Alcohol Insomnia Connection
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: WV
Posts: 83
Alcohol Insomnia Connection
Hi all, I'm on day 35 of sobriety & and am starting to notice a pattern with myself. I've suffered from insomnia since my late teens. It's really odd, I've never known what tired really is. I've never napped at all & never gotten drowsy at bed time. I just went to bed because it was bedtime & would lie there until 1 or 2 in the morning before I went to sleep. I'm not a hyper guy at all, I'm really kinda of a low key person.
When I was 22, I divorced & was unsupervised, so I drank myself to sleep every night until I was 28. That as when my nightly drinking became an issue for my new wife, so I "cut back" to binging when ever I got the chance. To fight the insomnia, I've been taking a doctor prescribed sleep aid for 10 years.
I noticed in the last 5 years, that if I woke up after drinking, that was it. I was awake. If nature called at 4:00 in the morning, I was awake for the rest of the day even though I had only been asleep 2 hours. On days I didn't drink, I still woke up pretty early, before my alarm clock went off, after 5 or 6 hours of sleep.
In the last 2 weeks of sobriety, I find myself sleeping until my clock goes off & having to drag myself out of bed in the mornings. I'm also falling asleep faster when I go to bed. I plan on halving my ativan dose at the 2 month mark to see if I can still fall asleep.
So my question is, has anyone else with insomnia had the condition improve after getting sober?
Brian
When I was 22, I divorced & was unsupervised, so I drank myself to sleep every night until I was 28. That as when my nightly drinking became an issue for my new wife, so I "cut back" to binging when ever I got the chance. To fight the insomnia, I've been taking a doctor prescribed sleep aid for 10 years.
I noticed in the last 5 years, that if I woke up after drinking, that was it. I was awake. If nature called at 4:00 in the morning, I was awake for the rest of the day even though I had only been asleep 2 hours. On days I didn't drink, I still woke up pretty early, before my alarm clock went off, after 5 or 6 hours of sleep.
In the last 2 weeks of sobriety, I find myself sleeping until my clock goes off & having to drag myself out of bed in the mornings. I'm also falling asleep faster when I go to bed. I plan on halving my ativan dose at the 2 month mark to see if I can still fall asleep.
So my question is, has anyone else with insomnia had the condition improve after getting sober?
Brian
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 184
I am not an insomniac by any means, but I do have a relatively horrible time trying to sleep sometimes. Drinking makes it SO difficult to fall back to sleep once I've awoken like you're saying. Even if I'm completely exhausted, or only had a few hours of sleep, if I have been drinking, sleeping well is not in the question.
I've wondered about that myself, do you think it's because of all the sugar in the alcohol?
I've wondered about that myself, do you think it's because of all the sugar in the alcohol?
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 16
A little light reading on the topic
Hey Brian,
I've attached some links to published articles below.
This first one doesn't answer your question, but you might find it interesting - it talks about the relationship between insomnia and alcohol recovery. Treatment of Sleep Disturbance in Alcohol Recovery: A National Survey of Addiction Medicine Physicians
In this second article (more recent) has some overlapping information but it also has a section called What is the course of recovery of insomnia and other sleep disturbances during abstinence?
TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR SLEEP DISTURBANCES DURING ALCOHOL RECOVERY
Unfortunately there haven't been too many controlled studies for this topic - and from the ones there are - well there are mixed results. One study did find "recovery of total PSQI [Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index] scores by six months with continued abstinence (7.1±3.4 at baseline vs. 4.8±2.4 at 6 months)."
You can read the abstract to that study here: Elsevier
Hope you find this information useful!
I've attached some links to published articles below.
This first one doesn't answer your question, but you might find it interesting - it talks about the relationship between insomnia and alcohol recovery. Treatment of Sleep Disturbance in Alcohol Recovery: A National Survey of Addiction Medicine Physicians
In this second article (more recent) has some overlapping information but it also has a section called What is the course of recovery of insomnia and other sleep disturbances during abstinence?
TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR SLEEP DISTURBANCES DURING ALCOHOL RECOVERY
Unfortunately there haven't been too many controlled studies for this topic - and from the ones there are - well there are mixed results. One study did find "recovery of total PSQI [Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index] scores by six months with continued abstinence (7.1±3.4 at baseline vs. 4.8±2.4 at 6 months)."
You can read the abstract to that study here: Elsevier
Hope you find this information useful!
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: WV
Posts: 83
@ Linz, it sucks that you're experiencing the same thing, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one.
@ Runsin, thanks for the links, I learned a lot from the articles. I think I'll hold off on halving my meds for now. From what I read, the insomnia may get worse before (or if) it gets better.
Thanks guys, er, I mean girls.
Brian
@ Runsin, thanks for the links, I learned a lot from the articles. I think I'll hold off on halving my meds for now. From what I read, the insomnia may get worse before (or if) it gets better.
Thanks guys, er, I mean girls.
Brian
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: New York City
Posts: 221
If you're awake because your mind is running along thinking and in circles and such, I have found it can help to listen to a book on tape, international news (works for me) or some other aural distraction.
Another technique I use is to imagine as realistically as possible some moving scene. Like walking to the metro station. Or just down the street. It seems that evoking such lucid imaginary images knocks me out.
Another technique I use is to imagine as realistically as possible some moving scene. Like walking to the metro station. Or just down the street. It seems that evoking such lucid imaginary images knocks me out.
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,243
I am in the criminal justice system and alcohol is so disturbing to sleep we actually looked at a product that you can put on a probationer that is not supposed to drink that will detect their tossing and turning and a drug/alcohol test can be ordered the next morning!
I am wondering why your doctor prescribed ativan for a sleep aid... ??? A benzodiazepine is not the norm and is can develop into a problem when mixed with alcohol (benzos act on the brain in much the same manner as alcohol and strongly intensify the effects of alcohol if consumed in conjunction with one another). Benzo's taken while in abstinent from alcohol can often trip up a recovery program too... additionally benzo's are very difficult to stop taking as the detox and side effects are difficult and it can take many, many months before the brain adjusts back to a normal state without it.
Have you tried melatonin? It is a natural sleep aid and many people have great success with it. There are some great websites out there with lots of suggestions on how to achieve good sleep... there are lots of tips and tricks that can help.
I am wondering why your doctor prescribed ativan for a sleep aid... ??? A benzodiazepine is not the norm and is can develop into a problem when mixed with alcohol (benzos act on the brain in much the same manner as alcohol and strongly intensify the effects of alcohol if consumed in conjunction with one another). Benzo's taken while in abstinent from alcohol can often trip up a recovery program too... additionally benzo's are very difficult to stop taking as the detox and side effects are difficult and it can take many, many months before the brain adjusts back to a normal state without it.
Have you tried melatonin? It is a natural sleep aid and many people have great success with it. There are some great websites out there with lots of suggestions on how to achieve good sleep... there are lots of tips and tricks that can help.
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 411
I could have written your post. Insomnia was the mainreason I started drinking in the first place. I'm now on a non-narcotic, non-addictive medication that makes a HUGE difference. Talk to your doctor, there are options besides Ativan.
GG
GG
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 119
TwelveSteps, can you tell us which medication you are on? I'd love to find a non-addictive sleeping pill. I've never heard of that. I take Benadryl (over the counter) and it works for a while. If you take it too much it stops working.
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Moscow-Pullman Greater Metropolitan Area, WA
Posts: 107
Originally Posted by abc 
TwelveSteps, can you tell us which medication you are on? I'd love to find a non-addictive sleeping pill. I've never heard of that. I take Benadryl (over the counter) and it works for a while. If you take it too much it stops working.
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 7,910
I started drinking for insomnia, too. My psychiatrist has put me on Trazadone, which is an anti-depressant that also causes drowsiness. It's not narcotic, but works as well as anything I've ever been on.
In the past I've tried melatonin, warm milk, sleepy-time tea, hot baths, relaxation techniques - you name it. I took Dramamine for a while, too, which seemed to help sometimes.
Good luck!! I feel for you!
In the past I've tried melatonin, warm milk, sleepy-time tea, hot baths, relaxation techniques - you name it. I took Dramamine for a while, too, which seemed to help sometimes.
Good luck!! I feel for you!
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: WV
Posts: 83
I'm not sure why my Dr. put me on Ativan, but it does help me sleep. We tried several drugs, Neurontin (not a sleep aid, but it does make some people drowsy), Xanax, Buspar & Seroquel. Xanax (apparently the wonder drug in my region of the US) didn't make me tired at all. I have no idea why people abuse it. I took it for 2 weeks, & didn't feel a thing. Same with Buspar & Neurontin.
The Seroquel period was educational. It's an anti psychotic that's prescribed for patients with Schizophrenia. My Dr. said it would sedate me. It did. After taking it before bed, I could barely drag myself out of bed the next day. You know how you have that voice in your mind when you're thinking? There was nothing. I literally could not think taking Seroquel. It was one of the oddest experiences of my life. Unfortunately, I sometimes have to think to do my job ; ) so I stopped taking it. Then moved on to Ativan & that worked.
In the years I had insomnia before going to a doctor, I tried everything I could find when I researched insomnia. I tried melatonin, sleep tea's, hot baths, mind relaxation exercises, ect. I did an overnight a sleep study, & was told my body was relaxed & ready for sleep, but it took several hours before my brain settled down. Well duh, I knew that doc! The sleep doc told me to adjust my "sleep hygiene" (had never heard that term before). So I darkened my room, stopped watching tv in the bedroom & got a fan to cool the room. No luck with that.
I also took OTC sleep aids. They worked for a month, but then stopped working. So I rotated between 2 sleep aid with different ingredients for a year. I kept hearing about people getting addicted to OTC sleep aids, so I went to my Dr. Now, after taking Ativan for 10+ years, it seems I'm probably addicted to it. It's strange though, I kept waiting for my system to build a tolerance to it & for it to stop working. That hasn't happened though.
When I go see my Dr. in 2 weeks to have my chest pain checked, I'll ask him about a change in my sleep meds. Thanks for all the info guys.
Brian
The Seroquel period was educational. It's an anti psychotic that's prescribed for patients with Schizophrenia. My Dr. said it would sedate me. It did. After taking it before bed, I could barely drag myself out of bed the next day. You know how you have that voice in your mind when you're thinking? There was nothing. I literally could not think taking Seroquel. It was one of the oddest experiences of my life. Unfortunately, I sometimes have to think to do my job ; ) so I stopped taking it. Then moved on to Ativan & that worked.
In the years I had insomnia before going to a doctor, I tried everything I could find when I researched insomnia. I tried melatonin, sleep tea's, hot baths, mind relaxation exercises, ect. I did an overnight a sleep study, & was told my body was relaxed & ready for sleep, but it took several hours before my brain settled down. Well duh, I knew that doc! The sleep doc told me to adjust my "sleep hygiene" (had never heard that term before). So I darkened my room, stopped watching tv in the bedroom & got a fan to cool the room. No luck with that.
I also took OTC sleep aids. They worked for a month, but then stopped working. So I rotated between 2 sleep aid with different ingredients for a year. I kept hearing about people getting addicted to OTC sleep aids, so I went to my Dr. Now, after taking Ativan for 10+ years, it seems I'm probably addicted to it. It's strange though, I kept waiting for my system to build a tolerance to it & for it to stop working. That hasn't happened though.
When I go see my Dr. in 2 weeks to have my chest pain checked, I'll ask him about a change in my sleep meds. Thanks for all the info guys.
Brian
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 119
Yeah I don't think there is a sleeping pill that will keep working. Tolerance and/or addiction will always kick in. Melatonin, Benadryl, Ambien, Ativan, Xanax, etc. Prescription or OTC. Doesn't matter, I've tried them all. None of them work long term. Taking sleeping pills is like running in place. If you are the kind of person who only has problems with insomnia once in a while, they are great. They are of little help to people who have problems every night.
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,237
I have been in recovery for 18 months now, and have tried Trazodone, and Serquoel...but the best medicine by far, is getting plenty of fresh air!! seriously!! after spending hours outside I am so tired by the end of the day I sleep like a baby now!! and have weaned myself off the serquoel....and feel so rested in the morning...Mother Nature has the cure for all!! 
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