We present the effect of exogenous sodium oxybate (GHB) in a severely tormented boy unable to sleep and unable to be anesthetized due to a lesion in the sleep initiation system involving the tracks between the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus and the reticular system. We bypassed the system by using sodium oxybate's effect on the cortical GHB and GABA_B receptors involved in the initiation and maintenance of sleep.