Ellie , HUGS to you for caring !
It's been several years for me now and I have no idea what set it off.
My gyn says it's NOT perimenopause because other than occasional night sweats I don't have any other symptoms.
I've tried EVERYTHING. My drs ALL have written prescriptions for Lunesta, Ambien, Sonata, and another I can't remember the name. I did take Lunesta and Ambien for a short time but the drs were happy to keep me on them indefinitely and I wasn't comfortable with that. The Ambien stopped working after about a month.
I've tried more natural ways myself......valerian (which did work somewhat, but I was on it longer than I've read is recommended so I stopped) , things like SleepMD, Tylenol PM, simply sleep, taking calcium at night , keeping lavender in my bedroom, spraying lavender on my pillow, complete darkness in the bedroom, a fan running every night, on and on and on and on....
I did have my thyroid removed 11 yrs ago (cancer) and that seems to be around the time it started. But I see a specialist for that and have levels tested yearly and that dr. says that isn't the cause either !
For a while a few years ago I couldn't fall asleep and would literally sit up for days. I was a trainwreck. Now I CAN fall asleep , but most night sleep 3 or 4 hours.
My gyn has suggested a sleeping pill. He suggested one that used to be used for depression and now is given at a low dose for insomnia.
I considered it but dont' know what is worse......being dependent on sleeping pills for the rest of my life (I HATE that thought) or living on way too little sleep.
I know it's not good for my health to sleep so little.
Sorry for the book.
Oh and I wish I could send you our snow . We already had lots on the ground and it's been snowing hard for hours !!! It looks like a blizzard out there.
Becky