jezza

I have mentioned this on a another thread but had one of my drinking dreams last night & have woken up feeling pretty YUCK!!! Headache, dizzy, nausea & that God damn horrible post alcohol taste in my mouth!! Havn't touched a drop.. well only in my dream. I suppose there is good to come out of this, is that it has strengthened my resolve never to go down that path again. I just wonder if this might be some form of PAWS. Surely I'm not the only one to experience this?? Day 8 by the way, not including nights anymore!!

PurpleKnight

My first few weeks I had some pretty rough dreams to say the least and I'd wake up all over the place.

Your body needs time to adjust mentally, physically and emotionally, things do improve!!

MeeFreee

I feel like this when I've consumed a lot of sugar the day before. Now I've given that up too

inthekeyofg

This is my first reply to a thread or topic!
I know exactly what you're referring to. I had, for the first couple of days (the last couple of days actually) the same feeling upon waking. Though, I didn't dream of consuming any alcohol. I didn't know if it was my sister cleaning itself out... or, as what I'm starting to refer to it as in my journals, some sort of "emotional hangover".
Glad I discovered someone else was experiencing something similar!

Aellyce

Jezza, I think what you are describing is very common. Both the crazy dreams and waking up disoriented and hangover-ish some mornings during the first weeks of sobriety. I definitely felt that way nearly all mornings after I quit for at least 10 days. The interesting part for me was that it scared me also at first, but after getting up and starting the day's activities, the disoriented weird feeling was gone very quickly. I think it may be related to chemical changes in our brains, some of which are specific to certain phases of our daily cycles. I would not worry about it... if you only drink in your dreams, that cannot hurt you by any means!

I also tend to have extremely vivid and detailed dreams, and often recall many of them per night - have been this way in my whole life. They also frequently leave me with very powerful feelings for at least 1-2 hours after waking - and this can be a powerful intense good feeling as well.

As for the bad dreams, I very often observe a correlation between having nightmares and my activities, attitudes, actions during waking life. Dreams are, after all, mental processing activities that are related to memories and the rest of our life. But what you have experienced sounds to me like a very typical detox thing - don't worry about it, just stick with not drinking awake and it'll get much better! Oh yes, and the idea about avoiding sugar is a good one, and also a general healthy, balanced diet.

jezza

Very interesting replies.... I'm not a sugar person so i know it's not that.. I do take L-Glutamine for cravings which tends to promote dreaming, very vivid dreams, thankfully not all drink related!! Some very bizarre and enjoyable ones which stay with me for the day.. Just wish I didn't have this alcohol taste in my mouth!! Brings back horrible memories from my Whisky days!! YUCK.. Thanks for your replies..

inthekeyofg

That's a good point, Haennie! I suppose if you're just drinking in your dreams you're fine and dandy! I wonder though if your subconscious mind was so accustomed to you drinking, in a conscious state, that it was trying to fill in that habitual act in an unconscious place. I would love to know what Carl Jung would say!
I've been trying to drink vast quantities of water during the days. I think this is helping with the overall cleansing and flushing out of residual toxins. Yogi Tea makes a nice, gentle detox tea that is yummy both hot and iced! I've noticed that when I'm processing toxins my dreams change from strangely surreal to horrifying. I don't want to get too heady here... but I see a direct correlation to sobriety and the relationship between my conscious and unconscious mind. If my conscious mind isn't being numbed-down I become more aware of myself and my place here (physically). I think this heightens the awareness of my place here spiritually as well.
... Ok, sorry, I'm rambling!

Aellyce

Have you heard of / tried lucid dreaming, Inthekeyofg? I've been into it for a long time and have recommended it many times here on SR to people who're interested in dreams and potentially doing something more with them than just passively experiencing. You can mix and match conscious and unconscious components that way and analyze it for yourself, do amazing "experiments", etc. It takes some training and discipline at first and some people are naturally more "gifted" than others, but I find it a wonderful approach for inner life explorations, especially for people who are interested in a more mindful way of wakeful living as well. It also does not take any more time (or very little) than just what we spend sleeping each day.

nmd

Sleep apnea for me causes morning headaches, but not the rest. Do you have whiskey in the house? Have you ever been a sleepwalker? I dont want to concern you, but some people do act out in their sleep, more when under stress. My kids get up and do stuff occationally, I have but not in a long while.

jezza

I used to as a kid!!! Terrible things I used to do.. I once dreamt that my bedroom was on fire & proceeded to jump out of a second floor window!! Thankfully my brother saw me & pulled me in!!! But as an adult... not that I'm aware of!!! There is Whisky in the house but unopened & I have just checked it!!! PHEW!! Still unopened!!!

nmd

My son ate a sandwich in his sleep, I've opened windows in the middle of winter, and done other strange things. I've heard of people on lunesta sleep driving... scary stuff!! Glad you are all clear!

inthekeyofg

I certainly have! As a visual artist I pull a lot of imagery and concepts from my dreamscapes and unconscious. I started dream journaling and trying to be "aware" when I was dreaming. It is marvelous and very, very telling of what is going up just below the surface!