TimeToGetALife

Hiya, hope you are all well and for looking forward to the weekend :-)

Over the last three nights, on each night, I have had very vivid dreams involving alcohol. In the first dream I was being offered a drink and turned it down and when I woke up I had a mild headache. The next night, in the dream, I was offered and drank one glass of white wine and woke up with a slightly worse headache.. then in last nights dream I was at a party and was offered a glass of champagne as it was a celebration I drank this and then had a glass of white wine, saying all the time it was a one off... this morning I woke up with a really bad headache!!!

The good thing about the dreams is that it has reminded me how bad a hangover headache is and how pleased I am that I have not had a drink in 13 days... on the bad side is I am sooo tired!!!

Any good tips on how to get a more restful nights sleep?

Hollyanne

I would never consider those dreams a bad thing.
Go easy on caffeine and cigs after 6pm.
No TV in bedroom or computer.
Calm things down before bed. Eat well, fresh air, exercise, like walking (nothing over the top).
My sleep was very bad at the beginning but people told me "you won't die from lack of sleep!"
Try and allow yourself a little break if you can. Take it easy, don't over-commit to social/family/work.
And those dreams? again, they are a gift.

sugarbear1

REM sleep is interrupted by alcohol and Slow Wave Sleep is interrupted, so basically your brain needs to learn to sleep properly again. Give time time and heal.

I didn't bother with any supplements; I wanted my brain to re-learn to sleep naturally. I did fall asleep to AA speaker tapes via my mp3 player on my cell phone. My cat enjoyed belly rubs before our sleep and now we both sleep peacefully and restfully with or without our "nite nite story!"

hypochondriac

Well done on the 13 days TTGAL

Valerian tea and hot baths usually work for me but I haven't struggled too much with sleep. When I have though I tend to be incredibly grateful the next day that I'm just tired and not tired and hungover.

MarkstheSpot

Woah, spooky tooth -- I've had booze dreams three nights in row too!

In last night's dream, me and my brother were wandering around a car boot sale at 9.30 in the morning with a plastic pint of lager each. One of the stalls was manned by Liam Gallagher who gave us the thumbs up and said, 'Awright, lads,' and we were like, 'Awright, Liam.'

In the one before that I was also drinking early morning and I was reading a copy of The Independent which was being printed out of the ceiling.

Can't remember the one before that.

DisplacedGRITS

I had drinking dreams for several days in a row as well. It's not uncommon! Mine went away on their own eventually. I think it's your mind reaching out for what it's been used to even though your body is abstaining. I don't have any advice to add to what's been mentioned above. Just that observation. Good luck and i hope you get some more restful sleep soon.

Sometime

Your sleep will recover you just have to give it some more time.

I had my first consuming alcohol dream 2 nights ago since I stopped. Trouble is it reminds me of the feeling I'm missing. But then I'm not having the hangover and everything else that goes with it so I'm better off really!

Well done on the 13 days!

unentschieden

My drinking dreams made my awake self laugh. It seemed like a new AV tactic: I kept "accidentally drinking.". Like "oh my gosh I didn't realize that I just drank three glasses of wine. Oh well guess sobriety is over and I can drink more!"

Don't dream about it any more though.

joecards

I know that one. That one is always a relief when I wke up and I didn't drink.

I had a wierd vivid nightmare the other night. In it, I hid my empty bottles and a body in an empty field; crazy dream. When I found out that they would start construction in that area I snuck back in the middle of the night. I made several trips through the night to move all of the empty bottles.

unentschieden

Yes, overwhelming relief too!

Did you move the body or just the bottles?

Gottalife

Drinking dreams seem to be quite normal. Mine were of drinking while going to AA and thinking "I will have to tell them sometime' I felt guilty in the dream and was very happy when I woke up that it was just a dream. My feeling is that this was my subconsious reaffirming how serious I am about not drinking, so I took it as a positive thing. I haven't had one of these dreams for quite a few years now.

zanzibar

I agree sleeping will come on it's own. Make sure the house is secure, get ready for bed. Read under a non invasive light, or count the spots on the wall. Don't try and force sleep, let the dreams have their fun. Sleep will come. Most importantly make sure bed is a smoke free zone!

joecards

Just the bottles and then woke up ... weird

OheemJah

That is too funny! I am almost three months sober and still have those dreams. I was just telling my boyfriend about them today. I wake up relieved that I didn't ruin my sobriety. I still have dreams about smoking and quit that four years ago. I've only taken a couple of psych classes in my college career, and studies have shown that dreams are your brains way of getting rid of useless information. So, consider drinking useless! HAHA

gordano

I usually have dreams about smoking pot. In the dreams I actually feel high, its very strange. Anyway, when I have these dreams and wake up the next morning it seems to be enough to dampen the cravings. I used to think the dreams were bad, but now I see they serve a purpose. As long as I am sober in reality its all good.

tomsteve

7 years into recovery and i still get em occasionally. i am geatful they are only dreams and not reality. they are usually more vivid then other dreams too and i'll take em over the agonizing nightmares i had when i was drinking.

TimeToGetALife

Thank you all so much for your responses and for sharing, it makes it all seem so much more normal when I hear everyone else is having them too :-)

Oddly enough, last night I slept like a baby with no dreams at all - maybe I just needed to just share them to stop them..

Well, day 14 and still happy about my decision to stop and really looking forward to a nice relaxing bank holiday.. and if those dreams come again.. I will count them as a blessing :-)

Thank you xx