OCDDan

Did you ever hear of this? two December's ago (2011) I stopped drinking, it actually lasted for about nine months with a few slip ups after 4 months.

Eventually I felt like I'd have a nervous breakdown so I drank. That drinking lasted until last saturday morning and I haven't had any alcohol since.

I slept most of saturday, got up around 5pm, then back to bed at 10pm until 7am. That was one of the few times I've actually slept well in the last three months or so, I've been going to bed around 11pm only to wake up around 12 or 12:30, then lay awake most of the night, falling momentarily to sleep and wake back up minutes later, that could happen up to about 15 times per night.

So that's bad enough, I can take that. But now I've got this real problem, and i had it last year when i quit but didn't realize why, and also have had it in the past where my neighbors below me would pound on the walls to wake me up. Aparently I start shaking while i sleep, sometimes violently and i used to sleep through it until someone would pound on the wall (this has happend at 2 different apartments and it's happening again at this new apartment).

Last night, just as i was drifting off, my legs did a huge jerk and i woke up, then remembered that it used to happen when i quit drinking last year, and it's happend even sometimes when i did drink. I'm already sleep deprived from quiting other substances, but i don't think i can take this, eventually, i think you go nuts from not sleeping. Anyone have any suggestions?

I tried Melatonin but the nightmares were vividly bizzare.

Dee74

I think maybe it would be best for you to see a Dr Dan - get yourself checked out, and that way you can ask about the sleep stuff too

D

OCDDan

not a bad idea Dee, I feel like I've pretty much wore out my wecome there, might look for a new Doc, thanks.

actually, I was there in august and got my yearly blood tests and did better than the previous 5 years, I think mainly because of some real intense periods of exertion over the whole summer, but still, I'll need to find out what's going on.

TheSparrow

Melatonin never worked for me, have you tried Valerian?

OCDDan

I haven't heard of Valerian, I'll look into that, thank you

hypochondriac

My stepdad has this dan. It drives my mum nuts but he generally sleeps through it. Can you arrange where you sleep so your neighbours don't hear you moving about. Or just politely ask them to not bang on the walls as it is not something you can control and if they bang on the walls all that happens is you don't sleep. If it was me I'd start banging on the walls whenever they moved Maybe seeing a specialist in sleep disturbances might help.

jennikate

Are you on any other meds? I had a reaction like this called tardive dyskensia (sp?). It can be a permanent side effect even when the offending medication is removed. Mine mostly went away after discontinuing the med.

OCDDan

yea, I might move my bed back out to the living room again, I went to my storage tonight and got my good bed out (i move a lot), I also got an air filter out to make some noise, that should drown out the sound of the fridge going on and off (and the nieghbors too). That solves some of the problems, I think i just need to detox at a slower rate too, I wasn't expecting cold turkey to be so bad this time..
thanks!

yea, I've been on a few meds, I'll have to think about that one, thanks for the name of the reation, i'm gonna read about that some, thanks!

i do have a scipt for valium, but only take once in a while

sugarbear1

good to see you, dan!

sending well wishes your way

OCDDan

Thanks SugarBear! always nice to hear from you

zalfa

I get those strange twitches too, but right before I go to sleep.

I am recovering from alcohol and benzodiazepines. It's been about 9 months now. Right when I'm about to get to sleep, I sometimes get this strange twitch that goes all the way through my body. It's incredibly powerful too, almost feels like I'm being pushed around vigorously.

I haven't talked to the doctor about it. Where I live, up in Canada, my doctor pretty much knows nothing about alcoholism or drug dependency. She's one of those types that just says quit it, it'll be rough but you'll be fine in a few days.

I still get mild withdrawal outbreaks. Those twitches late at night or this strange popping feeling in my brain. Every once and a while a strange chill that runs through my body too.

I'm just hoping they'll eventually go away.

OCDDan

yes, it is horrible, and funny you should mention the benzo's, I've been getting low doses for 13 or more years. The tardive dyskensia that Jennikate brought up is an interesting read on wikipedia. I've been wondering that going cold turkey is the culprit of my probems, also wondering if not detoxed properly, the symptoms may not go away as fast

artsoul

Good to see you back OCDDan!

Sorry to hear about the sleep issues. I agree with Dee about seeing a doctor. I got help from my psychiatrist for sleep problems after getting a medical check-up and I'm glad I did. There are NON-addictive medications, something I wasn't aware of until I got sober this time. It's worth looking into, for sure.

Congratulations on your sobriety - hang in there!