Raven87

Hey,

My wife is a Dr and has to work nights semi regularly in her current job. This has traditionally been a big trigger for me. I hid my drinking, so rarely got very drunk when she was at home. However 5 nights alone was like a golden ticket.

This is night four of five now and I'm doing ok. I've been filling the evenings with lots of work and exercise to avoid too much thinking time and that seems to be working pretty well, but I'd appreciate any words of advice from others who face time alone like this.

One issue is that I am really struggling to sleep. I've got less than two hours a night in the last four days and it's really starting to wear me down.

One of the reasons I first started drinking was to battle spells of insomnia when I was a teenager. Does anyone have any experience of poor sleep or tactics that helped them?

In half an hour I will start day 20.

Lollipops

Hi there. I also struggle when my husband works nights and late into the evening. I would certainly drink a hell of a lot more when he wasnt here or wasnt able to come with me food shopping i would also see it as that golden ticket! He is nights all week and im doing ok although im only just beginning day 4 sober. Ive busied myself with this forum and magazines with a fizzy water & lime in a wine glass. Seems to be working so far. Im not sleeping well either but it seems to be a common side effect. I do hope it improves for you. And well done :-)

Dee74

Hi Raven - insomnia is pretty common for a lot of people inn the early days, but it sounds like this is a condition you've had on and off for a while?

Have you ever seen anyone about it?

congrats on staying the course, btw
D

Grymt

I'm sober many years now and I still have periods of insomnia.

It doesn't worry me any more because I've found coping mechanisms that work.

An example: I recently quit smoking. A side effect was insomnia. Some nights I didn't sleep for more than 3 hours.

I find these times perfect for meditation. I use some old techniques called anapana and vipassana. (You can read more about that and try some guided youtube vids in the topic dhamma or go to dhamma.org and see about sitting a course.)

There are a couple of results from the mediatation that are relevant. My mind quietens. The hours of meditating is as good as or better than sleep and I find I need less time sleeping and stay active for longer during the day. Often now I am up hours before sunup.

oakleaf82

I just posted a whole long list of tips on the other post on this topic. I would say too that if you've been using alcohol to sleep and you take that away, it will take some time. I had severe insomnia a few years ago and I started taking over the counter sleep aids. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS. It worked like a charm, but then I was totally dependent on them! I stopped taking them and it was very rough for the first couple of weeks as I had to adjust to learning to fall asleep on my own. You just have to tough it out, but it will get better. Good luck, I know that insomnia can be such an awful feeling, at least for me I felt like I was going crazy when I couldn't sleep. Hang in there!

PhoenixJ

Eastcoaster20

I've suffered from insomnia also, even before my drinking became a problem. And I used it also to help me sleep. I'm now two weeks sober and finding that even if I don't get as much sleep as I would like, I'm getting enough to function. I only resort to an OTC sleep aid if I have a big day at work the next day and it's absolutely necessary that I'm working on all cylinders. For some reason, if I'm up in the middle of the night and starting to panic about not sleeping, eating something carb based, like a sandwich or cereal helps me eventually fall asleep. I think it's more of a mental thing but for some reason, it eases the panic of, "OMG! How will function on 2 hours sleep?!" Not great for the waist line but at least it's not alcohol! Try to push through this initial first few weeks and you might find it gets better. If not, you may want to talk to your doctor.

Timeforchange18

Hi Raven. I also suffer from insomnia. I have found supplements for sleep from my local health food store work really well for me. They are non habit forming and don't leave you feeling hungover the next day. Good luck

D122y

Raven,

1 hour of sober sleep is better than 12 drunk.

Take naps.

If you have allergies that hurts sleep.

I have moderate allergies. I started taking zrytec around 4 pm for the last week.

I sleep so hard on that stuff.

It is called somnolence. It is a side effect.

Thanks.