Trapezkerl, I know how you feel. I've had insomnia problems before too.
At times my mind was so filled with thoughts that I slept only 5-6 hours a night and it was showing in terms of memory, weightloss, headaches and other crap. I kinda learned to to clear my mind every night before sleep and I guess it worked.
Ambien is good, but there's like a slight hangover, and sometimes you wake up midway and can't sleep. Again, I wouldn't use it that much because it's a benzo and benzos can mess with your head.