Dear kaysborett Insomnia can be a very disabling condition bringing our life to a still. You mention that you have periodicity of these episodes. So what else is needed to know is what precipitates these episodes. Your clinical history would have to be searched into to look for the all the factors that can precipitate these attacks. Most of the insomiacs have a have psychopathology like depression, anxiety as a root cause. There are rare patients who have a heritable cause but these patients would have a positive family history. One thing is sure, which is that you have a severe problem and you need detailed evaluation by a sleep specialist. Only then one would be able to come to a definite etiological basis of your insomnia. Hope this helps you. Kindly make a sleep log noting what time you go to bed and what time you go to sleep and what time you wake up along with recording the same parameters for the daytime naps.