A mission for the groggy

I suppose one of my motivations for posting here is to unequivocally lay to rest the assumption that all cases of insomnia are a state of mind rather than an affliction.  I'm sure that many cases are, but mine clearly is not.  After 8 years, I've tried just about anything and everything that I've heard of, and have come firmly to rest on the conclusion that my sleep mechanism is in a state of physiological/biochemical dysfunction that started when I was 39 years old.

So, for the record, I've tried and given good faith efforts to:

• Sleep Lab/ apnea assessment
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Pharmaceuticals
• Talk therapy
• Diet restrictions (gluten, sugar, caffeine, etc)
• Sleep psychologist
• Acupuncture (3 different occasions)
• "energy work" and massage
• Ayurvedic assessments
• EEG and MRI assessments (assessed because of association with problems with simple partial seizures)

And I continue to engage in, with persistence of my insomnia:

• Meditation (1-2 hrs/daily, 14 years of practice, over 10,000 hours of cushion time logged over the years)
• Weight training (2x/week, total 2 hrs/week)
• Cardiovascular exercise (4-5 days a week: hiking, running, biking, exercise bikes, xc skiing, swimming, etc)
• Yoga (2-3 times/week)
• Tai chi (1x/week)
• Gluten free diet, vitamin supplements, avoiding alcohol, avoiding TV (I don't even have one) or computer time before bed.

I have a low-stress job that I enjoy (for the most part), and because of a habitual money saving habit, I have a decent financial cushion, no debt, and no money stress.  I don't have a family to take care of, so no family-related stress.  I live in a rural area and take frequent hikes in the mountains.

I am not depressed - I have been depressed before in my life and now it creeps back in when I am completely hamstrung by insomnia (and, after effects of medications like Lunesta clearly make me depressed).

My life-maintenance activities are beneficial, and maximize my ability to function given the amount of sleep deprivation that I deal with, but they don't "cure".

If my insomnia is anything but an affliction, I have a huge cognitive or conceptual blind spot that I'm unable to see.  I am convinced that this is not the case.

My latest theories of causality:

1. low testosterone (recent blood test was not below reference level, but was low for my age)
2. benign brain tumor (glial cells in hypothalamus)
3. poorly understood side effects of spiritual practices (chi/prana imbalance, kundailini, etc)