If it was available over the counter for, say, $50/month -- do you think you would be taking it just for the improved sleep quality?
Also, what was the specific name of the drug you had such a good experience with?
> Sleep quality was not perfect (maybe 80% of "normal"? I don't know)
I know it sounds ridiculous, but ~1-2 nights of absolute terror per week is totally worth it compared to how it used to be (getting maybe ~1 good night of sleep every couple weeks.)
They work very well for me and I've noticed no side effects.
I've been taking them about 2-3 years now.
FWIW, I found Dayvigo to work better than Quviviq but they both do the job.
I can think of a few reasons I might have avoided it, but who knows for sure. I wasn't on it that long (about a year? not going to look it up), I as a general rule do not remember my dreams unless I'm interrupted, the underlying cause of my total insomnia was pharmalogical, I've always had some level of sleep disorder, I've been on every other sort of sleep aid, I used it with melatonin... who really knows.
Expensive is always relative to one's income. But, to put that number into perspective relative to another medication given for a good night's sleep:
I'm the parent of a narcoleptic. The meds to get a good night's sleep, Xyrem, are in the $15k / month range. The recently approved generics are 1/2 that.
Xyrem is basically GHB? A 500 ml bottle of GBL used to be what, 50 euros?
I know the medication is pharmeceutical grade, but are these people insane?
This stuff? Orexin receptor antagonists? They work. Holy crap, do they ever work. Sleep quality better than the Z-drugs, great tolerability, no massive disruption going off them... when these things go off-patent they're going to be massive. Sleep quality was not perfect (maybe 80% of "normal"? I don't know) but that is absolutely minor compared to the alternative.
(And for the record, I'm off them now due to other stuff clearing up such that I don't need this level of sleep assistance anymore. Not because I can't afford them.)
I guess that's a long-winded way to say that if you're going to do questionably-advised sleep biohacking, orexin receptors are probably the place to start.