Rimmy

After many years of "wanting" too, but not even bothering to try to quit entirely, I am on day 3 of weaning myself down from averaging 20 - 24 beers a day. The first day, I just stopped drinking mid-day and had none the rest of the day and night. so probably had around 15.

Just doing that, I didn't sleep well that night.

Yesterday, I kept it down to 10 over the course of the day and I don't think I slept at all... Each time I'd feel on the brink of sleep, some crazy flash dream like falling down, seeing my car with a flat tire (not scary, but something bad), getting pulled over, etc... would pop into my head and I'd wake up jerking my arm or kicking my leg in reaction to the nightmare. Then I'd look at the clock and only 2 or 3 minutes had gone by.

One dream was just of some monsters mouth chewing some nasty clumpy stuff, but it was the sound that it was making that was horrible, and as I popped out of it, the sound slowly became the sound of the fish tank filter. So lot's of audible wierd things too.

I had to try three sleeping places. Wife, cat, fishtank etc.. in bedroom... no good. I put my air mattress on my table in the garage (was awake anyway) and tried in there (peace and quiet) but I was reaction twitching so bad from the dreams that when I'd awaken I thought I'd fall off the table 3' to the floor.

So I swept the garage floor and put the mattress there. At least I could relax and it was quiet, but by then it was 4:30. I rested for an hour and a half and just got up.

Anyway, long winded Rimmy is back again. Not trying this because of a binge weekend I regret, or anything one bad thing really. My life is really just at a standstill, and I guess to me, that is my bottom... why not. I'm 38 now, been drinking my whole life... I just want to at least seriously try a life change. Those rare times I didn't have a buzz these past years, I felt fine then too... so why not.

Sorry I avoided you good people so long... I wasn't ready.

CarolD

Welcome back Remy....

Please see if this link helps you

Insomnia? 42 Simple Tips to Help You Get to Sleep - Insomnia treatment, cures

Glad to know you are now ready

Rimmy

Good to see ya Carol.

Was looking through that earlier.. funny how I was doing a lot of them already... TRY ANYTHING!

Time for work... at least some of the dizzy and nausia is gone...

Wolfchild

Welcome back to our Sober Recovery community.
i hope you will come to believe that total abstinence
is the only way to arrest the disease of alcoholism.

puckettcg

My AH went into full-fledge DT's twice; both times were precipitated by 4-5 days of insomnia that eventually led to hallucinations. The first time put him in ICU for 4 days; the second time he battled through it (not a good idea though). He also got those crazy flash dreams.

Rimmy

I was scared a bit last night I guess... actually the nausea and head dizzys were not so bad after just a few days (thankful that I gave up hard liquor years ago). But it get's in your head. I'm waking up twitching a finger or kicking a leg, and thinking of Michael J. Fox and paranoid me thinks I have developed a disease... just wrong one I guess. (not meant to be funny... literally laying there paranoid that alcohol has masked the symptoms of something seriously wrong with me).

But hallucinations AFTER 5 days... that makes me nervous to go to sleep... yikes. Oh well, gotta suck it up. I started later today and drank less today. If I just keep in check tonight then I'm within a day of attempting a full day... first in years (forced by a job out of state).

Ugh. I don't hate what I see when I look back, but I wouldn't date it either.

g'nite all and thanks

madeline4

I am seriously wanting to quit and am afraid of insomnia as well-i have tried taking a few over the counter sleep aids when i drank less than usual and they didnt do anything - thanks for the sleep aid link-i have heard catnip is a sedative (i have a plant in the yard) so I may try that but i am still nervous about not sleeping. Drinking and eating always put me out like a light (of course right?)

ps i am new here

LifeIs

Quitting cold turkey can be dangerous, there are lots of posts concerning the danger of cold turkey.

I did it cause I didn't know any better, but suffered insomnia badly the first 3 days then it got progressively better. I am only on day 6, so not much experience.

You guys should see your doctors before quitting. Please go and check out the other threads posted by people who have been around a long time.

Please take care and good luck!

soidog

Being dependent on alcohol to sleep is pretty common, and was one of the main, if not the main, reason why I drank for a looooong time. Many an evening I would come home from work and think to myself - "How many beers do I need to drink to get to bed tonight?" I certainly got to the point where I was both physically and psychologically dependent on drinking to sleep.

I'm afraid that there is no easy out on this one. If you've been drinking for years and years to sleep, your body and mind is accustomed to it and trying to quit will almost surely mean going through a rough period of insomnia there. I know I went through that.

I can tell you however that once you get past that period, it is WELL worth it! I sleep well the majority of the time now. Sure, there are still plenty of nights where I don't sleep well either, but at least I'm not tired AND hung-over anymore.

Believe me, the quality of sleep (and quality of LIFE) after getting over that period of insomnia is definitely worth it.

Rimmy

Yeah, the first 2 nights I hardly slept at all. But I was expecting it, so I just tried to keep positive thoughts and stay as relaxed as possible (not easy). The third night, I got some sleep and it only got better from there. I sleep less, so I've been staying up a little later and getting up a little earlier, but I wake up and within 10 minutes, I'm clear headed and getting my day started (instead of being dizzy and nausious and foggy until I got a few beers in me).

I look forward to bed now, instead of passing out and wondering what I did the night before.

And dreams are cool.. used to just go to sleep and then wake up... now sleep can be an experience in and of itself.

madeline4

This happened for me just this morning-my habit was (i'd like to keep it past tense ) to run amok on the computer talking to inapprop people and saying inapprop things in a black out

and oh ya spending $ on gambling Online

i almost lost my husband whom i love DEarly-and I hope i dont EVER!

what a mess