Backtender,
Glad you're not throwing in the towel !
I work some shift work , so I know what you mean about using alcohol as a sleep med. The first few weeks were pretty sketchy as far as any restful sleep went for me, ....but I began to not worry anymore about it at some point. For me, even getting off at 2 or 3am , if I had some energy , I would start doing something active during the hours I had spent drinking.
Eventually , I began to sleep 6, ...sometimes 7 hours,
I try to stay more focused on how grateful I am every night just before closing my eyes, ..and try to gather the same feelings as early as possible the next "morning"
I'm 60 days sober today, .....the last 30 were a hellava lot better than the first !
Keep the faith