Insomnia Help Please!!
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 8
Insomnia Help Please!!
My bf's had insomnia for 9 years and been drinking 10 years. he's trying to cut down but can hardly sleep cuz the alcohol helped him sleep so he's decided to go back to drinking like before. He lives in a pretty remote place in Asia and I'm in Japan so I want to get OTC sleep aids/melatonin, etc to help BUT... I don't know what's safe. He refuses to go to a doctor and the doctors there have limited knowledge/experience re: alcoholism. He already has a weak liver and kidney and type 2 diabetes. I've googled a lot on natural herbs (melatonin, valerian) and OTC sleep aids but I'm still not sure what to order because they all say there may be some side effect if you have a weak kidney/liver. Please - does anyone have any suggestions? He hardly eats too cuz he has no appetite. He's taking multivitamins and B-complex, Milk thistle and SJW too. I'd really appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,416
Hi kairyudo
We can't give you medical advice here I'm afraid. If your bf has a long standing problem with either alcohol or insomnia he really needs to see a Dr.
Here are some common sense non medical tips, but if he's still drinking I know from experience he's simply adding fuel to the fire
Insomnia? 42 Simple Tips to Help You Get to Sleep - Insomnia treatment, cures
D
We can't give you medical advice here I'm afraid. If your bf has a long standing problem with either alcohol or insomnia he really needs to see a Dr.
Here are some common sense non medical tips, but if he's still drinking I know from experience he's simply adding fuel to the fire
Insomnia? 42 Simple Tips to Help You Get to Sleep - Insomnia treatment, cures
D
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Ontario
Posts: 806
Originally Posted by kairyudo 
My bf's had insomnia for 9 years and been drinking 10 years. he's trying to cut down but can hardly sleep cuz the alcohol helped him sleep so he's decided to go back to drinking like before. He lives in a pretty remote place in Asia and I'm in Japan so I want to get OTC sleep aids/melatonin, etc to help BUT... I don't know what's safe. He refuses to go to a doctor and the doctors there have limited knowledge/experience re: alcoholism. He already has a weak liver and kidney and type 2 diabetes. I've googled a lot on natural herbs (melatonin, valerian) and OTC sleep aids but I'm still not sure what to order because they all say there may be some side effect if you have a weak kidney/liver. Please - does anyone have any suggestions? He hardly eats too cuz he has no appetite. He's taking multivitamins and B-complex, Milk thistle and SJW too. I'd really appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.
He really should go to a doctor...............I don't think anyone of us are doctors.
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: uk
Posts: 2,548
Not sure why but i had a deep fear of not sleeping when i stopped drinking.
pretty ironic really , when drinking id sleep the day through...although it was more of a pass-out rather than sleep.
Plus a drinker like me would use the most mundane excuses to return to drinking,
Took a couple of weeks for proper restful sleep in sobriety.
And it was one of the first things i was really grateful for.
Nothing better than a night of restful sleep which isnt aided by chemicals....
pretty ironic really , when drinking id sleep the day through...although it was more of a pass-out rather than sleep.
Plus a drinker like me would use the most mundane excuses to return to drinking,
Took a couple of weeks for proper restful sleep in sobriety.
And it was one of the first things i was really grateful for.
Nothing better than a night of restful sleep which isnt aided by chemicals....
~sb
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: MD
Posts: 15,964
Alcohol doesn't allow us to sleep properly. The period of time for us to relearn how to sleep is not a long time, although it varies for each of us.
Drinking with health problems is not a good idea.
Has he tried to get to AA meetings so he can work the steps? That may help him sleep better.
Tell him to see a doctor. Some supplements can interfere with other supplements and as long as he is drinking, some of those supplements he's taking won't even be absorbed into his body, they'll just move through him.
Drinking with health problems is not a good idea.
Has he tried to get to AA meetings so he can work the steps? That may help him sleep better.
Tell him to see a doctor. Some supplements can interfere with other supplements and as long as he is drinking, some of those supplements he's taking won't even be absorbed into his body, they'll just move through him.
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He's not drinking to sleep. He's drinking to hide from whatever it is that causes his insomnia. Probably the same reasons that cause him to abuse an already-ill body with alcohol. People in a 'right frame of mind' don't risk organ failure to sleep at night.
With all the health issues you describe, taking anything as a sleep aid without consulting a doctor would be dangerous.
I feel for you. But he's going to have to want to get help. And I fear a sleeping aid is just treating a symptom instead of the source.
With all the health issues you describe, taking anything as a sleep aid without consulting a doctor would be dangerous.
I feel for you. But he's going to have to want to get help. And I fear a sleeping aid is just treating a symptom instead of the source.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 8
thank you for the replies!
sorry - i got caught up in stuff but thank you all for posting. i'm writing cuz i worry more about him than he does 
and there are no AA meetings in his part of the world. lots there are alcoholics cuz there's nothing to do but drink. pretty sad but i love him
well - the docs aren't great either. he was taking antibiotics for his liver and kidney for a week. end of this week, he's gonna try i guess - melatonin first. i know there's a risk but gotta try. and yes - if he doesn't sleep, lotsa things from the past overwhelm him and get him to the point of losing it which is why he drinks to force himself to sleep cuz he can't sleep otherwise - all his thoughts keep him awake. drinking's the only way to knock himself out. he's down to a quarter bottle of brandy mixed with water...down from a bottle and half over a year ago so - i'm hoping and praying he's one of the few who recovers before it's too late. if one of the sleep aids work, he won't need to drink so that's our goal. maybe naive - we shall simply have to see.
and there are no AA meetings in his part of the world. lots there are alcoholics cuz there's nothing to do but drink. pretty sad but i love him well - the docs aren't great either. he was taking antibiotics for his liver and kidney for a week. end of this week, he's gonna try i guess - melatonin first. i know there's a risk but gotta try. and yes - if he doesn't sleep, lotsa things from the past overwhelm him and get him to the point of losing it which is why he drinks to force himself to sleep cuz he can't sleep otherwise - all his thoughts keep him awake. drinking's the only way to knock himself out. he's down to a quarter bottle of brandy mixed with water...down from a bottle and half over a year ago so - i'm hoping and praying he's one of the few who recovers before it's too late. if one of the sleep aids work, he won't need to drink so that's our goal. maybe naive - we shall simply have to see.
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