Hello all. My name is Jodi. Kind of new to this. I've tried explaining this to my psychiatrist and therapist, but neither of them know how to respond... look at me sadly... and change the subject.

I'm 27 and have had off and on sleep difficulties since I was 18. Difficulty falling asleep, especially. Lately, it's become also waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep, mostly due to these horrible dreams I've been having.

Literally, I'll wake up from one of two dreams... where I'm walking, walking, walking fast and not going ANYWHERE. I almost know that during the dream, it's really boring. It wouldn't bother me if it didn't happen so often and at multiple times during the night. Like waking up from the dream only to fall back asleep and pick up right where I left off. That, or I actually have dreams where *I stop breathing.* That's the scary one. I've had a sleep study performed before, but they gave me an Ambien CR... so I think I slept pretty well that night. They didn't find any sleep apnea or "restless leg syndrome." When I asked the Dr. at the follow up appointment about the dreams, he said, "Well, there's nothing we can really do about that." Well, what about the nights where I *don't* take Ambien CR? I can't/don't want to take it for the rest of my life... due to insurance and personal beliefs. Isn't there another way to work out sleep issues that solves the possible underlying problem?? It's sad and frustrating at this point.

I'd appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks for reading.