notwell

Ive been lurking here for awhile looking for some inspiration to try to curtail my 20 year drinking career thats now requires about 8 beers to get straight and about 8 vodkas to fall asleep. I cut that in half the otherday, only had beer and hid the vodka bottles.

I have been downright restless when bedtime rolls around. I cannot turn the switch off. I toss and turn. Im extremely cold. My feet and calf muscles ache like I just walked 5 miles, I get frequent charley horses. I get out of bed HOURS before I am used to and I feel pretty crappy from the very little shuteye I am getting.

I realize I am sick, but its a real kick in the teeth that I fall right to sleep and wake up feeling OK on the liquor that I reluctantly know is killing me mentally, physically and finacially.

I know tapering is not accepted here but I know you have experienced this. Can anybody suggest any ways I can get this to work for me and my sleeping regime? What non-medical/medication methods should I explore to help me sleep?

MustStop

Thats pretty normal to be going through, I am on day 17 off the booze and have been sleeping like a baby for a full natural 8 hours every night since about day 6 or so. Drop the booze and wait it out, everything will improve in time.

flutter

You'll sleep eventually.. and you wont die from lack of it. Quit the booze, give it time.. I find that if I get a good workout, I sleep better, I also spend about 30 minutes before bed reading a book.. TV makes my mind go too fast. Natural supplements can work, but I haven't had much success with them (Valerian = crazy dreams, Melatonin = groggy the next day.. ).

ImReadyToQuit

I wouldn't say tapering isn't accepted.. I'd just say the majority agrees isn't very effective.. That being said, before the advent of benzos, tapering was the only safe way there was.. Hospitals would have patients on an IV drip of alcohol until they were safely weened off.

Justfor1

The only thing that helped me was prescribed medication by a doctor. I tried everything possible and nothing worked. I use to laugh when they would tell me to only use the bed for sleep/sex. I lived in a tiny studio apartment and my bed was also my sofa. :rotfxko I did find the advice of limited caffeine and only in the AM. Coffee/cola can linger in the body for up to 8 hours even!

2granddaughters

Is there an AA group near you? You'd meet a lot of folks who had overcome the symptoms you are describing.

Best of luck in your recovery.

Bob R.

lilac0721

I totally understand. I have taken my supplements (valerian and melatonin) the past two nights since quitting booze and still can barely sleep and have low energy during the day. I know from past experiences in quitting alcohol that normal sleep does return. Prior to this last period of drinking (about 3 weeks of almost daily heavy drinking), I was sleeping very well.

I still had to use the melatonin and valerian when I went to bed, but my sleep after being sober for a while was wonderful. And I've battled with insomnia for most of my life. Even well before I ever touched alcohol.

Hang in there. I often get up to read when I have been tossing and turning for more than 20-30 minutes. This will pass.

Taking5

These are alcohol withdrawal symptoms. They'll go away with time. You should consider seeing a Dr, he/she can make the withdrawals easier.

Dee74

Welcome to SR notwell

The thing with tapering for me I was trying to limit my intake of something I'd already proven I couldn't limit my intake of....

Like others have said, it's a common companion to early recovery for just about everyone. It took me a couple of weeks to return to a normal sleeping pattern.

If you're concerned about the lack of sleep, I think the best thing to do is leave the self medication aside and consult with your Dr, notwell

D

Orbea

4 things cause cramping...lack of potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium aside from hydration. Most people think eat a banana. Mage sure you get a mg supplement before bedtime!

Sally1009

I really sympathise as I suffer from chronic insomnia, and I know what utter hell it can be. To add insult to injury, very few people understand it, and the usual advice of hot milk, baths, relaxation exercises are insulting to those who really have this undervalued condition. To be sleep deprived is torment, and I have dadly come to realise that, just with alcoholism, it's a condition that only fellow sufferers can understand.
Alas, i dont have a solution for you- sleeping tablets are not the answer. But what has given me some relief is listening to talks on my mp3 player. I listen to AA talks ( aa to go - you can google it), and Buddhist talks such as those by Jack Kornfield on dharmaseed.org. A wonderful site.
I hope you feel better soon.

TwelveSteps

Ditto what Sally said. Chronic insomnia is what started me drinking in the first place. Talk to your doctor -- and if she doesn't take insomnia seriously, find another doctor. Treatments ARE available. I'm now on a non-sedative, non-narcotic, non-addictive medication that really works for me. Being able to sleep like a "normal" person -- without alcohol! -- is amazing.

GG

sugarbear1

Sleeping by drinking is not true sleeping. Once we take the alcohol away, our sleep is erratic. It does even out. It takes time sometimes.

Worrying about it doesn't help. Stay stopped and things will fall into place.

formersuperman

Its a difficult road and a doctor is prob best. Tapering never worked for me.
Messed up and started drinking again about a week ago. Done as of now yet again. Point is I feel your pain friend. But once its over wow will we feel better!

notwell

I hope I didnt throw a wrench into my sleep cycle.

Fearing another night of tosing and turning, sweating, shivering and nightmares before bed last night, I took 2 - 25mg benadryl tabs which someone suggested to me. I slept great, got almost 10 hours straight, surely sleep I have lost earlier this week. However, I woke up pretty groggy, almost hung over like.

Hopefully my long sleep wont hinder my ability to get it without the benedryl tonight.

IamDrowning

I just thought I'd suggest something that helped me. Obviously the normal things that people have suggested such as exercise and proper diet help, but I found that conditioning my brain to relax at bed time with watching a movie that I had watched heaps of times so its not going to keep me awake and was a kind of good feeling movie actually allowed my brain to almost switch off. My biggest problem was the constant thoughts going through my head as I'm trying to fall asleep, but having the volume of the movie low but just enough for me to hear allowed me to listen and not have to think about falling asleep. And if I woke up during the night I would just turn it back on and repeat. Eventually you stop waking up during the night.
Also the few drinks you are having before bed could be making your insomnia worse. It works the same as caffeine so if you are having it in the evenings it disrupts your sleep by usually putting you to sleep okay but disrupting your sleep within a few hours.

sugarbear1

I use my phone to play an mp3 from xa-speakers.com

My cat joins in and curls up with me as we fall asleep to our "bedtime story"

Dee74

Welcome to SR Iamdrowning and formersuperman

I hope you won't need the benadryl tonight notwell.

D