mary5alive

So i'm only a few days into sobriety, and i'm having awful insomnia. I normally would drink a lot to fall asleep and stay asleep. The few times I actually do fall asleep, I wake up so early feeling tired but I cannot fall asleep no matter what I do.

I have the worst urge to throw back a few and get sleep before i work tonight.

Any advice would be great, thanks. :/

Amajorityofone

My advice?

If i could sum it up in one word, it would be start moving.

I wrote this in my journal on my 3rd day.
good luck

August 23rd, 2012- 12:26pm

Day 3

A very, good, day.


Today is the first day that I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and start living life, to its fullest, again.

I was up by 7am, had my son on the bus by 7:52am, and was at the gym by 8:45am. Today I did 12 pull ups, 35 push ups, 150 sit ups, an 8 mile bicycle ride, and various weight lifting machines. I shipped a disabled amplifier, via UPS, to Crown for repair, got Taylor at wings a birthday card, buttoned up the amp cases that were in storage and inquired about refinancing my house.

GOOD MOVE!

I found out that, if I refinanced my entire debt structure, the long term interest rate would drop down to 3.65% , (from a current rate of 4.45%) saving me a whopping 1400 bucks a month or 16,800 a YEAR! Obviously, this move would make life a whole lot more easier. So I set up an appointment for this Monday morning. I also renegotiated my monthly cell phone bill down by approximately 50 dollars a month and paid my 2010 taxes in full. Man, have I been sleeping for a long time.

Not anymore

ScottFromWI

It takes your body a while to recover, especially if you were drinking to then point of physical dependance and needing alcohol to sleep. It's not going to magically get better in a few days. My advice would be to not drink, as you'll reset everything back to square one.

seahorse661

I used my difficulty sleeping as an excuse to drink for years. But the sleep wasn't restful, I woke up often and I was still exhausted the following day.
As Scott said, it will take a little time. I did use sleeping tablets occasionally if I had a heavy day coming up and really needed to sleep but I actually find I sleep better without them now.
And yes, exercise (even if its housework or gardening) is the best way to feel tired and full of endorphins!

chaili05

Yup, I agree with the others here. Your sleep will simply be disturbed right now. That's just the way it is and to get last it you must not drink and allow your body to heal. You can do it!!

jw1969

Last night was my first sober night at my place in the city, at least since the 2 or 3 rare sober days I was sick around Christmas, where I stay alone during my work week. Went to sleep about 11pm, woke up at 2am and wired, wide awake till now.

The only advice I can think of is do whatever keeps you from drinking, sleeping or not sleeping. I did take some valerian root, it may have helped with edginess but it did not cause me to sleep.

Dee74

I think most people have trouble sleeping the first few days, Mary

For me I think it got better progressively after day 4 or 5...I didn't throw any meds at it, alcohol or otherwise, but if it's concerning you or it's negatively impacting your life in a big way, see your Dr

D

least

Whatever you do, don't drink!! It will take some sober time to reset your sleep patterns. If you drink you'll just have to start all over again. It takes time. If it isn't getting better then see your doctor.

Gottalife

Alcohol seems to affect some og us differently. From what I rmember of my third day, after a restless, sweaty night, I dragged myself out of bed and spent the next couple of hours trying to decide which socks to wear. I had three pairs to choose from. Drank some orange jiuce and made my way to the AA centre and had some coffee. Went into the lunch time meeting and studied the carpet. Did not speak as I could not string a sentence together. Gained a little hope from the people there.
Went back to my digs, had something to eat. Made my way to the evening AA meeting. Studied more carpet. Began to recognise some of the people. Hung around after for coffee.

Went home. good day, Not drinking. Head on pillow. Close eyes. Skeletons from closet come out to play. Hmmm. what to do?

lisatrying

Everyone is different but it took me close to a month to get any real sleep.

All I know is it seems to get better for everyone the longer they stay stopped.

Is it possible for you to use any sick leave from your job so you can just take it easy for the next week or however long it takes your body to readjust?

Good luck

Natalie17

Hot milk with honey helped me a lot.

tornrealization

Sweats lucid dreams oh my. Once I got past that exercise. Ashame I get to enjoy this again having slipped. But once you are sober sleep is amazing. I am working on it again. Takes time but so good.

matrac

1-2 mg melatonin a half hour before bed? Its a supplement you can buy over the counter....works for me all the time

Dee74

Melatonin doesn't work for everyone though:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ecautions.html

how are you going Mary?

D

eldesperado

For me, sleep was hard to come by for the first few weeks. I did get a short term prescription for trazodone, which helped a lot. Trust me, it gets better.