There are a number of prescription drugs that will induce a state of sleep. Halcion seems to produce the most severe side effects and is not recommended. A person with chronic insomnia must develop a close relationship with a physician who understands that some people need sleep medications on a routine basis or their lives will be miserable, and that they are also at a higher risk of contracting a serious degenerative disease. The latter is exactly what it sounds like. It is a familial disorder characterized by the irresistible urge to kick the legs around.
Many patients have both conditions.
Patients with a family history are likely to benefit from higher dose therapy with folic acid, around 50 mg per day. Dosages this high require a prescription from your physician. Another consideration is low blood iron even in the presence of anemia. This can be determined by testing the ferritin level which, if low, reflects low iron. However, one must watch for excessively high iron levels because of the free radical promoting nature of iron, which contributes to aging.