ramennoodles

I've had trouble with insomnia for years, but since I quit drinking about three weeks ago, the insomnia has been worse than ever. I'm taking a full Unisom tab every night and I'm still tossing and turning for a couple of hours before I finally go to sleep. Even then I still wake up several times through the night.

Does anyone know long insomnia problems persist after quitting drinking?

biminiblue

Hi, welcome to the forums

For me the sleep problems persisted for about a month.

Are you staying off the caffeine in the afternoon? Not smoking pot? Getting exercise?

Lack of sleep won't hurt you, it's just annoying. I find if I can't go to sleep within the first ten minutes, it's better that I get up for a while rather than lying in bed awake.

There are many "sleep hygiene" blogs and articles online for ideas to make going to sleep easier.

ramennoodles

Thanks for the quick reply.

I only consume caffeine (coffee) of the mornings. Nothing during the day or evenings.

I don't use pot.

I workout three days a week.

Astro

It's going to be different for all of us. I had insomnia for a few weeks after my initial sobriety. It helped when I was put on SSRI's. Nowadays it's usually caffeine related. On a good night I'll take melatonin to help me rest better.

ramennoodles

Hopefully I won't have to deal with this heavy insomnia too much longer. I actually live a very clean and healthy life other than my alcohol addiction (which I'm hoping is now a thing of the past).

I only started drinking as a way to calm my nerves of the evenings after work. I was working a really difficult and stressful job with a really nasty boss who made my life miserable. My stress at the time was off the charts. I would come home and have a glass of wine to relax. And frankly, it totally worked. But you know how it goes. Eventually I built a tolerance and my glass turned into a glass and a half, and then two glasses, and so forth. In no time at all I was addicted.

I've been addicted for about 12 years now. I'm no longer working in that job and it's now time to end the addiction.

Soberwolf

Welcome RamenNoodles

Winslow

In my case the insomnia is lasting forever! I can fall asleep fine,sleep hard for 4 or 5 hours then I'm just up,I go to sleep at 9 and wake up at 2 I feel like a weirdo but I just try and not think about it too much or it.makes me crazy! hope we both get sorted soon😊

ramennoodles

I've now officially made it past the one-month mark of sobriety. Unfortunately, I'm still dealing with horrible insomnia. I wake up of the mornings feeling like I've been fighting some sort of battle with myself throughout the night. Each night I actually dread going to bed knowing what's coming.

Other than experiencing a brief bout once with DTs that lasted about 20 minutes and some anxiety for about a week, the horrible insomnia so far is the worst withdrawal symptom I've had to deal with.

sobermax

I thought for ages that my insomnia was a side-effect of quitting. I think maybe sleep and I just don't get along. I had no trouble making myself unconscious when I drank but I don't think it was proper sleep.

This is sober year 5 and I rarely get more than 3 or four hours. Then suddenly it will catch up with me and I'll sleep for 20 . . .

I don't think this is at all typical so please don't let me panic anyone. Just had yet another night of wakefulness, came across this thread and wanted to vent.

I wish I could sleep but I suppose there are far worse things to suffer from. I have watched some excellent films.

Soberwolf

Congrats on a month Ramen have you tried reading & sleep hygeine 2h before going bed

least

It took me a couple months before I developed a good sleeping pattern. But now I sleep wonderfully and wake up feeling good.

ramennoodles

I have. I practice good sleep hygiene. I only use caffeine of the mornings, for example. I'm pretty sure my main problem with insomnia right now is from quitting alcohol. I did have some degree of insomnia before quitting, but it's really bad now.

Soberwolf

Reading really helps tire my eyes

ramennoodles

I have now made it past the two month mark of sobriety. I'm happy to report that my insomnia is slowly but surely improving. If I had to guess, I'd say it has improved by about 40-50%. It's hard to put a number on it.

I forgot to mention previously that I was also having problems with restless leg syndrome for several weeks after I quit drinking. That has now completely straightened out.

Oddly enough, my cravings for alcohol haven't been that bad. I have, however, been snacking more of the evenings and have gained a little weight. I guess I'm replacing food with the alcohol I used to drink.

Starting tonight I'm going to try reducing my Unisom to a half tab and see how that works out.

Astro

I think it's pretty common to crave snacks and sugar, something to fill the "hole" and keep our hands and mouths busy. I still struggle with this 10 years into sobriety. I enjoy eating and food tastes great so I indulge.

Congratulations on your two months!

ALinNS

I know in Detox we all struggled the first week then it seemed to settle down, I have been sober for 32 days, maybe once a week it happens, positive note the dreams have switched and are now fun or funny. There are natural items you can take like Melatonin or talk to your doc, we just need to get the body back on schedule.

least

Congrats on two months sober!

biminiblue

Congrats on two months! It will keep getting better. Well done.