Kirky

Changed my Sobriety Date to February 23rd (The 22nd was my last night drinking, realized that I had that wrong this whole time)

ALMOST TWO WEEKS SOBER!

My sleep pattern has always been pretty screwed up. I used to think that I was a bit of an insomniac. (Both my parents take Ambien from time to time because of theres-figured it was genetic.)
My bedtime has changed pretty drastically in the past year.
I would normally fall asleep between the hours of 2am-4am, now its more around 12-3am (Its been the earliest since my sobriety), which BELIEVE ME is a huge improvement.

Ive never had an issue waking up if I have work (Im actually extremely anal about being on time) and once I am awake and moving, I really am never tired throughout the day.

Now here is where my question lies. My problem is/was, when I dont have work, I can sleep FOREVER. I hate even admitting this because its kind of terrible, but I'll wake up anywhere between 12pm-3pm. I always wake up previously to that time, but because I have nothing to do, I just go back to sleep. I dont feel fully "rested" until the afternoon.

Im guessing a big portion of why my cycle is this way is because of my drinking, so Im really trying to change this aspect in my life. I have friends that wake up at 9am no problem and thats like AMAZING to me.

So basically, what Im getting to, is Im trying to force myself to wake up earlier. Today, I woke up at 9:45 on my own accord and just told myself to get up. I made myself a tea and am now drinking in bed, writing to you guys (Its 11am now). I think what I plan on doing is setting my alarm to 10am everyday (that always seemed to be a good rational time to me) and just trying to get into that pattern. Also whenever I wake up for the first time, just to force myself up.

What do you guys think? Is this totally going to mess with me? Is it a good idea to force my sleep pattern to be better? Ive read a few peoples posts about sleep and I understand that in the first few months of sobriety, being tired is kind of normal, so Im just not sure if I SHOULD be forcing myself awake just yet or if I should let my body kind of do it itself, if that makes any sense.

Cauliflower

It sounds like a good idea! Follow your intuition and do what feels right for you without overthinking it. Tea in bed sounds perfect during early recovery!

OldTomato

You know what works best for you! I started setting my alarm to the same time every morning and making sure I went to bed at a reasonable hour. At first I felt tired but now my body naturally wakes up 5 minutes before my alarm, it's brilliant! So much more time to be productive instead of sleeping my day away.

OldTomato

You might find this thread helpful! - http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-partners.html

Mountainmanbob

I hardly never sleep in past 6AM
and usually wake up between 4-6AM.
I'm a morning guy and enjoy the early day.

If you wake up early (set alarm) in short time you will be going to bed earlier.

MB

Anna

Kirky, I agree falling asleep between midnight and 3am is a big improvement for you, but maybe you are just not getting enough sleep when you get up early for work. Maybe your body tries to compensate on days off and pushes you to sleep longer?

Kirky

Thanks OldTomato! I will definitely be posting there

Kirky

I dont think I could EVER get up that early. Im clearly not a morning person lol.

Kirky

Thats actually a really good point Anna. Do you think I should try to change my going to bed pattern as well then? Maybe force myself to sleep around 11 or something? Itll be hard but Ill do anything. I love watching TV when going to sleep. Also my boyfriend is a late sleeper as well, so weve been this kind of tag team with watching tv late. I know that doesnt help of course. Its gonna be hard to stem away from that.

Kirky

Just got through reading the thread that OldTomatoe posted and I saw a few posts regarding people meditating in the morning.

I have meditated in the past at night (and now am thinking WHOA, I need to start doing that again. Would probably help so much with falling asleep.)
But I have never in the morning and it seems so...contradicting. I can just see myself trying and falling asleep immediately lol.

If it helps, then it helps and I would like to know. Anyone know anything about that?

Soberwolf

Wat time do you wind down at night ?

Kirky

Ill usually get into bed around 11pm, then the Tv begins or web surfing or I pull out a book.
I'll end up falling asleep anytime between 12 and 3.
If Ive worked or have work its usually on the earlier side but that always changes and depends on who knows what. Sometimes I try to force myself to sleep because I have to wake up early but even with that its averages around 2am anyway.

2am has been pretty normal to me for as long as I can remember.
(Since my early teens)