I had a visit with a sleep medicine doctor last week after 7 months of terrible insomnia after tapering off Klonopin (slowly over 9 months). I tried CBT-I, all the behavioral hacks, Vistaril, mirtazapine, OTC Unisom, all to no avail. She affirmed how bad it is to not sleep - some of the side effects of chronic insomnia are the same as for sleep aides. She disagreed that I should have been taken off Klonopin by age 65, and would have written a script for it. I declined, simply because it was so difficult to get off of - miserable withdrawals for months. I am trying a low dose of Ambien and after 3 nights of good sleep, I'm a believer. I don't want to have to use a sleep aide, but it is so much better than being awake all night and a zombie the next day. Now, I just take it one night at a time, and continue my good sleep hygiene.