DeannaM77

Hi . I am new to this. And I an alcoholic. I want to stop drinking but it is not easy. I have a lot of stress to deal with everyday. I have trouble sleeping at night

DisplacedGRITS

Hi denyya. Welcome to SR. Insomnia is very common in early sobriety. It's one of the withdrawal symptoms that is the most difficult to deal with. Isome of my medications makes me sleepy so that helps me most of the time. I also use valarian root extract and melatonin. They seem to help.

The thing is, not only is insomnia a withdrawal symptom, it's also the result of our unhealthy lifestyle. When I was drinking, I often "fell asleep" (passed out) with the TV and lights on. I engaged in all kinds of poor sleep hygiene. I pretty much did everything you're not supposed to do if you're having problems sleeping.

My best advice is pretty standard advice. Keep your bedroom cool, turn off the TV an hour before you want to go to bed. Don't eat before bed (especially sugar!), no caffeine after 3PM...like I said, I use valarian root and melatonin. Celestial Seasonings makes a tea with valarian in it called Sleepytime Extra. I like to drink a cup brewed with two bags and a little milk.

How long have you been sober?

Nonsensical

Welcome to SR!

I used to believe that I needed alcohol to control my anxiety and help me sleep. When I would quit I would have terrible sleep.

Then I discovered that after 7 or 8 days my sleep started to get better. After 60 or 70 days my anxiety was noticeably better as well. Now I sleep 6-8 hours every night - no problems.

Give it a try. It's difficult, but only for a short time.

PurpleKnight

Welcome the Forum deanyya!!

My sleeping was all over the place at the start, the body needs time to adjust to things, it'll improve after a while!!

Stoogy

Hi and welcome to SR, the guys are correct it does take a little while for the sleeping pattern to correct itself, I was around 2 weeks personally but hang tough you will get there too.
Have a great day.

DeannaM77

Thank you guys. I will try to hang in there.

Verte

Welcome to the SR forum

There are always people awake here. So nice to log in when I cannot sleep.

With stressful days...I start drinking the night time herbal teas in the late afternoon, early evening. Helps to chill the brain and body. Keep trying. The nights will get better and easier.

Mags1

Hi deanyya, welcome to sr, I had insomnia for many years and found not yo fight it, the more I tried to sleep the more it evaded me.

For me, I now accept I don't have many hour sleep but since being sober, my body isn't having to repair itself from all the poison I put in, I can get quality sleep if just for a few hours.

airwick

For me there came a point that I couldn't stay awake either.....the joys of recovery......you can do it. I have a bit over 100 days, and still counting.

recoverholic

When I first quit drinking I had a terrible time trying to sleep. I'm a night owl anyway and have always stayed up late, but this was different. It was like I couldn't shut my brain off and have millions of thoughts racing through my head all night. It will get easier in time. For me I require less sleep than I normally did since I don't need to recover from drinking all night.

DeannaM77

Thank you for everyone's support and advice. Before joining SR' I had no one to talk to about this. It nice knowing there is so many of us out there. I am only on day one but have been on this site the last few days. All night. I haven't gotten much sleep. I think it will be a lot of help in my recovery. I know I can do it this time. Thanks everyone

adore79

Welcome to SR see a doctor maybe. good luck.