Source
r/stopdrinking•
joancose

Insomnia - alcohol seems to be the only thing that helps

I've had insomnia for as long as I can remember. Even as a kid I always had trouble falling asleep at night. I've tried every over the counter sleep aid in existence, and have been prescribed several from doctors. White noise, meditation, etc. You name it, I've tried it. Drinking seems to be the only thing that helps me sleep.

Obviously I know relying on alcohol to sleep is not a good thing, but that seems to be my biggest barrier to reducing my drinking. I actually function better when I do drink at night. I'm able to wake up on time for work, feeling rested enough to make it through the day. If I don't drink, I'll toss and turn all night, maybe getting 2 hours of sleep if I'm lucky, and I'll be groggy the whole day.

My drinking doesn't affect my work life or social life in a negative way, but I am concerned about the longterm effects it will have on my body. My goal is to gain "sleep independence" from alcohol. Does anyone have a similar experience or have any advice?

Posted Apr 14, 2022, 1:41 AM UTC

813
pondhermit162 days•

Insomniac here. We have similar journeys. Not going to lie, going to bed sober was h.a.r.d. Staying asleep was harder. Hello 3am. Throw in extra energy, reduced arthritis pain, over all less inflammation… a full nights sleep seemed less attainable to me sober… BUT the tide turned!

Somewhere over the last 4ish weeks I’m sleeping better, consistently. And sometimes, great.! It crept up on me. :) It probably helps that I made new habits: no electronics 1 hr before bed. Long soak with Epson salt before I tuck in on bad days. Bed for sleeping and sexy times… etc… found lots of tips on the internet. Bad nights I got out of bed and worked on do things I was avoiding doing. One hour max and back to bed. Some night rage dozed on the couch. Sober.

I’m nowhere near where my SO is in the sleep department. Awful man who sleeps like a baby. (FYI, I adore the so -of-a-B. ;) But it’s taken a while to get here sober and sleep wise, and I’m keeping it! I wouldn’t have thought it was possible last year.

All the best in your quest to slay insomnia. I will not drink with you today.

5
joancoseOP•

Thanks for your message. Best of luck to you as well!

2
RileyCaspar83 days•

Thank-you for this... I'm reading at 3:15am having tried to get to sleep since about 10pm.

I like the "Work on things I was avoiding. One hour max."

I think I'll give that a go.

What I won't do, like you, is drink. Not any more. Not worth it for any reason.

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joancoseOP•

Yeah weed isn't an option for me. Gives me anxiety and paranoia. I'll look into trazedone. Thanks!

2
MrJoeyTribiani•

Insomnia is the main reason I’m on this sub in the first place. I got dependent on alcohol to calm down and try to sleep. Then I got physically dependent on alcohol to even function. It’s a very slippery slope, one I don’t recommend going anywhere near.

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2
brainbrake•

Alcohol wrecks my sleep. It only makes me sleepy from the sugar crash. But after that I usually wake up around 1 in a sweaty mess with a sensitive heart rate.

What helps me sleep when I’m sober and wake up but can’t fall asleep is meditation, specifically bringing my attention to my breath and mantra.

When I focus on my inhale/exhale I try to keep my breathing normal and shallow, I don’t do any deep breaths or anything rotualistic, I just try to consciously mimic my natural rhythm, once I even brought my attention to my breath without becoming conscious of controlling it. I observed my body automatically doing it. It only lasted for a second. Normally once I notice, I take over control consciously until I get distracted.

The other thing that helps is mantra - I softly repeat a phrase, for me what works is “what time is it? Now. Where am I? Here”. Idk why these two questions do it for me but they tend to. But repeating a phrase seems to help my mind unwind.

Another thing that helps is watching a rerun of an old sitcom, or cosmology videos on YouTube.

Or getting a glass of juice or water.

2
Ambivert_author78 days•

I have had horrible insomnia my whole life. My dr sent me for a sleep study when I was 34 and I learned that I have apnea. I use a cpap now. A sleep study can really help your dr help you- ask them about it.

2
DamarsLastKanar189 days•

Sleep is pretty much consistent once I got past day 5 or so. Vodka causes sleep issues. Period.

2
joancoseOP•

That's interesting because vodka is my drink of choice. I've never heard that. My sleep issues started long before I started drinking, but what about vodka would cause sleep issues?

2
DamarsLastKanar189 days•

Just my correlation. It is alcohol in general. It prevents you from having a deep sleep. Then when you become reliant, the brain is firing like crazy to compensate - and thus you can't sleep.

Vodka might knock you out. But you're not sleeping well. Early sobriety can be a bit of insomnia until finally I can sleep and then it's sometimes a week of excessive sleep to catch up.

3
joancoseOP•

Gotcha, that makes sense. Thanks for your reply. It's honestly much appreciated.

2
DamarsLastKanar189 days•

"Only an alcoholic can help another alcoholic."

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1
stonecoldstevejobz•

Indica will help

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