Insomnia

I've been suffering from insomnia for several months now and seem to be incapable of staying asleep for more than three hours. Margaret Thatcher allegedly slept for four hours a night, and that isn't uncommon, but I don't think anyone manages with three on a long term basis. It seems such an arbitrary length of time, just on the cusp of being enough to cope, but I can set a watch by it. Not that I have a timepiece in the bedroom any more, that's A Bad Thing for insomniacs. I've tried herbal remedies, aromatherapy, reflexology, reiki, acupuncture, meditation, baths, milky drinks, alcohol, no alcohol.... Most of the suggested remedies, in fact. I've also tried sleeping tablets but they gave me nightmares and made me even less capable of a normal day as they caused a hangover of grogginess that took hours to shake off after I woke.

Today I got an email from Amazon about I Can Make you Sleep by the hypnotist and writer Paul McKenna. Make seems a strange word to use - I'd assume I need help rather than compulsion. I have visions of Mr McKenna coming to my flat and shining a bright torch in my eyes in a bid to confuse me before getting a hired thug to hit me over the head with a baseball bat and try to persuade me to give him the details of my dreams when I wake. I suspect, however, that the reality is somewhat more subdued, and in my desperation for sleep I may well add it to the list of things I've tried to help me.