Insomnia for greater than 5 years

I have had insomnia for over than 5 years and have been taking ambien 10 mg and clonazepam 1 mg at 1-1/2 tabs per night to get to sleep. I'm sure this is not the best thing to do, and I have tried on at least 3 occasions to go off the medications and restored a decent sleep pattern but without success. I will go weeks without any sleep. I know that sleep plays into the rest of my problems. I've had 2 sleep studies, both benign. I'm about at my wits end and would love to be off all medications. Of note, I've always been a night owl and was a third shift worker for greater than 8 years which I think has exacerbated the problem. Any ideas? By the way, when I do dream, they are very detailed, in color, and I can remember them the next day. I often have the same dreams over again, too.

Make sure you're highly active during the day. Keep a healthy diet. Try binaural beats (youtube it). These sound bytes are designed to hit on wavelengths that trigger specific brainwaves and sleeping patterns. Also make sure you have a solid sleep routine down where you lay down for bed and wake up the same time consistently.

Hi--- medkev13 has a lot of good ideas.... but i did look at your profile to see what you had put.. anxiety can be a killer for sleep sometimes, -- i just mention that due to some times when I am anxious I have trouble sleeping due to too much going on in my head-- some times i have to sit down, remind myself to calm down, and so on....If it is related to PTSD (one of my dx's) then I try best to sooth myself- write, do a quiet activity, remind myself of good/real things, hell sometimes i grab my cat and have him sit on the bed with me or I have a special bear that i have that some times i snuggle up to (I am 25 and I will advocate to sleep with a real or stuff animal is ok ). not sure if that is helpful at all...

Wishing you good sleep here and that you can find something that can help you