Oh, I didn’t answer the ‘do you ever feel dependent on it’.

I fall asleep without it every now and again and I can FEEL the difference when I wake up afterward. I feel physically more sluggish and unrested.

Am I capable of not using it and surviving? Yep. I do it all the time (usually not intentionally), but the after effects of not using it (of getting a reminder of what I feel like when I am not using it) get me right back on the wagon.