james872

Hey all,

I'm wondering about the symptoms I'm currently having. Yesterday was the 1 month mark for me. For about 7-10 days or so, my main recovery symptoms have been total exhaustion and sleeping 11-14 hours a night.

I thought that in time I'd regain my energy and would need less sleep. But so far I seem to be getting more and more exhausted every day. And my need for sleep is increasing. I sleep very well, very deep. I wake up relaxed but feeling tired still. I have a short period of an hour or two where I have slightly more energy and then I crash back down into a beyond exhaustion like state.

While I'm awake, I don't do much. I don't have a job, so I do groceries and eat. And some light chores. Can't do much more. The rest of the time I sit around, bored and tired, looking forward to the evening so I can go to bed again.

My diet is 100% healthy. So there's no problem there.

It's like my brain is out of fuel. When I dream at night, I dream a lot. All sorts of stuff comes up. Good, bad, recent, old, funny, scary, big things, small things... it's like my whole life is being dreamt about. A chunk each night.

It might be my brain recovering. Alcohol messes with your REM sleep as well. Since I've been out of my mind drunk every night for years, I haven't dreamt well during all those years.

But still, all this is quite unexpected. I didn't expect to be completely through this phase at this point, but I did expect some improvement. Instead it's getting worse.

Does anyone know more about this? Or does it sound familiar?

Thanks.

James

soberhawk

11-14 does sound to a lot and still be tired.

I do dream a lot too – but I have always done that, except if I am drinking.

I would try to change some routines, keep it very relaxed before I go to bed – no tv in a couple of hours before I go to bed? Experiment with some changes and see whether I could find what is influencing me.

Maybe you are just recovering.

ScottFromWI

I'd see a doc if you have specific concerns, but personally felt that way for quite some time too. I'm at about 8 months now and still have days where i feel just blah, but it does get better. And even at one month It was WAY better than the alternative of being hung over, sick and drunk/rinse/repeat 24/7.

pinkdog

Hi James, Great job on sobriety. YEA! Your body is still detoxing. Check out PAWS post acute withdrawals syndrome. It sounds like you are doing great. Your body needs the sleep. Drink lots of water. Sobertime will heal you. Good job!

hayley86

I was like that for the first couple of months James. For me i think it was a combination of detoxing and my body healing so i needed lots of rest. Also for me to some extent it was mental fatigue because i found initial recovery stressful. So i felt tired a lot. After those first couple of months i was sleeping well at night and had tons of energy in the day. I am over 11 months sober now and i naturally sleep really well and have tons of energy. It should pass with more sober time.

BalinChane

I'm having fatigue issues too James, it's been almost a month since I quit and I've been sleeping around 8-9 hours a night when I can but need naps during the day which doesn't work too well here at my job. It's weird, I could feel alert one minute and the next I feel slightly nauseous and cruddy and then dog-tired. Might be PAWS that we're going thru. Here's a link to a good PAWS thread on our board here.

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

ImperfectlyMe

Hey James I'm not a dr but I play one on TV . I'd have a dr order some labs to test your thyroid function/ iron and b levels/blood sugar.

They may be off, mine were I was eating to restrictively "healthfully" and dropped my blood sugar and iron levels too low.

james872

In my latest checkup which was very recent, everything was normal. Except my thyroid, it works a little too fast. The internist told me not to worry about it, it's probably nothing. I read a bit about it and indeed it is possible for thyroid issues to come and go every once in a while. It'll be monitored from time to time, but it'll probably go away.

As far as I know, my symptoms are the opposite of a thyroid that works to fast. When it works too slow you get those symptoms. So that's not it.

As some of the others said, it's probably a symptom of recovery. I'll discuss it with my mental health therapist as well. I have my first appointment soon anyway.

Thanks a lot everyone for responding!

Eleni58

Believe it or not, exercise will help take the fatigue away. Even if you feel like you are too tired, take a walk..increase the distance you walk every day...I am at day 53 and I find if I don't take my walks, I am more tired and lazy than usual.

dwtbd

eleni58
just noticed you said 53 , looked at your date there it's two ahead of mine, so I'm 51 , not much of a counter but cool over 50, its been years
way to go me(us)!!

Nuudawn

Recovery and repair is exhausting work after years of poisonous abuse. My first 3 months was an extremely lethargic season. Utilizing your brain 24/7 is a whole different ball game. These are early days. The very "term" recovery is not indicative of peak health and energy. You are in essence still growing towards that.

Gottalife

I went through something like this when I came out of the laughing academy. I sort of functioned while finishing a court sentence, and going to work at a job I didn't like, but I gradually got worse.

When the sentence finished I juts went to bed and couldn't get up. I stayed that way for weeks. The visiting nurse described my living condidions in his report as "absolute squalor". I wasn't drinking and had been dry for 3 or 4 months, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I was about 20 years of age. I had almost lost the will to live.

Though I was not suicidal, my life seemed to have no purpose. There was nothing going on that was attractive enough to inspire me to get out of bed.

When I look back I can see that every dry spell was like this. Being sober was never any fun. Eventually a well meaning friend offered another substance. It changed how I felt, and a drink was down my neck in seconds. At least a drink fixed the problem, if only temporarily. Time went on and eventually even booze did not lift the darkness.

I believe I was suffering from a spiritual malady manifesting as a lack of purpose in my life. It wasn't until I found a way to address this, that being sober began to be enjoyable. Today I have a strong sense of purpose and have not needed to drink for more than 33 years.

Dee74

As others have said, if you're concerned it's best to consult your Dr

In my experience tho, it took me longer than a month to have that fatigue dissipate - I really needed that after noon nap...

It probably took a good three months for me to feel ok again...of course your mileage may vary

D

sugarbear1

I felt like you. I thought when I drank that I wasn't really hurting myself. Oooops!

REM sleep and SWS (slow wave sleep), well, alcohol interrupts the total sleep cycle!

And basically the entire brain has had to make a major shift when healing. I was tired like you and luckily wasn't yet working, so I went with my body's desire to stay awake or to sleep.

Keep healing. One month is awesome, but in the Big Picture, it really isn't much time to feel completely normal.

Keep moving forward! Stay strong and stay stopped!!

CaiHong

James I am we'll I to my third year sober and only now realize that healing takes a lot more time than I envisioned, both body and mind. it's great that you are eating a healthy diet, be patient.
I experienced the opposite when I got sober, hyper activity. My sleep is just coming somewhere near normal.

Hang in there it's well worth it.

CaiHong

alphaomega

I absolutely was right there at the exact same time. The week before I hit 30 days, and for about two days thereafter, the overwhelming fatigue rendered me to my knee and prompted me to get all my blood checked. My experience was that it lifted around day 34 and I have been gathering more and more energy with each passing day. I'm at 6 weeks today and the difference is measurable.

Congrats on 30 days.

phoebe64

I once had 5 months sober and had that fatigue for awhile. I am a napper in general, though. But I remember feeling foggy, groggy at times, and headaches. But it all dissipated. Exercise does help. Walking is what I do most.

I am only 9 days(well, had 8 before that an drank one night), so a bit more sober days than it sounds, and I feel very tired. I am trying pushing through and not napping, though, because I have been restless at night. I think napping sometimes ruins my night sleep.

I also think it is good to see your doctor if it persists. That is a lot of sleeping. Depression can do that too.

wpainterw

Yes, I think it would be a good idea to talk to your doctor about this. Perhaps they can prescribe something to make you feel a little better. Sometimes it takes some folks more time for their bodies to normalize after all the years of drinking. But the human body is really amazing in its ability to adjust back to normal as long as little permanent damage has been done. And it's also amazing how robust it often is in its ability to avoid long term damage. Sleeping a lot won't hurt you and dreams are O.K, too (one can't avoid them!) as long as they aren't nightmarish. After 25 years of sobriety I have a few nightmarish dreams but the good part of that is that you wake up from that into a world of sobriety, sanity and, for the most part, happiness. A nightmare or two is a small price to pay for sobriety. Being able to avoid drinking is the greatest gift I've ever received. In a way a nightmare is a reminder of how it was. It's a tap on the shoulder to say, "It could be this way all over again if you relapse."

W.

Like2Hike

I'm having an issue with low energy was well. It really hit hard around 4 months and is finally tapering off. After seeing a doctor, and being 100% honest about my drinking history, a battery of tests showed nothing major was off. The following is helping boost my energy:
* accepting 8-9 hrs of true sleep is my natural need
* accepting that actually feeling emotions is a taxing adjustment
* exercise daily, sometimes the most arduous task is initiating the action
* a B vitamin supplement
* adding more food volumes to compensate for the thousands of weekly calories disappearing with alcohol abstinence (the rapid weight loss concerned the doctor)

Congrats on choosing sobriety. It's not always easy but without a doubt a better was to go thru life.

AlefVavResh

Sounds like your mind and spirit are trying to heal. That's my first take. Give yourself time. Maybe journal about it.