slept 3 hrs last night

[Forehand36]

it has been 43 days since i quit drinking.
and has been suffering from insomnia ever since.
43 days seem long, 6 weeks less long and 1 1/2 month - still less long.

i read this may last months and maybe years?

how long was yours? i know there are some who only had couple of weeks worth of insomnia. so lucky

i have read all the sleeping tips again and again but nothing seems to be working.

how long can one survive with 3 - 4 hrs of sleep a night? i have not had no sleep nights. thank God.

i do cardio and lift weights every day to make my body tired,but it ain't working.

[scrambled2012]

when i tried to stop drinking before my dui, i was unable to sleep at all; used it as one of many excuses to keep drinking. when finally getting in trouble triggered me quitting completely, the sleeping issues lasted about 2 to 3 weeks.

there is an additional observation however.

you may be under circumstances beyond your quitting of drink. there may be a stress causing serious issue or threat or heartbreak or danger in your life as of late. If so, this may have triggered a crisis response in your body, with elevated adrenalin, trouble falling asleep, and, upon waking, a wide-awake instantly kind of state. I speculate on this because you describe massively reduced sleeping hours, not being unable to sleep entirely.

If this is the case, my advice based on personal experience is to be productive with your time and try to improve your situation, whatever it may be. Yes, I am projecting and I know I'm reaching here; perhaps it might be best for you to see a doc, that is true. If my experience relates, however, I can tell you it lasted more then a year, perhaps even two.

Hang in there buddy~~~

[DarkDays]

3/4hours sleep a night , I went for months and worse a few years ago like this, all triggered by alcohol every time. Let it go , don't worry , force yourself to function the worst you will feel is groggy. It will come, just do not worry.

I was addicted to sleeping aids, for me this made things a 100 times worse. I am sober now and free from all drugs, I still have real bad patches with sleep but more better periods, it all evens out. Living on little sleep sober is so much easier than doing it being owned by alcohell. When I sleep now I get real good sleep, maybe 4 hours without waking up which for me is pretty amazing. Good luck.

[Fandy]

try a small dish of vanilla ice cream about an hour before bed, take your calcium, magnesium zinc supplement in the evening too. you can try some valarian and melatonin too. if you can exercise earlier in the day and wind down with stretching at night it might be helpful.

it's hard when you are sleep deprived, i hate feeling exhausted when i get up in the morning. ineed caffeine, but stop it by noontime. I try to wind down as much as possible after 9PM, finally i now regularly get between 6-7.5 hours every night, feel 10 years younger.

I think i started drinking to get to sleep, i've always had insomnia.

[Forehand36]

thank you everybody for replying

right now, i wish i had the michale jackson doctor - Michale Jackson had it right - either give me anaesthesia or the end.

[InsertNameHere]

I use soundsleeping.com to help me I don't think I have anything as bad as you but I used to have a really hard time getting to sleep (not staying that way) the sounds there mostly the drums in my case help distract my mind off of whatever else might be running through it at the time. I force myself to focus on the pattern and it for it to occupy my mind completly.

Hope that helps.

[Forehand36]

thanks for the suggestion
tried it, but did not work. i have a phone app that does kind of the same.

slept another 3 1/2 hrs last night - i'm wondering how long i can go on. i guess my body is making me sleep minimum number of hours to survive.

makes me wonder whether it was all worth while to quit.

i read somewhere that if you are alcoholic, your life span gets shortened by 10 - 15 yers.


if you are an insomniac, it is the same thing.


so, i traded one for another. - but i was much happier when i was drinking!

[InsertNameHere]

Originally Posted by Forehand36

so, i traded one for another. - but i was much happier when i was drinking!

Were this thought to pop up in my head, I would have to curtail it immedioutly. I have be careful of that kind of thinking as it starts me down the path to drinking again. Anymore I have to remind myself that Yes, I might have had fun but only because alcohol dumbs me down and makes the otherwise tedious and boring more entertaining. Now the challenge is to make my life happy without alcohol, which I hope will be easier without hangovers and all the rest of the consequences that alcohol brings with it to deal with.

Latley I have been asking myself whenever the thought of drinking pops up "will alcohol improve my life?" The answer of course is no, it just makes it temporarly more bearable, only to drop difficulties on afterwords.

Just a sugestion and my thoughts regarding myself, not judging you.

And I will hush up now because that has nothing to do with insomnia and I have hijacked your thread, which gives me a reason to use
this guy: haha I have wanted to use that for a while.

[Zee]

Some people can just close their eyes and within 10 seconds they are snoring! That drives me bloody nuts! I have trouble sleeping, I just sleep when I can... I don't force it. I don't work, so sometimes I cat-nap in the day, maybe not a good idea though. I reckon that you get stressed knowing that you probably won't sleep, so therefore, you don't! When you are knackered enough, maybe in a few days time... you will sleep
BTW... the thinking that not sleeping will shorten your life is complete and utter kerapp! Thats the most ridiculous theory I've heard for a while! Good grief! Ha ha! Pffttt! x

[Forehand36]

BTW... the thinking that not sleeping will shorten your life is complete and utter kerapp! Thats the most ridiculous theory I've heard for a while! Good grief! Ha ha! Pffttt! x[/QUOTE]


i think it was some kind of study done. although there are studies galore that can take exact opposite position.

i don't have the energy to google, but whether the report is factual or not, it is what it is. i cannot do anything about it. Drinking is my choice, but sleeping is body's choice.

[Forehand36]

another 3 hrs last night.
after stayingin bed wildly awake from 5 to 7, forced myself to get up, really afraid of facing another day on short sleep.

i think im going into 7th week now - of sleeping 3, 4 and occasional 5 hrs a night.

this is depressing and you can imagine how my body will feel today. im already nodding at this home computer screen - while waiting for my daughter to take her to school.

Friends - i wish you all good day!

[Forehand36]

my sleep hours have been improving for the last 3 - 4 days.
i have been sleepnig 4 1/2 to 5 hrs a night.

the crucial change was i started taking magnesium.

my problem had been the fact that once i wake up and try to go back to sleep, my heart would go crazy - palpitations - fight or flight - i figured, adrenalin was kicking in and wake me right up back - so i couldn't fall asleep back again.

so the pattern had been, fall asleep, and wake up 2 hrs, 3 hrs or 4 hrs and never could go back.

with magnesium, the heart palpitations is gone, so i fall asleep initially, and then wake up and is able to fall back asleep again.


Last night, i woke up once - maybe 2 hrs into the sleep - and then fell back asleep again. then woke up after 5 hrs in total, and stayed in bed for another hour before reluctantly giving up and got out of the bed.

i hope this post helps some of you with magnesium.

[Forehand36]

Originally Posted by Forehand36

my sleep hours have been improving for the last 3 - 4 days.
i have been sleepnig 4 1/2 to 5 hrs a night.

the crucial change was i started taking magnesium.

my problem had been the fact that once i wake up and try to go back to sleep, my heart would go crazy - palpitations - fight or flight - i figured, adrenalin was kicking in and wake me right up back - so i couldn't fall asleep back again.

so the pattern had been, fall asleep, and wake up 2 hrs, 3 hrs or 4 hrs and never could go back.

with magnesium, the heart palpitations is gone, so i fall asleep initially, and then wake up and is able to fall back asleep again.


Last night, i woke up once - maybe 2 hrs into the sleep - and then fell back asleep again. then woke up after 5 hrs in total, and stayed in bed for another hour before reluctantly giving up and got out of the bed.

i hope this post helps some of you with magnesium.

Ha, spoke too soon. went back to sleeping 3 1/2 hrs last night.
i read somewhere that there is time released melatonin. need to get hold of it.

[Forehand36]

Originally Posted by Forehand36

Ha, spoke too soon. went back to sleeping 3 1/2 hrs last night.
i read somewhere that there is time released melatonin. need to get hold of it.

another three hour job

i guess my body only needs three hours. Damn. now another problem, they tell you to drink lots of water, so i started doing that and now that's forcing me to wake up to go pee and obviously, once up, can't go back to sleep.

so no more drinking extra water

can't win

i'm so looking forward to the days when i can sleep 6 - 7 hours again. if it ever comes.

[Change4good]

I know that we are not to give medical advice, and I hope this doesn't qualify. I take trazadone (prescribed) on nights when I can't sleep. Many alcoholics are prescribed this. Works wonderfully for me when my body won't sleep on it's own.

[Forehand36]

Originally Posted by Change4good

I know that we are not to give medical advice, and I hope this doesn't qualify. I take trazadone (prescribed) on nights when I can't sleep. Many alcoholics are prescribed this. Works wonderfully for me when my body won't sleep on it's own.

so, you take it once in a while, it seems.
i just don' t want to replace alcohol with another sleep aids. just prolongs the problem. i'm trying to sleep without help of any sleeping aids.

[losingmygrip]

Trazadone is not at all addictive, its an atypical antidepressant that in small doses causes sleepiness. Seroquel in super small doses will help the same way. I also use lavender oil, and tell myself positive things like " I may not be asleep, but my body is resting while I'm laying here". It takes the pressure off which is a total vicious cycle. You could try hypnosis, or biofeedback. I get panicky as soon as the lights go out, even if I'm super tired when I go to bed. I feel your pain, but please don't drink! This is a workable problem, don't throw in the towel!

[Forehand36]

this really sucks. there are people posting that they suffered from insomnia for many years, and initially i did not even think that was possibility for me.
now i'm not so sure.

i'm so tired.

[catlover17]

I'm only on day 3 and didn't have a wink of sleep last night. My cat was snoring happily though...This thread isn't filling me with confidence..

sorry you're going through this forehand, will let you know of any tips as time goes on with me, not drinking though.

[Mo S]

I don't offer alot of help here; I've been sober for yearrrssss and here I sit at 4am.

I just started Melatonin....I don't think it's working lol.

I wish you the best and hope you find a way to solve your problem or it subsides.