When I was using I was often downright afraid to go to sleep. I had nightmares, the sweats, and so on. I felt like sleeping was the worst time of the day for me. Now I know why.
When alcoholics drink anytime from late afternoon to right before bed, sleep consists almost entirely of brief periods of REM sleep (dream sleep), disrupted by numerous awakenings.
Why is over-dreaming bad for me? Basically, because dreaming is hard work. The dreaming itself is not a restful activity. Dreaming is called 'paradoxical sleep' because brain wave patterns are similar to those of the brain when completely awake.
Dreaming is a state of arousal. As far as much of the brain is concerned, the dream is real. So adrenaline and other stress hormones in the system will be active in the body.
This is a double edged sword, because over-dreaming, as well as using up these hormones and energy, is actually making it harder for the body to make more. As we try to flush out the incomplete emotions, we spend more time in REM sleep, and therefore less time in deep sleep, when our body should be recuperating in preparation for producing these hormones for the next day.
So if we are over-dreaming we're not resting but flooding our system with adrenaline and other stress hormones. If most of our sleep consists of dreams, our body and mind will begin to feel very tired during the day.
People in this situation often report that the worst time of day is first thing in the morning.
As the day progresses, their hormones replenish themselves and their energy levels increase, and they are better able to motivate themselves.
However, because we do so much more ruminating, or introspecting the brain has to increase the amount of dreaming we do. And before long we are missing out on physically-rejuvenating Slow Wave Sleep.
We deplete our hormonal system with extended night-time emotional arousal.
This exhausts our 'orientation response' - a crucial brain activity that allows us to change our focus of attention and so motivate ourselves. It is also a key part of concentration.
DANGER: Recovery and Relapse. Despite some improvement after withdrawal subsides, sleep patterns may never return to normal in those with alcoholism, even after years of abstinence. Abstinent alcoholics tend to sleep poorly, with decreased amounts of SWS and increased nighttime wakefulness that could make sleep less restorative and contribute to daytime fatigue. Resumption of heavy drinking leads to increased SWS and decreased wakefulness. This apparent improvement in sleep continuity may promote relapse by contributing to the mistaken impression that alcohol consumption improves sleep. Nevertheless, as drinking continues, sleep patterns again become disrupted.
On a personal note...I am still experiencing some disrupted sleep some 5 weeks later, but the nature of the dreams has changed. I use to suffer from extreme nightmares quite often, but now they are just vivid dreams. Sometimes violent and sometimes not. Once again. Hope this info helps someone out there understand what is going on with us.
I sincerely welcome any comments about shared experiences or advice about improving sleep patterns. Thanks for letting me share.
Sources:
http://www.clinical-depression.co.uk...erstanding.htm
Alcohol and Sleep