My insomnia was quite severe, and it lasted about 10 years. I rarely slept at night; my eyes just stayed wide open. I listened to cars driving by and dogs barking. I even caught a thief at night, too. Sleeping pills did put me to sleep, but they made me dizzy during the day, making it dangerous to drive the next day. I took sleeping pills for one to two years until my wife stopped me. She said the pills did more harm than good, so I stopped taking them. I couldn’t sleep without my pills, so I didn’t know what to do. As a dump truck driver, I relied on coffee to stay awake, but too much coffee caused my heart to beat rapidly and I’d have to stop drinking coffee for a few days until my heartbeat returned to normal.