Linda Nolan, actress and member of The Nolan Sisters, talks about her battle with insomnia and reliance on sleeping tablets.

ACTRESS Linda Nolan still remembers anguished nights following her husband’s death from cancer when she’d stretch out in bed to touch him, only to realise he wasn’t there.

“I was only able to cat nap for half an hour at a time and felt lucky if I got two hours rest a night. Several times each night I’d startle half-awake and I’d reach out for Brian’s hand and for a few blissful seconds think, ‘he’s here, it was all just a bad dream’. It was so crushing to realise I was alone,” she quietly recalls.

Losing the ability to sleep or suffering disturbed sleep is a common – usually temporary – symptom after a bereavement or traumatic life event.

But Linda suffered chronic insomnia after experiencing a daunting series of tragedies – losing her mother within a few months of her husband’s death in 2007, and both bereavements occurring while she was battling breast cancer. She describes it as the “bleakest period of her life” during which her sleep was affected and she was prescribed sleeping tablets.

Linda, 51, says: “Until all this happened to me I never realised what a gift being able to sleep was. It’s so vital to enable you to re-energise and cope with life, especially at difficult times, but I just lost the ability to do it.

“It got so bad at times that I dreaded going upstairs to the bedroom at night because I knew I’d get no rest and I’d just lie there willing it to be morning.”

Linda found fame touring the world with The Nolan Sisters before leaving to follow a solo career in 1983, but her defining role was as Mrs Johnstone in Willy Russell’s musical Blood Brothers.

Her personal ordeal began when she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2006, shortly after her husband had been diagnosed with skin cancer.

Sleeping tablets helped her cope with her anxiety about both her husband’s health and her own punishing cancer treatment, which included a partial mastectomy and intensive chemotherapy that triggered the menopause.

Linda’s recovered from cancer, and she had her final reconstructive surgery last December.

She will finish taking an anti-cancer drug next year. September is the third anniversary of her husband’s death – they were married for 26 years and he was also her manager.

“Brian was my first love, we were together 24/7, and losing him was like the end of my world,” she says. “I was grieving but about to come off the tablets, and then I lost my mother to Alzheimer’s. It was another hammer blow, and on top of that I was suffering hot flushes from the menopause. So I was advised by my doctors to continue taking them.”

She had periods where she’d either stop taking the tablets altogether or be given a lower dosage by doctors to help her wean off them, but her sleep problems would re-surface. As the time passed she also found herself struggling with a deepening depression, which adversely affects sleep patterns.

“My doctor continually monitored me and wanted to get me off the tablets, but if I didn’t take them I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night and so I’d fall asleep through sheer exhaustion in the afternoon.

Linda was aware that sleeping tablets are only used for short periods to help re-establish a sleeping pattern. She says: “I was concerned about taking them for so long. I think I became psychologically dependent on them rather than physically, but when you’re craving sleep, you’ll try anything.”

Two months ago, Linda was delighted to discover a drug-free way of helping herself sleep – a Yantra mat, which is covered in spiked flowers designed to stimulate “acu-points” on the body through acupressure, and follows the same healing principles as the ancient bed of nails, dating back thousands of years.

LINDA, who after a two-year break from work joined her sisters Coleen, Bernie and Maureen last October in The Nolan Sisters’ tour, is gradually coming to terms with her losses and enjoying life again. She’s having regular counselling and taking antidepressants, both of which she describes as life-savers and crucial in helping her dealing with the past four turbulent years.

Independent sleep consultant Dr Neil Stanley says: “Traumatic life events can naturally cause insomnia, but normally a sleep pattern should right itself within weeks. You should seek medical advice if the problem persists beyond a couple of months, and if the lack of sleep is affecting you during the day.”

Ideally, he says, people should aim to find ways of dealing with the causes of the sleeplessness – anxiety or bereavement are common causes. Products to aid sleeping, he says, may be helpful even if only through aiding relaxation and enabling people to feel they are taking control over their sleep problems.

■ The Yantra mat, £39.95, from Holland & Barrett, GNC, pharmacies and health stores or direct from Lifes2good: 0845-399-038; yantramat.co.uk

Don’t be so sad...

★IF You're feeling tired, lethargic and unhappy you may be experiencing the first symptoms of winter blues. In the UK about two million people have Seasonal Affective Disorder, connected to the amount of natural light we get.

Those who suffer begin experiencing problems from September – as the shorter days begin – and the condition can last until April.

Take steps now to tackle the problem. Pull back the curtains and open blinds as early as you can in the mornings, go for a walk in the park before work or in your lunch hour, and sit by a window when you're indoors.

If you still have the blues see your GP, who may prescribe light therapy, which involves sitting in front of a specially designed light box, which mimics outdoor light.

For information contact the charity sad.org.uk, and Lumie, a company which supplies products such as a “daylight” alarm clock, from lumie.com

★HAVING trouble concentrating and feel as though your system's on full-rev all the time? Both could be signs you're suffering from stress.

Download a seven-page questionnaire to self-diagnose the problem from the NHS website, and then get general advice on ways to minimise the problems.

nhs.uk/tools/pages/workplacestress.aspx

★DON'T use cold weather or a gym-phobia as an excuse not to exercise. Try a home workout with an exercise DVD.

Actress Jane Fonda, 73, is releasing two fitness DVDs next month focusing on aerobics and weights.

Alternatively, party girls can make the most of an opportunity for dancing, which can burn up to 200 calories per 30 minutes, depending on the intensity of the steps. Salsa, jazz and ballroom classes are all easy to find if you check out local listings. Or just make sure you’re invited to lots of Christmas parties...