It sounds like the hormones are working for you somewhat, if it's helping anxiety, and not making other sy mptoms worse that is good. As you are on them longer, you may notice more improvement. The purpose of sleep is HEALING. The body heals during sleep, the mind is resting and it is necessary ! I think you need to find a more empathetic sleep Doctor. Have you tried Benadryl for sleepng ?? It is very sedating for most people, and available over the counter. Trazadone would be a safer alternative as far as prescription meds go. My suggestons : 1) see a different Doctor 2) check out the Power Surge forums, there is a forum specific to insomnia, many good suggestions there 3) try to get off Restoril, it's not working anyway, remember to taper. 4) stop Sonata, it's not working either 5) try Benadryl 25 to 50 mgs for sleep

robbie_florida Yes, I had your symptoms and I had done my homework to be able to ask to have Prometrium prescribed and also thyroid replacement for finally diagnosed but long suspected hypothyroidism. The bleeding of three months, but severe needing an overnight pad every hour during the last four weeks, stopped after two weeks on the natural progesterone (Prometrium) and the thyroid medication. I thought I was going to bleed to death before it finally stopped. My doctor admonished me to not take any aspirin for the excessive endometrial pain causing buildup. Diagnosed and prescribed September 5, 2001. Age 46. Now more normal periods than I have ever had. I did my homework to avoid the synthetic hormone merry-go-round which puts too many women on the surgery table for hysterectomy. You were deficient in progesterone, so therefore you were building up too much endometrium. Without progesterone to rise and fall naturally, a normal menstrual blood flow is impossible. I am guessing you are bleed free by now? You can e-mail me if you wish. Check other posts that I have recently started for information resources to help you understand your symptoms and the reasoning for the Prometrium prescription.

They say if you go 12 months without a period you are post menopausal. I say if this happens to you and you don't experience anything else you are one lucky lady. I wouldn't take anything to make you have a period but at your age I would still use some type of birth control. If after 9 months to a year you're still without a period I would have an ultrasound just to check the thickness of your uterine lining to make sure everything is okay. I had a period every 11 months for 4 years before I finally stopped altogether, but I was 49 and had been on BC for thirty years prior when mine started. Good Luck

Just a word of caution: Do be careful about taking these over-the-counter remedies without consulting with your doc first. They can contra-indicate if you're taking other meds. I'm on the "other side" of most of you, having stopped my periods 15 years ago at age 44. (And sorry to say, the hot flashes are still with me.) My experience showed that I was not able to quickly find a successful regimen to hold my menopausal symptoms in check. I consulted with three or four GYNs until I found one who was willing to stick with me until we got it right. I really had to become my own advocate, if you will. We need to be as well educated as we can about the subject. As you look for what you can "take" to help you, you should also research really well the results of the (Women's Health Initiative) study they released back in 02. Don't rely on websites related to drug or supplement firms - read what's available on the National Institute of Health and other medical sites. In '06 the NIH released results of a separate study that showed herbal supplements were of no value in relieving hot flashes. Some women are lucky in that their menopausal symptoms are less severe and perhaps they perceive that herbs like black cohash have helped. But it's not "everyone's menopause," and what works for some doesn't work for all. After lots of trial and error, I was on an HRT regiment with both estrogen and progesterone that was wonderful for my body. I took the pills for about twelve years (referred to them as my "life line"). Hot flashes and night sweats were completely eliminated, and I was able to concentrate once again (although NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING helps for memory loss!). On and off I also tried a variety of anti-anxiety pills, none of which seemed to make a discernable difference. Depression is very common in menopausal women. Many people have had good results with the bio-identical hormones. I tried them for about a year but I didn't find the results comparable at all, so I stopped. I'm no longer on any hormones, and it has been a real struggle. I still have almost-daily hot flashes and nightly hot sweats (although the night sweats are not as severe, yet they still awaken me and that's annoying enough). Since stopping HRT, I don't think I've had a single uninterrupted night's sleep. But, as with every step I've taken since my periods stopped fifteen years ago, being off HRT is my choice. I have just learned to live with it. I think the bottom line is that you need to understand what if any risks there are in your body/family history that would or wouldn't make HRT a good solution for you. I don't think I've seen any mention here of calcium supplements, and that's so very important. We should be taking 1,200-1,500 mg daily if we're not on estrogen, a bit less with estrogen. Osteoporosis is very common in both pre-and post-menopausal women. Here is a link that might be useful: Menopause and Herbal Supplements Study Article