Sleep

[OnceNice]

Its been only a couple of weeks.
When do I sleep. I cannot sleep at all. Im so tired.

Drinking helped me sleep,although I felt like crap in the morning.

When will I sleep.

Nothing works. I'm eating a lot. Thought that would make me tired.

I can't stand Tea or Milk and of taken Tylenol PM. Don't really want to take any pills. I'm already on AntiDepressants and Naltrexone.

Just wish I could sleep more than two hours a night.

[Cindi R]

Eventually....
I swear to Gawd...I didn't sleep for like the first year and a half...
but meth was my drug...I was used to staying up for days at a time.
Get a nap when you can and talk to the Doc about it.
Congratulations on 15 days Rose!
You're doing a super fantastic supercala-listic job!!!
Glad to hear you've got a meeting planned for tonight!

[IndigoNA]

Originally Posted by OnceNice

Its been only a couple of weeks.
When do I sleep. I cannot sleep at all. Im so tired.

Drinking helped me sleep,although I felt like crap in the morning.

When will I sleep.

Nothing works. I'm eating a lot. Thought that would make me tired.

I can't stand Tea or Milk and of taken Tylenol PM. Don't really want to take any pills. I'm already on AntiDepressants and Naltrexone.

Just wish I could sleep more than two hours a night.

It's hard at the beginning because your body is used to completely different styles of life. Do you feel anxious? That could be causing it. Maybe taking an SSRI like Prozac or Xoloft would help. That's for Anxiety + Depression at the same time, talk with your Doctor and see if that's an option for you. Try excersising too. Running, cycling, or even walking. What ever fits you best.

[laurie6781]

Rose, it will come. You have to remember when you were drinking that was not a true sleep, it was pass out time. Your body did not go through the normal sleep cycles when you were drinking.

Now it has to develope those cycles and that takes time. I know, everything take time, sheeesssshhhhhh

When I would go to meetings, the stock answer was "nobody ever dies from lack of sleep, it will get better." Well damn it, I wanted sleep NOW. So..............I did some research and talked with my doctor. Way back then even he explained to me that blood sugar levels can also affect my sleep. Hmmmmmmmmm well.....................that made sense, I would pass out from the booze and of course my b.s. levels would be high as the body turns the booze into sugar, sooooooooooo

I tried a few things, first I went from eating all that candy all day long to eating more balanced smaller snacks, if I had a piece of fruit I made sure I had some cheese with it, fruit is carbs, although good carbs, still carbs and cheese is protein. Now, 25 years later as a full blown diabetic I am once again back to smaller balanced bits of sustenance, keeps the b.s. from rising so fast. roflmao

Right before bedtime I would have 4 saltine crackers with 4 pieces of cheese on them. I also found that if I did not fall off to sleep within 15 minutes, I got back up and read a book. Did not watch tv just read. I also found that if I woke up during the night and went to the bathroom then went back to bed and again didn't fall back to sleep within 15 minutes I would get up and read, maybe have a couple more crackers with cheese.

I found for me after a while (a week or two) this seemed to help. By getting up and not staying in bed and tossing and turning, and stressing about how I can't fall back to sleep, the reading calmed me, made me sleepy and back to bed I was able to go.

I have seen many others since then struggle with lack of sleep early in recovery, and I have seen it slowly straighten out.

Again Rose, "This Too Shall Pass" (I know you hate the slogans but they do fit for certain things, lol).

Hang in there, it will get better, call me if you need to.

Love and hugs,

[OnceNice]

Thanks. I'll try the Cheese and Cracker thing

I'm just exhausted today.

[StrongR2Day]

I was kind of wondering if the antidepressant wasn't causing the side effect of insomnia. When I was on the wrong one, I might be exhausted, but my mind wouldn't stay still. I take trazadone for sleep now, it's an antidepressant, that doesn't help at all with depression, but let's you go into a nice gentle sleep and helps one enter all the stages of REM sleep.

The first year or so I was in recovery, I took no meds at all. Strangley, it was by meditating to relaxing music that I relearned how to go to sleep (I, too, only knew how to fall asleep with the aid of the bottle). My meditation always ended up in the form of a nap. I eventually applied the same techniques at bedtime, and it worked well. That worked for a few years, then I had to go on the trazadone.

Beware of other prescription sleep aids, they can tickle your alcohol receptors.

[OnceNice]

I've been on Cymbalta for almost a year now and the Naltrexone for about two months. So I don't think its those.

[Erin]

I've taken Melatonin (which your brain naturally produces)... Also exercise helps.

I think you're still going through some withdrawal and the sleep will come though.

[Lastbinge]

I agree with Erin in the above post. Exercise has been a great help to me in getting regular sleep. I think today is about day 51 or 52 without any booze for me.......the first month was real difficult in the sleep department but I found that 2 benadryl (over the counter antihistamine) about an hour before bedtime helped tremendously. I still take it once or twice a week if I'm having difficulty sleeping and it puts me out quickly with no groggy feeling in the morning.

Scott

[Arura]

(((Once))) .. Ditto my sleeping is all over the place too...!

Its like im NEVER asleep, and then i just pass out.!

Ive tryed loads of different approches, but the best for me is good days hard work...LOL...about 2 days a week then..for me..!

So honey I can totally relate to what your saying. A full night sleep is hard,..I also wake up very early 5/6am...and at 3am n go to bed at 2am...! I was also on methadone for a looong time.!

GoodLuck with it Rose..! as im defo with you on that one...!
I feel exausted alot of the time too...! but still i find it hard to sleep for long...!
Enjoy your Meeting Hon...xXx...!

...

[UnusedPortion]

I met a guy who said in our meeting that the greatest gift sobriety gave him was sleep! It just took him a few months! Melatonin can really help, even if it doesn't work immediatley, just take it at what you want to be your regular bedtime every night and eventually it will reset your body clock (it's the sleep hormone) Try Valerian, and if you don't have any liver damage you can also try Kava Kava. Both herbs are available in teas, tinctures and capsules, sometimes even at the grocery store. Even Chamomile tea can help but I'm too early in recovery to be sensitive to it. I sometimes change my antihistamine to Benadryl at night to kill two birds with one stone. One of my tricks was also to put on the most boring documentary or the one with the most droning voice-over and lay down and listen to it.

Good Luck!

[CarolD]

See if this helps..Sleep Link

http://www.well.com/user/mick/insomnia/

I hate to sleep so I have no experiences to share,