JerryBear2009

I have noticed that after I have a few drinks while watching football on Sunday afternoons I immediately fall asleep as soon as I get home and then have anxiety from 230 in the morning and can't sleep. Has anyone else felt this way?

ClosetExtrovert

Yep. Booze interferes with real sleep. You're probably sleep deprived. Try not drinking and see if the problems cures itself and you'll have your answer.

Horselover

I always, always, always toward the end of my drinking would wake up in the middle of the night and would not be able to fall back asleep. Just one of the many, many reasons I gave up drinking.

4ever

I thought I was the only one that had that problem when I drank. Right before I quit drinking it was really bad. Didn't matter how much I drank I couldn't sleep. Seemed I was more anxious and agitated. Wish I could help, but I'm still not sure why it would happen. Things are better now that I'm not drinking. Took a few days to be able to get a full nights sleep, but its worth it. Wish you the best

vegibean

Yep! I used to think it would do the opposite. Now I get a good, full nights sleep. I would have never thought the alcohol was the problem and it was. The anxiety too.

Just to give you the heads up though, if you have been drinking for some time and then quit, it does take several days or up to a week or so before you're able to sleep "normally".

Good luck!!

traderjane

ME TOO!!!! The last few times I have had alcohol, even in small amounts, I cannot sleep. I wake up in the middle of the night anxious, etc. Usually sick to my stomach as well.

I think it's a good thing. My interpretation is that it's my body saying "Enough is enough." It has gotten to the point where I really cannot drink anymore.

The last few times I didn't even get a buzz, either. So: no buzz, messed up sleep and sick to my stomach. The answer is pretty clear.

TheSunAlsoRises

It has happened to many of us. Perhaps try giving up the sauce? Eventually you will sleep better than you though possible...

smacked

All the time.. chalk it up as yet another reason I am very happy to be free of it!

bananagrrrl

I call them night terrors and they are in the five reasons I quit drinking.

My heart would be pounding, I would sweat and then be cold - I really felt like I was going to die. Then I would worry about everything under the sun.

CarolD

You might want to see your doctor
ask about your blood sugar levels.

That's my suggestion but it's only a guess.

Hope you will soon quit drinking....
Obviously it's not healthy for you.

partydiva

I just got back from Starbucks....got my self a pumpkin spice latte...5 bucks for latte...or 8 bucks for wine! I so rock! Day 4 almost done.

SAAM1968

Hey y'all (I'm from Houston, Texas). I have been a functional alcoholic for years. I am a fairly successful lawyer, but have been battling alcohol and anxiety for a very, very long time. A while back I relaized that I could not remember the last time I'd gone for more than a day without at least a couple of drinks. One day, and that was it. So for almost a year I have made several attempts at quitting drinking. One thing I have noticed for about the last year is that my anxiety has been getting pregressively worse, to the point it is interfering with my career. And so I have done a good bit of research that clearly suggests if not a causal connection, an association between anxiety and alcoholism. I've seen studies that suggest that alcohol affects brain chemistry in such a way as to cause anxiety.

Most recently, I have enjoyed the most success I've had in getting off the sauce -- or perhaps, the least failure. And I have noticed that when I am off the sauce for at least a few days my mood improves, and my anxiety though still there a bit (I am after all a lawyer, father of 4, and a wife away at an elite law school), plummets. My problem is, I keep relapsing. And when I do, the anxiety returns with an absolute vengeance. Bottom line, I cannot drink alcohol, in any amount. I ahve not yet tried AA. Does it REALLY work? I am jsut concerned that they might be preachy, and pushing religion.

In any event, I am new to the site, and I am hoping that this helps. I really need it. I want alcohol out of my life.

watsonc

Hi Sam1968, welcome as well. As to anxiety and alcohol. LIke you, years of daily drinking at end of the work day; good career and all that. Functional. Am now on Day 23 and I can't believe how my anxiety has gone. I realize I'd been walking around in a perpetual state of anxiety, which would peak during stress periods. Drink to unwind. Sleep a few hours, wake and the anxiety picks up again. For years, I've tried antidepressants, exercise, sleeping pills...could it be that all along cutting out the booze was the answer? Have to admit that I seemto be lacking something to look forward to, but am delighted w/the benefits thus far. As to AA. I keep putting off going to a meeting for the religious aspect. Fearful of that and my marked atheism showing & feeling totally at sea. It'd be a tough this to do even without those aspects. Maybe this week, I'll brave it.
JerryBear - try going for 21 or 30 days without a drink. Maybe you'll connect the dots of feeling less anxious, and it'll be a motivator.

SAAM1968

Watson--

You have just described my experience -- for the last two years especially. Work hard, get stressed, then drink at home, or at a bar to "unwind." Some time ago I found I was waking up in the middle of the night with terrible anxiety. While I think some people (like me) are prone to anxiety, alcohol makes it dramatically worse.

I also find that while I love being sober -- and I feel great when I am -- there are certain social things that I miss. Like you, I used to look forward to that drink at the end of the day. Nothing like the high from that first martini at the end of a hard day. Kind of like when I waited tables during college. Best beer (or glass of wine) and cigarette were while I was doing my checkout (counting my money and what I owed at the end of the shift). And it is always great to meet colleagues "out for a drink." And I am a big college football fan -- tailgating without beer is VERY hard.

But I guess we all have to do what is best for us personally, and in turn, that is what will be best for our families and our careers. And quitting alcohol is best.

One thing that has helped me when I do stop is working out. That has helped me ALOT. You also get a high at the end of the workout.

Right now I am suffering the consequences of a few days of drinking, even though it was not "binging." I had gone several days without a drink last Wednesday. Then that night I worked until about 10 p.m., and on my way home I stopped at a bar and had 2 martinis. The next day was terrible, and a deal I had been working VERY hard to get done, started to seem like it might be unraveling. Hardly slept the next night, though I didn't drink. Friday seemed like the deal was "changing", but salvageable. Went out that night with a college buddy and had 2 martinis and a glass of wine, then only got 4 hours of sleep. Next day went to a UT football game, had four beers thoughout the day (last one about 4 p.m.). INTENSE anxiety today.

So, today I am starting the quest to get the drink out of my life for good. Just can't do it anymore.

Dee74

welcome SAAM1968

You'll find a lot of support here.

I've found the first and most fundamental step is to stop drinking entirely.

There's a number of support systems available to help you achieve and maintain that - heres a link to some of the main recovery programs

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...resources.html

Hope to see you around some more,
D

sailorjohn

Welcome!!!

Something I've learned sitting at the tables, while I'm busy studying up on my alcoholism, my alcoholism is busy studying me.

Keep coming back, you'll find a lot of support here.

here

i used to be quite the pothead in my twenties. I came upon some tough financial times back then due to major lay-offs at the company I'd been working for. As things became tighter, and I felt the reality creeping up on me, I simply couldn't smoke marijuana anymore. What had used to relax me now had me focusing , very intently , on everything that was ****** in my life. Gave it up completely.

I find when I'm drinking very heavily now, it's the same. I get to a point where I'm climbing-the-walls anxious, worrying about my life and my future. When I finally do lay down to sleep, I'll sleep maybe 2 three hours of the night, tops.

starcco

Hi all, I stopped drinking last Sunday. First night was hell. Second night I was so exhausted that I slept 8.5 hours. Next night or two 7.5-8 hours. However, last night restless sleep, waking up randomly aware of my heart beat and anxious. Woke up not refreshed. Is this normal to have good nights and bad nights? I was a weekend drinker, not a daily drinker.

sva777

This reminds me of what got me to quit the first time at the end of 2014. The anxiety was just killing me. It slowly got worse over many years, sometimes coming on when I didn't even have that many drinks. Usually the cure was to have some more drink or some xanax. When my wife was around this was not possible as she kept me away from that so I had to suffer through it.

I made it a year without drinking, it was extremely difficult and I kept thinking in the back of my head about alcohol. I relapsed by getting drunk for one night and all the bad feelings came flooding right back after the "drunk effect" wore off. For that one year the anxiety did calm down over time almost to non existent. I of course decided it was a s good idea to test the waters and drink again.

I went another few months sober with a few slips here and there until something finally stuck and I have been sober over a year now. My sober time has been the best time I have ever had, I am able to travel and do things I never would have before. I look at the alcohol as a prison that I was keeping myself in, it is nice to finally be free of that.

You do not need alcohol to watch sports, have fun or socialize or anything else. This is something that takes effort and sobor time to realize but once you do your life will be tremendously better.

starcco

Thanks for the reply. But did you experience up and down sleep patterns even for days after you quit?