaxation, to help yourself fall back asleep.

From your description, my view is that the xanax worked not because it forced sleep but rather because it reduced the anxiety levels you are experiencing, thus enabling sleep. So my suggestion would be to focus on managing stress and anxiety you experience during waking hours, because these conditions can and will disrupt sleep.

It's important to understand that sleeping pills (or supplements for that matter) do not directly address the root causes for insomnia caused by stress and anxiety. But rest assured there are ways to effectively manage stress and anxiety, and thereby help yourself sleep.

The ideas you mentioned about caffeine and calming music are all good, collectively they are known as sleep hygiene. All that helps.

I would also suggest setting and keeping a consistent wake-up time. That may actually be more important than a consistent bed time, although overall consistency is very beneficial. The reason wake-up time is so important is because that's how you synchronize your biological clock with your natural circadian rhythm.

And upon arising, immediately expose yourself to bright light. That gets you started in subtle but powerful ways. It would not be surprising to me if the shorter days of November have something to do with this bout of insomnia. Especially in Wisconsin.

Circadian rhythm, along with your homeostatic sleep drive, are the two most important components that control sleep. You want these two systems working supportively together. When they do, sleep is practically irresistible.

As someone with GAD, I'm sure you know many methods to help reduce anxiety, and I would encourage you to conscientiously practice them.

By the way, all the ideas I've mentioned about sleep come from CBT specifically designed for insomnia. It's a very effective and drug-free solution for improving sleep. That might be something to look into, but if I were you (age 24!) I would start conservatively .

Work on reducing the stress and anxiety, then just let go the worry about sleep. Be confident the sleep system you have is in fact strong and you will get the sleep you need.

If you make it a point of reducing anxiety/stress every day, I'm confident you soon will be loving sleep again.

Wish you well with this. Please keep us posted on how you're doing.

Thank you so much for your reply. I think I need to have more faith in my body. This whole insomnia thing has really thrown me for a loop but I think (and hope) my body will come along eventually.