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I don't find it makes any difference, to be honest. My insomnia is just as bad when I'm in bed with my partner as it is when he or I are away for whatever reason.
I know that my insomnia can adversely affect my boyfriend. I toss and turn, read the internet or something on my iPhone, do anything short of getting up to distract myself from the boredom and loneliness. I should get up, of course, but I'm sure you know what it's like; even though you're absolutely miserable, you're so lacking in motivation and energy that it can seem like an insurmountable challenge.
Try and put me in bed with anyone else but my boyfriend, and not only do I not sleep, but I completely lose it. I come from a kind of odd extended family who don't see a problem with putting you in a bed with your mother, cousin or whatever, so when I have to do my familial duty and stay with them, this can happen. To be fair, they mostly seem to realise I hate it now, but the idea freaks me out nevertheless.
I've been quite lucky with Zopiclone; no real side effects apart from minor 'spaced-outness' for a brief period the next morning. Temazepam was absolutely useless; if anything, it actually increased my sleeplessness 😕 I also took another benzo at one point though I don't remember the name. It was OK at first, but wore off very quickly. I take Diazepam sometimes for anxiety and find that it can sometimes have a sedative effect, but only at a fairly high dose and only if I'm really exhausted anyway.
I've been taking nueroleptics since November for mental health reasons. One of their many side effects is sedation, at least in the initial weeks. The first one that I took was Olanzapine, which seemed to work quite well vis a vis sleep, but since it didn't for much else I was taken off it last month. I'm now taking Quetiapine, which certainly is a strong sedative – but unfortunately the sleep is not deep or restful, and is plagued by unpleasant, vivid dreams.
Still. Grateful for any slumber on which I can get my hands!
Thankfully, I've never found myself in serious danger whilst driving, but the risk is certainly there. The worst incident was when I was sitting at lights and believed they'd turned green…but they hadn't. Luckily for me the emerging traffic were able to stop in time, and even if they hadn't, it was in a very urban and thus low-speed area – but nevertheless I was horrified by it. I believe it was caused directly by sleeplessness.
To be honest, I am party to hallucinating without insomnia; however, I find that not sleeping makes the problem considerably worse. It can range from 'minor' things such as knocking and ethereal music, right up to incredibly sinister things (though admittedly the latter are usually more to with my mental disorders).
There's a very interesting article on sleep deprivation and psychosis from Psychiatric Times here, if anyone is interested.
