Day 17 sober and Insomnia
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 40
Day 17 sober and Insomnia
Hi
I'm day 17 of sobriety and all of a sudden, insomnia has kicked in. 2.30am, cant sleep. I was shattered this evening, didnt give in until bedtime and bang, wide wake.
Is this a delayed response? I have been reading insomnia is.more common in the first few days, but after 2 weeks.
I'm day 17 of sobriety and all of a sudden, insomnia has kicked in. 2.30am, cant sleep. I was shattered this evening, didnt give in until bedtime and bang, wide wake.
Is this a delayed response? I have been reading insomnia is.more common in the first few days, but after 2 weeks.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 500
That does seem a bit odd. For me, insomnia was directly connected with physical detox symptoms, and after a week I was sleeping like a baby. Have you tried melatonin? When I was a few weeks sober, my mind was working overtime, so maybe your thoughts are keeping you awake?
Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,408
For me it lasted many months but there was also the fact that I needed to reduce my caffeine intake. Melatonin seems to be helping, too.
Everyone is different. 17 days is just over two weeks which is about how long it takes to rid your body of every drop of alcohol. It may be a few days longer before you sleep normal again, but sooner than later your body will recalibrate. That’s al this is.
Everyone is different. 17 days is just over two weeks which is about how long it takes to rid your body of every drop of alcohol. It may be a few days longer before you sleep normal again, but sooner than later your body will recalibrate. That’s al this is.
saoutchik
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: London
Posts: 16,203
It's really tough when you have had little sleep the night before but if you can push yousrelf up early the following day that should help some and doing something physical, even if it is just walking for half an hour will help even more.
Unfortunately insomnia is common for us quitters and it took more than 17 days for me but I worked out how to counter it in the end.
Congratulations on 17 days btw!
Unfortunately insomnia is common for us quitters and it took more than 17 days for me but I worked out how to counter it in the end.
Congratulations on 17 days btw!
No Dogma Please
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: SoCal
Posts: 2,562
Originally Posted by WhoDeyPI 
That does seem a bit odd. For me, insomnia was directly connected with physical detox symptoms, and after a week I was sleeping like a baby. Have you tried melatonin? When I was a few weeks sober, my mind was working overtime, so maybe your thoughts are keeping you awake?
I had medical detox and had been drinking around the clock for several months when I stopped. The medical detox involved a valium taper, so I slept well, and I was also being tapered off my sleep meds (Lunesta). Sleep came and went in waves, after about two weeks once the taper was completed I started sleeping normally. However, I'm a lifelong insomniac and so is my mother and her mother, it runs in our family. I had waves of sleepless nights throughout my recovery, and still have them occasionally. It's just the way I'm wired.
I do have to agree that on nearly every night my sleep quality is far better than when I was drinking.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 62
I took melatonin which helped me. I also downloaded the app ‘Calm’ and listened to sleep stories to stop my mind whirring. I’m on 25 days and off the melatonin now as didn’t want to become dependent but still do calm every night. One thing I would say is that although I slept less (especially in weeks 2-3), I still felt good the next morning for being sober!
Guest
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 8,674
I usually chime in on this one because sleep is so important.
I also have to share the view that some of us continue to have sleep problems well into sobriety - like me. It's better at 3 yr and almost a month - last yr was very rough. I'm not sharing that to scare anyone - I'm sharing it to say that both trying things to figure out what works is important....and so is acceptance.
Acceptance for me means that I quit taking sleeping pills my dr wanted me to take because they contributed to horrible night sweats - so I wasn't sleeping after all. Other meds are in the AM. I nap - sometimes more days of the week than not- at this point. My body wants to wind down about 9p and be up around 5-530...but I often sleep 2-4 hrs at a time.
I'm healthy, have a team of good drs, at 42 1/2 consider myself beyond fortunate that maintaining my thyroid levels, watching my too-low sodium, and dealing with a back injury are my probs.
GREAT job on 17 days- and remember it's super early. Staying sober is the only way I got better, and remembering that any sleep is better than "drunk sleep" has to be part of my deal, when I get the most frustrated...
Keep going!
I also have to share the view that some of us continue to have sleep problems well into sobriety - like me. It's better at 3 yr and almost a month - last yr was very rough. I'm not sharing that to scare anyone - I'm sharing it to say that both trying things to figure out what works is important....and so is acceptance.
Acceptance for me means that I quit taking sleeping pills my dr wanted me to take because they contributed to horrible night sweats - so I wasn't sleeping after all. Other meds are in the AM. I nap - sometimes more days of the week than not- at this point. My body wants to wind down about 9p and be up around 5-530...but I often sleep 2-4 hrs at a time.
I'm healthy, have a team of good drs, at 42 1/2 consider myself beyond fortunate that maintaining my thyroid levels, watching my too-low sodium, and dealing with a back injury are my probs.
GREAT job on 17 days- and remember it's super early. Staying sober is the only way I got better, and remembering that any sleep is better than "drunk sleep" has to be part of my deal, when I get the most frustrated...
Keep going!
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
