foghead

Ive been dry for two weeks now and i am just wondering has anyone on here experienced ...having a nap during the day and waking up feeling really sad and empty like someone close to you has died. It lasts about 5 minutes but its horrible. I have had these naps in the past but that was usually after a few days drinking but i havent been drinking so im just curious to what might be causing it. any ideas welcome

sleepie

No- I did used to wake up feeling horribly frightened though. Not anymore. Maybe your brain chemistry is readjusting?

suki44883

It takes time for our brains and bodies to adjust to not having alcohol. It's just one of those things that time will take care of. I know that's not a very satisfying answer, but some things just take time. Hang in there. It will get better.

onestepforward

I haven't had that, but I did feel like someone died; my best fried Vodka. She was there during the good times and bad, but she was hell to live with.

I hope your sleep improves. New sobriety is a wacky time.

mikefreak

I've had that, along with feelin so freaking LONELY.........

foghead

mikefreak...thats how i feel now. i feel lonely because i have no girlfriend...live with my parents ( im 27) and just about have a job. only ever see my mates when we go out drinking. i live in a small city were nobody does anything but drink. as im trying to quit drinking, my social life is going to be none existent.maybe im starting to realise the reason why i was drinking so stupidly...because i was lonely and had no girlfriend. im only two weeks dry but the lonliness is the part thats really starting to hit me were before i was happy enough plodding along on my own doing my own thing. ive been feeling pretty good all week but today i felt real low. i hope it passes. maybe i have to learn to handle these feelings without a drink. usually when i feel like this i open up a bottle.

LexieCat

FH,

Have you checked out AA? The fellowship part of it is a great help for loneliness. You will meet other people having fun and living their lives happily without drinking.

Not a bad deal.

CarolD

Many drinkers in early sobriety..
go thru a time of missing the alcohol..
of mourning in a sense....

I think I've already shared this link with you
when you were concerned about brain fog.
However....

Post Acute Withdrawl - Relapse Prevention Specialists - TLC The Living Center

All my best as you continue to move into a sober future.

Toronto68

It might be the sense of bereavement some people feel when they give up drinking. I don't really remember a lot of that, but I think it is common to have this during the first several weeks or months. It makes sense on a psychological level and not just a physical one, because it is giving up a friend; or finding out you have been cheated by one, which is pretty much what an alcoholic has to figure out. There's a blessing behind it.

wren

I completely relate to what you call "empty naps".
Taking a nap can sometimes turn my mood upside down... I've always thought it was a normal thing that everyone experienced (alcoholic or not).

foghead

i mostly get them after ive drank heavy and over the last year they have become more frequent. I think my brain chenistry has been shot heavly with all my binge drinking because i also have phases were im in a good mood one minute then i go into a phase were im real pissed of and angry( mostly with myself) and cant snap out of it for ages. I had to quit my job last year because of it. Being around people that id call my workmates and feeling so not part of the group was very depressing especially while everyone was laughing and joking and no matter how hard i tried i just could not get into their zone. I think it was becasue i was so ashamed with myself and the fact that they did not no i had an alcohol problem made it hard for them to know why i seemded down all the time. Thas when i realised something wasnt right. i spent the next 7 months out of work and calming down on the drink trying to sort my head out. This year i had a few more relapses and decided to join this. i never looked at alcohol as a drug but i seriuosly do now...just like cocain and herion...its just as bad and addictive.

flavinho

Im also from a small town in Brazil and the only thing "enjoyable" was binge drinking with "friends" , after my sobriety I noticed how lonely I became. Well, I'm still single, and I got rid of a problem and achieved another, now I'm an obese stuck in a room watching movies all day long, absolutely no social life, but at least sober.

artsoul

hi foghead - I had some mood swings for the first month (maybe even into the second) after getting sober. Often it would be that kind of empty feeling you're talking about (somewhere between loneliness and depression). I felt like part of it was that there was now a hole in my life where alcohol has covered it up for so long, and also because I was feeling my feelings again.

I do think our brain chemistry takes longer to readjust than we realize. It has to begin to produce seratonin and dopamine again, so give it more time, and know that this too shall pass. Keep telling yourself that it will be better tomorrow and just get through it.

Find something to look forward to, even if it's a late night pizza. Hope you feel better soon!!

foghead

I have found one thing that is helping and thats meditating 15 mins a day. only started it a few weeks ago but i have found it has made me feel more patient through the day and not so tensed up. its the first time ive every tried it and would diffently recommend it to everyone on here. When i do it before bed i sometimes dream during it. its quiet weird but makes you feel more happy and content with yourself. diffently a thumbs up