Four women tell how much their addiction to sleeping pills has almost "disrupted their lives" and disrupted their nap as doctors dispense prescriptions to 15 m

Doctors write more than 15 million prescriptions for sleeping pills in the UK each year.

More and more of us are struggling to sleep, with 74% of Britons spending less than seven hours a night.

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Stress, worry and noise are often to blame for disturbing our kip, and more and more people are turning to doctors for sleeping pills.

Dr. Robert Lefever, an addiction expert, explains, "Insomnia is awful, but sleeping pills are also awful.

"They create addiction and are very difficult to eliminate. They can change your mood and suppress feelings.

"If you want to avoid mood-altering medications, do it gradually and under medical supervision over a period of about six weeks. Otherwise, you'll bounce back to start. "

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Four women tell us how addiction to sleeping pills almost made them lose their lives.

"I started taking pills in the day and I spent 23 hours in bed"

MUM-OF-THREE Kerry Mussington, of Ipswich, was kipait 23 hours a day after taking sleeping pills.

She says: "Sleeping has never been easy for me. As a three year old mom, I badumed that it was just life.

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"But when I started feeling stressed at work in 2016, a doctor wrote me a prescription for zopiclone, one of the most common sleeping pills.

"The first night I slept eight hours, I was in paradise. For the first time in 30 years, I slept well every night.

"But soon, the idea of ​​not having an entire package in my drawer filled me with fright.

"I received repeated prescriptions without a doctor's appointment and I stored extra pills in case I lost one.

"My depression is worse. I wanted to feel sleepy and started taking pills during the day. I slept 23 hours a day.

"I slept through phone calls and visits that I had arranged with friends and my children. I never answered the door. I was still in pajamas as I was still asleep.

"I did not eat, I did not go out and I got up without knowing if it was day or night. I did not know what month it was. I slept my life away.

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"In January 2017, I moved out and that made me realize that I had a life to live on. I had support for my depression and I cleared Zopiclone.

"I feel like it every day. I did not have tremors or sweat because I was tapered, but when I had a bad day, the temptation to take it was overwhelming. But I followed my plan and I started to feel happier.

"I have now set up the MUM project, a support group for people who used sleeping pills until a phase of addiction.

"I realized that there was a huge need in my community for a group like mine.

"Sleep is always a problem for me. I do meditation, I do yoga and I do yoga to sleep and I created a refuge to sleep in my room, which includes nice sheets, a calm lighting and no phone or device mobile.

"It does not work as well as the pills, but I am much happier now."

"When you can not sleep, you have trouble finding the joy of living"

PAULA Wynne is an author living in Newbury, Berkshire with retired husband Ken Sheridan, 64 years old.

She says: "I started taking Zopiclone after an operation in the shoulder in 2008.

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"It was very painful and it made sleep a nightmare. Every time I moved in my bed, I woke up in intense pain.

"I was responsible for public relations for a large group of hotels, but I lost my job because I could not drive anymore.

"I was worried about work and money and I was still awake in pain as I turned the hands of the watch. Sleep has become impossible.

"Without sleep, I was an emotional sinking. I could not think, I could not work – if someone said something far away to confront me, I immediately burst into tears.

"I felt like all the light was gone in my life.

"I was prescribed Zopiclone and it seemed to work wonders, but soon enough, disturbing side effects came up. I had the impression that my brain was in the fog.

"The idea of ​​not taking them even terrified me. Take a single tablet had stopped working, so now I took two. You say to yourself, "Just take a pill, it's so easy. You can stop tomorrow. But tomorrow never comes.

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"Abandoning them was the most difficult thing I've ever done.

"I would sleep in bed while getting ready to sleep, but once you are convinced that you will never sleep again, you get up and take a pill.

"I went to see my doctor who prescribed me antidepressants. They helped because they also contain a sedative, but I did not want to take antidepressants for the rest of my life.

"The turning point was when I had acupuncture at the shoulder. I've also started taking natural remedies and a hot lemon bath before bedtime.

"Slowly, I was able to sleep longer.

"When you're not sleeping, you're in a terrible situation. You cry all the time, your body shivers, your mind does not work, you can not see any joy or hope in life.

"I am so convinced that the heroine of my new book is suffering from addiction to sleeping pills.

"I hope the story will help other women see that there is a way to move forward and that they can recover their lives."

"I would forget to buy cereals and I would not wake up in time for school"

LYNDSEY Houghton, former teaching badistant, lives in Carlisle with her husband Joe Smith, a 40-year-old forklift driver, his eight-year-old daughter Abigail, and his stepchildren, Callum, 15. years old, Lewis and 14 years old.

She says: "I've always been a light sleeper, but in 2013, I found myself barely able to sleep.

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"I was awake with a thousand thoughts in my head, twirling and turning.

"I had severe mood swings and a complete inability to accomplish the simplest tasks.

"I tried meditation, sleep tapes and milk before going to bed. Nothing worked and eventually my doctor prescribed me mirtazapine.

"I took a tablet at bedtime, it was amazing.

"My husband Joe noticed that I was happier and the kids said I smiled more.

"The house was cleaner and I slept 12 to 14 hours a day. For those who had never slept for two or three hours a night, it was an absolute luxury. But by the middle of 2014, I was struggling to get up and it took me two or three hours to wake up.

"Some friends said that I was vague and non-communicative.

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"I would forget to wash clothes and school uniforms. I would forget to buy cereals for breakfast. Sometimes I could not get up for running to school, leaving Joe caring for children.

"In May 2016, I realized that I was too tired to exercise. I am 3rd. I went back to my doctor, who said that the medicine was to blame.

"I realized that my addiction to sleeping pills had invaded my life and that I had to wean myself off the tablets.

"I was cranky, pissed off, full of worry and desperate about my nocturnal pill.

"I have not taken it in two years, but I still want to choose the easy option.

"I sleep a few hours a night and take a nap during the day. I lost the 2

"People must be aware of the risks."

"I would go to different chemists so that they do not recognize me"

HEATHER Banks lives near Castle Cary, Somerset, with husband Wayne, 41, a handyman and their two sons, nine-year-old Rowan and seven-year-old Harry. Heather says:

"I have been suffering from depression and anxiety since I was a teenager, but two years ago, everything took over.

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"My husband had headaches and could not work. My eldest son was diagnosed with autism. I worked hard to keep everything going, and even though I was tired of dog at night, I could not sleep.

"I'm lying in panic. How could we manage for money? How would my son cope?

"I started having a glbad of wine too much at night, which worked at first, but I woke up in the middle of the night and felt even worse.

"So I tried sleeping pills. I bought Panadol night pills containing diphenhydramine, an antihistamine.

Oliver Dixon – The sun

"Because I could buy them at the counter, I never thought they might be addictive, although the package warns you should only take one a day for a short time. The first time I took one, I slept like a baby. The next day I felt groggy but it was worth sleeping for eight hours without interruption.

"Soon, I took two pills a night. My pharmacist told me that I still should not take it, so I had to shop around. I started dating different chemists so nobody would recognize me.

"Six months after starting, we booked a family vacation. When we got there, I panicked – I had forgotten the pills.

"I would have become addicted. The holidays pbaded in a haze of no sleep.

"Back at home, I went directly to the pharmacist but I had trouble finding them. Many stores were out of stock.

"I soon realized that I had to attack the root cause of my anxiety. In January of this year, I started keeping a notebook near the bed where I wrote down what worried me and settled it in the morning.

"I started yoga, a healthy diet and I tried to do more exercise during the day.

"My sleep habits are still not perfect. Some nights I wake up again at 4 in the morning.

"But I'm so happy I can not count on these packets of little pills anymore.

Nick Littlehales, the sports coach, helps the world's best athletes to have 40 winks of the eye