Silly question about side effect of stopping drinking
 

Hi all I have recently stopped drinking and wondered if anyone else had this side effect. I sleep well but wake up with the most dry, sticky thirsty mouth ever! This only happens when I quit drinking! Thanks for any feedback

If your like me and have been drinking lots of beer every evening then it helps to remember that you need to get some water in you at night before bed. If you are replacing alcohol with things like sodas and juices then it might be because of the sugar levels of those drinks. I know that my mouth is dry in the mornings because I am not hydrated enough when I quit and I sweat at night which gets my water levels even lower. Hope that helps.

INH

Yup, sounds like you're dehydrated. Keep up the fluids, aim for three litres of water a day (soda water counts, as does flavoured water, but not soft drinks, coffee etc).

*edit to add: not my medical opinion lol just my impression

It was the total opposite for me. I realised how much water I needed to offset the dehydrating effects of alcohol. Having said that, I quit salty foods at the same time. Are you consuming anything else that might dehydrate you? As ForeverDecember said coffee, sugary drinks, etc can make you thirsty. Caffeine is a diuretic.

Having said that, when you make a positive change to your lifestyle (e.g. quitting drinking) I think you should just listen to your body. All it wants to do is repair itself—and it knows how best to do that!

I think fresh fruits are a good thing to eat as they have a high water content and give you a nice hit of sugar that ex-beer drinkers usually crave. Go for the whole fruit rather than juices are you want the slow release of fructose and the fibre that nature packaged it with.

I had it all dehydration, dry eyes (slept with eyes drops and used them all night) dry mouth, shakes, hot cold flashes. It will get better drink lots of water and maybe pedialyte

What greeneyedhope said about the pedialyte, or even a sports drink diluted 50/50 with water. I usually take a 500ml bottle of sports drink and 500ml of water to bed at night. Luckily I'm past the withdrawal symptoms, but after years of loading up on beer at night, I still get really thirsty.
My first 4-5 days off booze I was stuck to the bed with sweat, couldn't replace the fluids fast enough. Days 5-10, I sat awake most nights eating candies in bed and watching movies. Now I just hydrate about 2 or 3 hours before I sleep and get the best sleep in years. I still have a bottle of water, usually I'll have a few sips during the night, if it's close to you, it shouldn't disturb your sleep much.

I had a raging thirst when I stopped drinking and was drinking litre after litre of water for 4 days. I listened to my body though as figured it was telling me what it needed. Plus prob doing some good clearing out the liver and kidneys. Drinking water should help

Dear all thank you for your helpful replies. I guess it makes sense that now I am not drinking booze all night that I need to replace fluids.

Also, I don't know how long you've been sober, but it takes some time for the body to recalibrate:)

i still keep some hard mints on hand to suck on when my mouth gets dry.
An oldtimer I know keeps a couple of pebbles (small smooth stones from the beach) in his pocket and he sometimes rolls them around in his mouth to keep things lubricated.

The biggest side effect of stopping drinking I found was my allergy didn't kick in...
when I used to drink I would usually break out in hand cuffs.:jail

As mentioned by others sports drinks are excellent for rehydrating because they have electrolites. Poweraid Zero and G2 are good choices as they have little or no sugar.

I pound Gatorade and water all day long, and I make lots of herbal iced tea too. I also keep a bottle of Gatorade next to the bed so if I wake up thirsty in the middle of the night, it's there. I never knew I dehydration could make me feel so bad until I actually experienced it!

Side effects
 

I am on day 3 of being sober and was concerned at how dehydrated and rubbish I feel. This site came up and the replies have been so helpful. I feel exhausted but so nice to know others out there who have felt or feeling the same. Will be getting poweraid and fresh fruit tomorrow!!