soberstart

Just joined. After 35 years drinking culminating in bottle to bottle and a half of gin a day, I had my first full sober day on Monday and again yesterday. Trouble is I've only had three hours sleep in 50 hours the rest of the time worrying myself senseless about everything. Any way , nice to be part of an understanding community. x

jennikate

It gets better...I promise! Going without sleep sucks but at five plus months, I can say I've not slept better in years. Your body clock is completely messed up from the self medication and needs time to adjust. If I remember correctly, day 3 was the worst and it got better from there. So have hope, treat yourself gently, and give it time.

soberstart

Thanks a lot. Happy with your new president??

elderine

Hi Soberstart,

I'm only on day 7 today, so don't have much long-term sobriety advice for you. I've quit drinking several times (for a short time, that is) and have found it almost impossible to sleep during the first few days, but somewhere around the 4th or 5th day I start sleeping better. I'm sure everyone is different, but my experience so far has been that it only takes a few days for sleep to begin to come back. Hopefully you'll find that to be the case also.

I'm very pleased with the election here!

least

Welcome to the family! Giving up drinking is the best thing I've ever done for myself. Give yourself time to heal, it does get better.

Grace2

Hi, it does get better, honestly. I'm on day 81 and insomnia, vivid dreams when I did sleep and anxiety are very common in the early days. It does pass, it does get easier. I still get the odd night when I can't sleep but mostly I can now sleep for England.
In the early days you need to be kind to yourself, rest when you can, even if you don't sleep, drink gallons of water to re-hydrate, try and eat healthily and do some exercise, if you get chance, even if it's only a brisk walk, it clears your head, gives you chance to think and it also helps you to sleep better. Also read and post here as much as you can, the more support you get the easier it is.

You can do this. If I can, you definitely can.

jennikate

Yup, most definitely. One more thing to add to my gratitude list.

Anna

Yes, the anxiety in the very early days is so hard, but remember that you never have to do this again. I'm glad you made the decision to live a sober life.

duane1

I had major sleeping problems at first. Even at 3 months I started taking sleep aids like melatonin. It worked for me. Now I have discovered that I don't need it and have been sleeping well without it. It takes some time, but hang on and it will get better.

BabyJane

Dude I once spent an entire bleak holiday drinking gin and listening to Modest Mouse in my mom and dad's basement. I thought it was appropriate because I smelled of pine cones and mint a lot. I also dyed my naturally brown hair deep black, like we are talking BLACK and then shaved most of it off.

It's hilarious now but I don't miss being a freaking alcoholic not in recovery!!! That's what I'm saying.

Good luck to you and thanks for posting, it reminded me of why I'm sober today.