Crimson88

I keep waking up during the night and drinking, it's ruined the past week for me, missing appointments. Thankfully I made it to counselling today and another addiction meeting, but there's a worry in my head that I won't be able to sleep without alcohol, then I don't. Any tips on lack of sleep?

Cc77

Well I'm still up so you are not alone!! Lol! I know it's not funny. It gets better. Your body will adjust just give it time. I get on this site and read and post until I can't go anymore.

fantail

Insomnia is a big problem for me, and one of the main things that kept me drinking.

I stopped 42 days ago and yes, I've had to deal with sleep problems, which haven't been that fun.

But as I got sober I realized that my fear of not sleeping was so irrational. Like you, I would miss appointments, be late for work, or otherwise screw up the next day by drinking.

Start to ask yourself: if you don't drink, what is the absolute worst case scenario? You can't sleep, stay up all night reading a book or something, and are sleepy the next day.

If you do drink, you'll sleep through your appointments and be hungover the next day.

It seems to me that drinking is the worse option.

And once you quit, it really does start to get better. I've had nights of the best sleep that I've had since I was a child.

Good luck, you can do it! Next time you wake up and feel like you just absolutely must drink, just ask yourself, what if I don't?

MythOfSisyphus

Try melatonin. It's a substance that your body naturally produces that makes you sleepy. Try 5-10 mg an hour before bed time.

When I first quit I would get anxiety attacks when I turned out the lights and tried to sleep. It would be hard to breath and it felt like the room was closing in on me. Weird! Turns out I hadn't really "gone to sleep" for years, just drank until I was ready to pass out. It took time for my body to adapt to regular sleep! But it does eventually happen.

Crimson88

I've been in that situation for days, wanted to die D:

Crimson88

Never heard of melatonin. My doc said she couldn;t give me anything till I quit drinking..., and I felt pretty lost

Vastreaction

So, so, so, so true. I worked one day after a horrible bout of insomnia, and I felt like I was more productive, helpful and all-around "there" than when I would come in hungover.

Try to avoid the alcohol for a bit, the sleep starts to come back.

llastchance8

Hi Crimson, Sleep issue is a very common withdrawal symptoms and happens to almost everyone. A visit to Doctor ( GP ) is highly recommended and must be the 1st part of the plan to quit.

Now, let us look at the problem, more logically. You are afraid of no being able to sleep through out the night. Do you know that , a very high percentages of adult population , suffers from Insomnia. ? This is applicable to normies and all other people , who have no addiction. Alcoholics and addicts may find the problem more severe .

You are right. The fear of not being able to sleep, is once again a very common problem for people like us. The same fear, made me postpone my quitting for many years. I lost precious years of my life ,due to that stupid fear.

However, after quitting, I realize that even 3 to 4 hours of natural sleep ( without alcohol ) is much more refreshing and revitalizing than that of 9-10 hours of alcohol induced sleep. Science has enough proofs that REM sleep is absolutely mandatory for human being. Once you stop alcohol your body tries to adjust to get natural REM sleep and that is why you find difficult to sleep.

If we want to enjoy pleasures of sober life, we have to go through these minor problems. They may look quite big now but once you tackle them , they will look like very small problems. Do not think of stupid thing as mentioned in your last post. Life is too precious and natural pleasure await you few months down the line.. Start the journey of few months and you will get those natural pleasures.

least

I couldn't sleep either when I quit drinking. I was so used to passing out that my body and brain didn't know what normal sleep was. But it came back after a while. Give yourself a chance to heal and your sleep will come back.

friskme

Actually, for me sleep problems happen whether I drink or don't drink. In the beginning, before I started drinking too much, I drank a couple glasses of wine to wind down so I could sleep. Next thing even if I had a whole bottle of wine, I would wake up at 3:00AM and not be able to go to sleep. But I agree with everyone that it feels much better to not drink even if I am having insomnia cuz I can make it through the next day, rather than beat myself up or lose clients.

fantail

But what was so terrible about it? I know exactly what you're talking about, I'm not trying to downplay it at all. I'm just saying that at least for me, I realized that my fear was driving me to drink, which actually meant that the thing I was afraid of (being tired and unproductive the next day) was multiplied rather than fixed. The next day I'd be tired, unproductive, and also hungover.

Just waiting through the insomnia at least takes one of those three problems off the list... as well as putting you on the path towards good sleep in the near future. Drinking yourself to sleep is a treadmill. It'll never get any better. The only thing that'll start fixing it is to get off.

Mrbeagle

Bit of a weird one here, but it works for me. I listen to a podcast as i'm lying in bed every night (can't do without it) and it helps me sleep SO MUCH EASIER. Listening to some guys/gals talking about something your interested in, for me, really helps to calm me down, take my mind off things. Usually I fall asleep with it still on!

Like you I drank to sleep, but from the short time i've been sober, it was just an irrational fear of not being able to sleep. I'd like awake thinking 'I can't sleep, what's gonna happen, I need a drink'. Took all the alcohol out the house which took the option to drink away. I've suffered from insomnia pretty much all my life, but for me alcohol definitely made it alot worse. Like others ahve said, what's the worst that could happen? If you drink to excess, you are guaranteed a bad next day. If you don't drink, at worst you will be tired, but you also may drift off and wake up refreshed.

Antos

I don't know if you've considered it, and if you have, please ignore this post, but for me it really helps to not drink any coffee or tea or coke during the day. This can be difficult after a night of little or no sleep, because the coffee can help you stay awake. But for me at least that's a vicious circle. The only thing that works is no caffeine at all - but it does make a big difference.

Crimson88

The thing is, I've been a few days before of not drinking (or sleeping) and the worst part wasn't being tired because I wasn't in the slightest, I cleaned my entire house! after 3 days my boss told me to drink because I could die if I don't sleep.

The hallucinations when I try and sleep are the worst, the tremors too. I felt like I wasdying... I was lying in bed, wanting to take an overdose and walk into the sea.

Crimson88

How many days roughly would you stay awake for?

Dee74

Hi Crimson

I think most people find they sleep after a few days - I don't think I ever went past 3 days myself.

It's very important you try to last the distance here and not drink - otherwise you're just resetting the whole deal again.

If you find yourself hallucinating and shaking again, and your Dr still won't help, maybe it's time for a second opinion - perhaps go to the A&E or maybe look into a detox programme?

D

Crimson88

Thanks Dee, I'm glad to hear that.
I'm going to a specialist recovery unit in a few days but it feels like forever away I don't know if I'll cope the next few days.

MythOfSisyphus

Well, unless the doc meant to say you can't have the stuff, you can buy it in any drug store. It's a dietary supplement, you don't need a prescription. Again, I'm not telling you to ignore the doc but maybe you should clarify it with her. The stuff works well, not so much making you zoned out and tired like a sleeping pill, just relaxed and feeling like you could sleep.

Crimson88

Many thanks I'll check it out

Sasha4

We cannot buy Melatonin in the UK and Scotland.
Its a prescription only medicine over here and very rarely used.
Just to save you the bother of looking for it.