I am 70 years of age now, and this summer I’ve had time to think about what’s important to me, in my life.

Since being retired from the “paid workforce” for 14 years, I have volunteered a lot on different boards and helped out with my church. I’m trying to do less of that and concentrate more on some personal things that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

I have just started taking art classes and I’m overcoming my fear of water by taking swimming lessons. My swimming instructors are aged 16-20 years of age. They are really good and actually quite self-aware. They tell me, when it comes to the water, everything is connected… the mind and the body. That is true in so many ways, your mental health and your physical health.

I’ve taken clonazepam and other sleep aids for a long time. Ever since I was young, I thought I was just a nervous wreck. It turns out that its name is… anxiety. I have become aware that it’s anxiety that affects my sleep. I also deal with arthritis that is genetic, in addition to sleep apnea. When my anxiety gets triggered, my sleep gets worse. My mind races and I can’t sleep.

With Sleepwell, I learned how to slowly wean off clonazepam and also started to use different techniques to make it easier for me to get to sleep. I already knew some of the techniques, but it is good to have different options that you can use when needed. Like, if you can’t sleep, get up! It’s hard to do, but it lets you clear your mind before getting back to bed and, for me, it makes for a better quality of sleep.

Learning about how sleep changes as you get older was an eye opener for me. Getting the knowledge and the technical information really helped me to understand what some of the problem might be and helped me to accept the changes as we age that we have no control over. Now, for me, I’m focused on the quality of my sleep, not the quantity. So, I’m less anxious about it now and more accepting of the issue. Just like my swim instructors said, “It’s all connected.” In my case, it’s anxiety that is causing my mind to race, which is affecting me getting to sleep, which will affect me physically the next day. I’m trying to identify what is causing the anxiety and trying to find ways of dealing with that and calming myself down, instead of reaching for sleeping pills as the solution.

Sometimes I go back to taking Clonazepam. It’s not like once you are off it, the problem is gone forever. It’s an ongoing work-in-progress. It’s helpful to understand and accept that this may happen. Now I know about how to stop it gradually and to work on my sleep. With Sleepwell I learned there are tools on the shelf I can reach for and they work. It’s up to you to make them work for you.

I began having difficulty sleeping in my mid to late 40’s. I was reluctant to take any medication but was a partner in a business and needed sleep to be able to work efficiently. I tried melatonin but it was not working. My doctor prescribed a sleeping pill which I cut in half, and it worked fine for a period of time. Eventually I was taking a whole pill and continued for several years until the dosage no longer worked for me. Again, I was prescribed a different pill which helped a bit, but I later discovered that a person can build up a tolerance to the medication.

At that point I decided it was time to try something different. This is where Sleepwell came into play, and I was determined to give it my all. I participated in the interviews, read and reread the booklet sent to me, and kept records of my sleeping habits. At first my numbers were dismal but after two weeks my percentage climbed, and I was able to get to sleep within 10 minutes even after bathroom breaks. When I had a bad night, I would leave my bedroom and read for a while.

I practice the breathing routine nightly and have added meditation which calmed my racing thoughts. I am not saying that every night is blissful sleep but 98% are, which has greatly improved my energy and stress levels. Besides eliminating the sleeping pill, I was able to remove a mild antidepressant from my daily routine.

It takes an effort to stick to the program if you don’t see immediate results. I added four more weeks of record keeping, and I am very pleased that I did.

I recommend Sleepwell highly.

I am Erin Desmarais (Social worker) and I am Stephanie Lynch (Pharmacist). We work for the Queens Family Health Team at the Kingston and Belleville sites, respectively. A big and very rewarding part of our work involves running group programs for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi).

We find Sleepwell’s resources incredibly useful and incorporate them into both our group sessions and one-on-one consultations. These tools provide our patients with practical advice and insights, helping them understand their sleep challenges better and explore potential treatment options.

What we appreciate most about Sleepwell is its personalized approach. It acknowledges that each individual has unique needs and circumstances. By offering self-led interventions alongside formal treatment options, Sleepwell instills hope in those struggling with their sleep. Patients can go to the website and come away with concrete tools to help them to improve their sleep.

We also value the important information on the website for patients and clinicians on the dangers associated with the long-term sedative use. The Stop Sleeping Pills Guide is a clear and easy to understand tool that can facilitate safe, patient-led, sedative gradual dose reduction. Clinicians can also benefit from Sleepwell’s resources and tools to help guide conversations with patients about sedative use and to assist with coaching patients through the deprescribing process.

Recently, we had a patient who was eager to join our CBTi group program but faced a waitlist. In the meantime, we directed her to mysleepwell.ca for additional support. To our delight, she reported significant improvements in her sleep within just a few months, no longer requiring the program and successfully managing to discontinue her sleep medication—a testament to Sleepwell’s accessible and practical resources.

I am Dr. Joanne Ho, a geriatrician and clinical pharmacologist. I work with older adults to help them manage complex health issues, including polypharmacy—when someone is taking several different medications, usually for a number of different health issues.  

A condition I see a lot in my practice is insomnia. Sleeping pills may seem like the quick solution, but they have many risks, especially for older adults. That is why I often recommend non-medication, evidence-based approaches like CBTi and patient education about the benefits and harms of sleeping pills and other treatments for insomnia. 

A lot of what we do at GeriMedRisk is help people find effective therapies that are safe. For older adults with insomnia, this often means reducing and stopping sleep medications and, when needed, replacing them with sleep strategies that come from CBTi. In my consultations, whether I am meeting with the patient or consulting their family, I often recommend resources available on the Sleepwell website. I value the website because it’s versatile, offering a wide range of resources tailored to different learning styles. Some of my patients prefer infographics, others respond best to reading or watching videos about other people’s experiences. 

When I talk to patients, I try to shift the focus away from just talking about stopping the sleeping pill. Instead, the conversation becomes about what really matters to them—staying mentally sharp, avoiding falls, and living independently. It is not just about deprescribing, it is about helping people understand their sleep needs and finding safer, more effective ways to meet them. The resources offered by Sleepwell help to facilitate this mental re-set. To me, Sleepwell is a nimble and evolving collection of evidence-based recommendations and tools that supports patients on their journey toward better sleep. 

Three weeks ago, I saw a patient who was experiencing insomnia, low mood, anxiety, a flare of some chronic low back pain, and new hot flashes. She was wondering if this was all perimenopause.

For her, the worst part was the insomnia which was new in the last few months. Her other issues were worsening of previous concerns, so we talked about the impact of sleep loss on her mood and pain. She had been on antidepressants in the past and was worried that not sleeping was sending her down that path again. Together we decided that ensuring she was sleeping well would be a good first step to addressing all of her concerns. We restarted a low dose of her previous antidepressant given her history and a possible benefit of it for her vasomotor symptoms.

I showed her Sink Into Sleep, the go-to CBTi self-help book that I recommend for many of my patients with insomnia.

Three weeks later, when I walked into the exam room for our follow-up appointment, I spotted a well-thumbed Sink Into Sleep book beside her on the chair. I could see right away that things had gone well and she was fully engaged in her care. She was sleeping through the night, adjusting her bedtime on her own, and feeling better overall. Her mood had improved (PHQ-9 dropped from 20 to 6), and anxiety was minimized (GAD-7 went from 17 to 6). Her family had noticed the difference, and her aches and pains were less. She mentioned that she couldn’t manage the sleep diaries but took full advantage of the book’s sleep enhancing techniques and was easily able to apply them and saw the improvement in her sleep. Having been on antidepressants before, she attributed her improvements to sleeping better at night as the response was so quick.

Martha was first prescribed alprazolam for panic attacks and anxiety in 2006. She also found it helped her sleep better and began using it as her nightly sleep aid. Every now and then, she questioned her ongoing use of alprazolam and discussed this with her doctor. They both felt that her dose was low and that she was benefiting from it. It didn’t leave her feeling “drugged” the next morning like other sleep aids she had taken when in her 20s. However, over time, Martha began to recognize the extent of her dependency on alprazolam.  

The tipping point came in the summer of 2021 when Martha felt consumed by anxiety. She felt anxious about everything, “like there was something totally wrong.” When her new doctor shared their concerns about alprazolam with her, Martha decided to quit and did so “cold turkey”. She described the effects as “dramatic”—she “felt awful, was agitated all the time, and lost a lot of weight.” Despite her discomfort from the withdrawal symptoms of stopping alprazolam, she was determined to never take it again. She tried different approaches to manage the symptoms, including breathing exercises and yoga, but found there was no easy fix. She had to go through the process. 

Eventually, the rebound anxiety slowly resolved, and she began feeling like herself again. Though she does not regret going cold turkey, she recognizes that she could have managed the transition differently. A more gradual tapering off, guided by her doctor, could have helped her come off the drug with fewer side effects. Martha advises others in a similar situation to work closely with their healthcare provider and do their own research before getting on or off any substances. And most importantly, to “know thyself.” 

Today, Martha is more in tune with her physical and mental wellbeing. Her sleep is not perfect every night, but she has learned to accept that. Using one of the techniques of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, when Martha wakes in the middle of the night, she gets up and tries to do something instead of lying in bed feeling anxious and frustrated about being unable to fall back asleep. In addition to this, Martha mentions other changes she’s made to help her sleep well, including limiting wine and sugar in the evenings. What she is clear about is never relying on medication for a good night’s sleep.  

As a writer, it comes naturally to Martha to express her experiences through personal essays. You can read her full story about her experience with alprazolam and stopping it in Vogue magazine.