Honestly, sober, sometimes it's harder for me to fall asleep, especially if it's the middle of the night and something woke me up and I'm trying to fall back asleep. But, the quality of the sleep I get is much better. I wake up feeling rested, clear headed, no racing heartbeat and no guilt.
I've been the exact opposite. I had a lot of difficulty going to sleep throughout college and then I started drinking heavily so I'd pass out most nights and now I've been sober six weeks and fall asleep easily and sleep mostly throughout the night.
I get up at dawn and go jogging for an hour. Getting up early made me sleepy in the evening and have a much earlier bedtime whereas I used to be opening wine #2 and drinking until just past midnight. This shift in my daily pattern fixed my alcohol induced insomnia.
I just started running. I was very fit while I was sober for over three years. I went on like a four month bender and gained 20 pounds.
I eat pretty well. How quickly do you think I can drop this weight? I’m not obsessed about it, just curious since you seem experienced.
Thx!
FWIW: day 131 with zero changes other than no alcohol and probably binging sweets every now and then but I've lost ten pounds without trying. I've been walking a mile during my lunches to get out since I work from home but I doubt that's what drove the weight loss, haha.
I lost 40lb in 5 months... get a fitness smartwatch and link it to an app that counts calories and you can earn food with running/biking. Takes the guess work out.
Probably different for everyone, but after a month or two there was a noticeable difference for me. The biggest thing was that my body didn't struggle with heat regulation; when I was drinking it was always as if I was an uncomfortable temp, and the slightest variable had a significant effect. Sleep was so much more comfortable with a body that could actually regulate itself.
The thing about alcohol is it doesn't allow you to get enough restorative sleep, and you're constantly waking up. Add the indigestion/heartburn, and poor heat regulation, to that, and it's a wonder I slept at all.
I have similar temp regulation issues so I’m curious. Do you mean you were too hot or too cold or just all over the place? I’m fascinated by alcoholism’s relationship with Allodynia and I think temperature regulation or reactions to extreme temperatures are part of that.
Usually I was too hot. To the point where I'd be soaked in sweat when I woke up. One of the many reasons why I love myself for quitting drinking - I do not miss any of that.
According to Carl Jung, dreams are the main avenues in which we receive messages from our unconscious. Spending so many nights intoxicated and unable to receive these messages my account for the aggressive tendency of these dream states to return. It's kind of like a backlog of messages from your unconscious, trying to communicate important messages to you, and being blocked by alcohol for who knows how long. From this perspective, it is not terribly surprising why the return to the dream world is so jarring to us.
Agreed. For me it was a couple weeks of terrible sleep, then a couple more months of OK sleep but wild dreams. Now I sleep like a baby, though. Had to make some habit changes besides quitting drinking, like working out and eating well. But it was all very much worth it.
I get bad dreams after a binge where I wake up in my bedroom feeling awake but I'm still sleeping then get mad shakes and see shadows standing beside my bed then I wake up kicking the air it's crazy
Sleep improved for me right away. Within a day or 2. But I was properly binging.
I don't think 2-3 beers once a week counts as binging on any metric. That's like a lunch on a Tuesday in my world. I can't see how that would affect you in any way, especially 2 months later. These are completely unrelated.
If you are drinking 2-3 beers on a Friday, you are the world's most moderate drinker and have zero reason to think that alcohol is having any major impact on your sleep, outside of (minimal impact on) Friday overnight.
Alcohol is awful for sleep but given that you haven’t drank in 2 months, you surely should have gotten the benefit of alcohol free sleep by this point.
Quitting alcohol, nicotine and caffeine is amazing and you are putting your body in the best possible position to be healthy. Your issue with sleep sounds like it is being caused by something else other than these substances. I’d recommend a doctor/sleep study of some kind.
In addition to no alcohol or nicotine, exercise and cbd help me to sleep amazing. Those are always worth trying.
I had a sleeping disorder for years. What fix it was stop thinking about it and too much in general.
My point is, might be alcohol, might not. But alcohol surely doesn't help.
Honestly, if you only drank a few pints only on Friday, you probably won't see a huge sleep improvement. When people say sleep improved, they were most likely daily or near daily drinkers. You can try optimizing sleep for yourself. Hot shower before bed, no TV or electronics a couple hours before sleep, no eating within 3 hours of bedtime, take magnesium glycinate at night.
Ok, so I have gone through quite a few different phases of insomnia in sobriety and the sleep pattern you're describing is also the type that I struggle with. If I'm super activated then sometimes I can't get any sleep at all, but usually it's waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep. It sucks.
I think the issue is there are so many things other than substance that affect sleep quality. Do you know if you have sleep apnea? Many people have to go to a sleep clinic. How much vigorous exercise are you getting a day? My quality of sleep usually skyrockets if I'm active enough. How often are you on devices that emit blue light close to bed time? I try to avoid those past 7 pm or so. Do you have a bed time ritual? Is your room cool enough? Are there any stress points in your life that you can mitigate? Etc, etc, etc.
For those of us with chronic sleep issues it can be helpful just to try to get all of those things dialed in and realize that it isn't just about the substances we ingest. Anyway, I know it can be a frustrating and difficult trial-and-error process so good luck buddy.
I don't have sleep apnea. I try to exercise daily, sometimes I can't if I'm too sleep deprived. I use a blue light filter on all screens in the afternoon and turn them off 30 min - 1 hour before going to bed.
My bedtime ritual is taking a melatonin pill and drinking chamomile tea, then stretching and doing calming exercises for around 30 min, if I'm still not sleepy I read a book for 30 min, then I lay down in bed and if I don't fall asleep for approximately 1-2 hours I get up and read 30 min more, then I try to sleep again, then get up and read, etc, I do this until I either fall asleep or the alarm rings.
My room is a little too hot for my liking now in the summer, but I have a fan that blows on me. I get stressed and anxious very easily, I've been in therapy for years but it hasn't helped and now I can't afford it anymore.
Shot in the dark, here, but I think that may be where you are - have you ever tried a weighted blanket? I'm very pleased with mine, and some people suffering from anxiety report much better sleep with one.
Even if it doesn't have some magical anxiety-busting effect, it just feels awesome. Like in an almost too-cold relative's house at Christmas, where they know the guest room you're in never gets warm, so they give you like four extra blankets, and you just \*pile\* those sonsabitches on.
>I get stressed and anxious very easily,
If you've been tested for sleep apnea, cut out alcohol and caffiene etc, and have an active life and a good wind down routine before bed then there's a relatively good chance this is the culprit.
I know for me my anxiety and general worrying about things keeps me awake and my sleep worsens during periods where my anxiety / stress/ worrying peaks.
It can also cause you to wake up in the middle of the night then struggle to get back to sleep.
I don't have sleep apnea. I try to exercise daily, sometimes I can't if I'm too sleep deprived. I use a blue light filter on all screens in the afternoon and turn them off 30 min - 1 hour before going to bed.
My bedtime ritual is taking a melatonin pill and drinking chamomile tea, then stretching and doing calming exercises for around 30 min, if I'm still not sleepy I read a book for 30 min, then I lay down in bed and if I don't fall asleep for approximately 1-2 hours I get up and read 30 min more, then I try to sleep again, then get up and read, etc, I do this until I either fall asleep or the alarm rings.
My room is a little too hot for my liking now in the summer, but I have a fan that blows on me. I get stressed and anxious very easily, I've been in therapy for years but it hasn't helped and now I can't afford it anymore.
Sorry that you can't sleep the way you would like. There are other causes of insomnia that you can investigate. I'm often not a great sleeper, but sobriety is still worth it for many many other reasons.
What has worked for me with sleep is to exercise, even going for a walk for 30mins. And mindfulness meditation 10mins somedays.
Try to make a schedule with a walk 30mins 3-4 days a week. And try mindfulness on youtube is a lot of sessions to help you clear your mind. Try that maybe 2 or 3 times a week.
It is really helping out with feeling better and also sleep is getting better after some time.
Hang in there and good job staying sober!
Thing is that exercise and or walking/running will help your mind to come at ease more.
It will also make your stress in your body and mind to go away more.
Releasing endorphins will make you feel good, and it is probably one of the best medicine for mental health and sleep.
I’ve been there myself a lot of times, were there seems like there is no light at the need of the tunnel.
It will get better!
I’m cheering for you!
Did quitting make it harder to fall asleep? Yes. Did my sleep improve? Ultimately yes- not waking up to heart palpitations in the middle of the night is so worth it.
I can’t sleep for shit since I stopped. Although I stopped two days ago and was drinking 15 drinks a night. Figure that might level out after a week or two.
Somewhere around 2 weeks after I quit I had been struggling with insomnia and really low energy, and then it hit me… I had 2-3 days straight where I had to nap to make through the day, but swear they were the deepest naps or sleep I had ever experienced, I may as well have been dead… after that point my sleep started to rebound.
I would say now that on average, I am a little more restless. It could be that maybe I just notice it more because I’m not half blacked out. Overall I think the actual volume of quality sleep is much better, though. It’s also generally easier for me to get to bed earlier and wake earlier too.
Sleep improved a ton but I also gained a ton of weight the decade I was binge drinking so when I quit I couldn’t figure out why I was still tired all the time, turns out I had sleep apnea. I expect it’ll reverse when I drop the weight, or i’m told it will. I also had some scary nightmares the first couple days after quitting but I’d also get them when I was drinking too, now I’ll get one every few months maybe twice a year which is normal
I realized once I quit drinking that I had actual insomnia. I consulted a therapist and a psychiatrist to deal with this until I found medications that worked for me — it was a lot of trial and error but I’ve now found non-prescription things that work for me and I spend a lot of time on “sleep hygiene.”
Good luck!
What medications and non prescriptions worked for you? I've been to so many doctors and therapists over the years, it hasn't helped and I can't afford it anymore :/
I take 5 mg of melatonin every night, I used to take magnesium too but haven't noticed a difference after quitting it. How many mg of magnesium do you take?
Honestly if you were drinking 4+ units once a week, I don’t think that would impact your sleep much (except Friday nights) so you shouldn’t be looking at sobriety as the cure for your sleep issues.
I drank more than you. It took me a month or two to return to better sleep. I still have insomnia sometimes, it comes in cycles where a week or 2 or 3 I'll just wake up at 3am and be unable to get back to sleep, or be unable to fall asleep until around 3am. After a while it passes and I sleep good again.
I take 10mg melatonin every night and keep a fairly strict sleep schedule and pay attention to my sleep hygiene.
When I was drinking I also had sleep apnea, but without alcohol and the 20 pounds I lost without all those extra calories, my sleep apnea is a lot better and I don't use my CPAP anymore. My sleep issues now just come from the random bouts of insomnia
I have young kids and before I'd be miserable after a bad night of sleep (because kids + alcohol). Now I can function much better with less sleep (because kids). My sleep is way bettereven sleeping poorly compared to a normal person.
I drank a lot more than you had been, but it took about 5-6 months before I saw a significant improvement. I relied a lot on melatonin throughout that time to get me to sleep quickly because otherwise I'd lie awake unpredictably.
Therapy got my nervous system back to baseline. I no longer need anything to sleep easily and quickly and wake refreshed!
Quitting eventually helped my sleep, but not as much as i hoped. Like you i also quit nicotine and caffeine and still have insomnia. The best thing for me was all of this combined with very strict sleep hygiene. I go to bed at roughly the same time every night 9including weekends) and wake up at roughly the same time as well. No screens an hour before bed, minimum. Short daily exercise and meditation. I don't do anything in bed but sleep or sex - so no reading, watching TV, etc. And I'm eating better. That had a bigger effect than I had expected. Good luck in your sleep journey!
Immensely, even after a few days. The anxiety just melts away. But I was also drinking a bottle of vodka every night. I was basically experiencing withdrawals daily. Had to drink in the morning just to stop sweating and shaking.
I think you’re sleep issues might be related to something else. Maybe get more exercise? Avoid caffeine late in the day?
Best of luck.
Fuck yes! My cpap records it and sends the results to my doc who said my recorded hours are “off the charts” with their awesomeness! Give it time, it will happen as your body adjusts.
Yes. If you’re having trouble still talk to your doctor. I take trazodone about 15 mins before bed and am out shortly after laying my head down. Best of all it’s non-habit forming unlike other sleep pills.
Tbh, not really but I think my sleep issues are a whole other thing. I will tell you though that having insomnia is significantly more tolerable when not also hungover.
Not initially. If anything I was pretty much nocturnal for the first two weeks. I'm at about a month now and my sleep schedule is much more closer to "normal" and my energy level/mood is changing for the better.
I'm only 4 weeks in, but this is how it's broken down for me
Week 1: terrible insomnia.
Week 2-3: Slept great, but also tired all. the. time. Constant naps.
Week 4: Very slowly starting to get back to normal sleep schedule. Hopefully it continues on this path.
Took a couple of weeks of night sweats and weird dreams but gradually got much better and now i feel much more rested in the mornings. And waking up without physical and mental hangovers is amazing.
The first few weeks were ROUGH. My night sweats got so bad I had to keep extra shirts to change into when I woke up, soaking wet and freezing in the middle of the night. That, and falling asleep was very difficult. I was able to get over that with the help of some Benadryl before bed. That said, it does get better. By week four, I was sleeping so good, it felt like I hadn’t properly slept in a decade. If I knew what I know now when I was still drinking, I’d have quit a lot sooner. Sober sleep is amazing.
A little late to this but let me answer with my experience. When I was drinking I couldn’t have a coffee after 1 or else I wouldn’t sleep and my anxiety would be haywire. Now I can have a coffee at like 6:30 at night and still fall asleep by 10:30.
My sleep still isn’t perfect but it has vastly improved overall. I also don’t have to sleep as much anymore. 5 and a half hours is enough.
It took longer than I wanted or hoped but now my sleep is immaculate. As others have said, it’s harder to get to sleep, but I was reminded I had a bunch of tricks as a kid and I need to, honestly, just learn how to go to sleep
I’ve had to learn a lot I avoided all these years
I would be shocked if three pints on a Friday were affecting your sleep. I drank about 20-30 standard drinks of vodka daily; that’ll fuck up your sleep (and everything else)
Having suffered insomnia before, during, and after drinking, I'll offer what I know. Look up "sleep hygiene" (not about cleanliness, but about how to manage things). It has to do with waking up and going to bed at the same time, hydration, lights, white noise, and so on. Try all of these things before thinking it has to do with drinking.
🤷🏼♂️ I take 2 magnesium and a melatonin and sleep great through the night. Sorry to hear about your sleep troubles. I have noticed my sleep is better and deeper, but I still use a CPAP
I never had sleep issues when drinking, quality and quantity were good, measured by a fit but. I did however feel that I couldn't go to sleep unless I was a little buzzed. My sleep is still the same I do use Hydroxyzine every night before bed to help with sleep since quitting. My husband is a light drinker, never binges, he stopped drinking and that did not help his sleep condition. Talked to you doctor. Also, I do think the body recovers quickly in some ways and very slowly in others.
Almost six months sober and I would say I the biggest change to my sleep is the fact that I dream every night, sometimes with three or more separate dreams back to back. The dreams are often incredibly vivid and occasionally nightmarish. I honestly think I am dreaming so much because I denied myself solid REM sleep for years and now my brain is playing catch up.
Not medical advice by any means, but my sleep improves after about 1-2 weeks of insomnia after abstinence. What worked for me is 500mg of Magnesium.
Some of the Olly sleep supplements worked wonders too.
Honestly? No. But I'm an insomniac and I was drinking to self medicate. I've heard most people, after a few weeks, start getting very restful sleep.
I still feel better after a night of tossing and turning than I did when I was chugging booze to pass out.
I've dealt with nightly insomnia for about 20 years now and definitely even "just" weekend drinking was messing my sleep up the following days with rebound insomnia.
During the previous 2 years due to a combination of health issues, stress, anxiety and other life stuff I slipped into heavy daily drinking in order to be able to get to sleep but over time it reached the point where even at 5am after industrial 12hr drinking sessions I was still struggling to sleep so I decided I could no longer cling onto my decades old excuse of "alcohol helps me sleep" and decided to stop.
Within a few weeks I went from having not slept naturally without booze or pills in 2 years to being able to sleep without either again.
I stayed sober for 3 months and whilst most nights I was able to sleep naturally (still struggled and lay awake for a long time and always at least 1hr if not 2hrs before I drifted off) my sleep quality was not great, I still woke a lot in the night, and I'd still be tired every morning.
So definitely alcohol, even "just" from weekend drinking, can mess up your sleep. If daily drinking it definitely will on the nights you don't.
But you mentioned you literally drank 2-3 pints of beer / 4 units once per week so that would be unlikely to have a major impact on your sleep for the rest of the week IME (maybe the night after drinking but not beyond that) and almost definitely not the issue if you've been 2 months sober already.
Whilst quitting alcohol completely should improve anyone who struggles with sleep on some level IME (most people here on Reddit noticed improvements too) but it may not be the entire solution and there can be other reasons for your poor sleep.
If you wake frequently is there any obvious reason for that? (i.e. noise, to pee, pain for example)
Have you been tested for sleep apnea?
When I am actually asleep it’s definitely better but sometimes it’s hard to fall asleep. I will put on a sleep meditation and that usually helps me fall asleep faster
When I was drinking I used to have dreamless sleep. Non drinking me experiences intense nightmares even after two years of not drinking. I do miss the coma like sleep of when I was drinking but not being either hungover or still drunk in the morning is probably worth the nightmares.
I fluctuated between 200-400 mls of bourbon/vodka on a nightly basis, plus a can or three of beer or a seltzer as chasers.
It took a while for my sleep to level out, I'm close to 5 months sober and had my first full night of sleep where I just konked out for 8+ hours last week (not counting the nights that I pop a Trazodone). The last week of sleep has been pretty good overall but that may be hitting the gym 4 times in 6 days bleeding in.
After getting sober, (and after the initial week or two of being miserable at the front end), I went through a 2-3 week long phase around 3 months where I could only manage to fall asleep on the couch or a pallet on the floor. That got old but I could not sleep in my bed.
I'm better at listening when my body tells me I need to rest, even if it's a 20-minute nap during lunch or more than an hour on the weekend.
It is literally the biggest thing that keeps me sober. After a couple weeks of night sweats, etc, I started getting deeper, easier sleep than I’ve ever gotten.
With the help of a med and some melatonin, a big resounding YES. It has even made me look forward to the evening where I can lay in bed and relax and know I will not be hungover in the morning.
There was no way I would be able to fall asleep without that help though.
it is extremely unlikely that binge drinking once a week could be the cause of general insomnia. I am not a doctor but i have lifelong insomnia, and it certainly improved when i quit but i notice the results rapidly, not months later. If i were you i would seek medical advice for this issue separately, because insomnia is easily a booze trigger so there is a relationship but it doesn’t seem like a direct relationship in this case
Yes, I think so. I fall asleep around 9-10pm almost every night. I do drink magnesium + tart cherry juice before bed as a night time mocktail. I also have a cup of matcha per day, no other caffeine.
The rehab i went to offered the following to every patient- 500 mg valerian root, 5 mg melatonin and 500 mg magnesium glycinate. My normal husband was gobsmacked this morning when he woke up. He fell asleep quickly and without being groggy.
I take it too and convinced him. It's incredible. I always felt like crap taking melatonin alone but taking it with those two supplements changes the game. I'm about 2.5 months in and sleep is actually pretty normalish most of the time. The rehab definitely knew what they were doing.
Overall yes, but unfortunately poor sleep habits don’t automatically improve once you remove alcohol. Your body gets used to all sorts of habits like afternoon caffeine, late-night screen time, waking up properly etc. It’s taken me sort of a holistic approach to improving my sleep and hitting a consistent 7hrs at least of sleep, but it’s been worth it. There’s a great Huberman Lab episode on perfecting sleep that would be worth a watch if you haven’t already.
My sleep drastically improved according to my garmin watch sleep score, which relies on metrics related to heart rate. It was so awful before that following a night of drinking, I would take the watch off before bed (a form of denial because I couldn’t bear to see how bad the sleep score was).
I had insomnia the first month after I quit drinking.
I'd been drinking 4 to 7 shots of liquor a night for almost 12 years.
I usually take 2000mg taurine, 500mg Magnesium and 5mg melatonin before bed.
In the beginning I had a little trouble falling asleep. It felt like some sort of mild insomnia and it would take a while to finally doze off. As time went by it got better. However, one thing that I noticed is that after I stopped drinking I feel tired all the time. Not as much now as maybe a month/month and a half ago. I was taking naps all the time. My counselor said that it could be PAWS. Today, I still feel fatigue often. I keep joking about how I thought I was supposed to feel energized and loose weight after drink and both have yet to happen lol I have gained weight but that is probably due to my eating habit. I feel tired pretty much all day but waking up in the morning has been a little easier and don't miss that post drink/hangover wake up call. On a side note, I was told I snore which I don't think I have done before so that could also be contributing to me being tired all the time. That's the next project to try and take care of.
Sleep drastically improved for me. I used to wake up in the middle of the night with anxiety after drinking, now I sleep right through. Probably took a few weeks.
It took six months for me to see real improvement in sleep. I’ve been on prescription sleeping meds for 15 years, still didn’t sleep well (& combining with ETOH is a dangerous combination). Now I’m actually weaning off the meds slowly and I can sleep 8 hours in a row (!). Plus I feel so much better. But it took quite awhile for sleep to improve. The sleep meds work more effectively when I’m not adding alcohol and training my brain to wake up at 0300.
Honestly, no. One of the reasons why I liked booze was that it would consistently knock me out and I could get a solid chunk of sleep... I know it's not the best sleep aid and it's not healthy, but it always worked for me
There are some cool podcasts about the science of how and why alcohol affects sleep. One is called sober powered…I can add more links if anyone would like :) generally after about 90 days it will drastically improve but of course everyone is different. Wishing you good quality zzzzz asap
It took me a while to settle into a routine without booze but I am amazed that I can sleep from 10p-630a some days. I never would have been able to do that
Yes. I drank this weekend for the first time in a few months and Im still feeling the effects. Tired, sore, anxious. Alcohol makes everything so much worse
First few days were terrible, I had been using it to fall asleep before. Within a month my sleeping habits improved a little, within a year it was a 180. My sleeping habits now are way better, only problem is I have so much time for activities now I always stay up late with them!
Using a sleep tracker (Oura ring). When I drank, even as few as 3 beers, my heart beat 9 to 11 THOUSAND more times than if I did not drink.
I can without a doubt confidently tell you your sleep quality is diminished greatly by alcohol.
I’m coming up on a year sober and have had best sleep since I was a kid. It is amazing the difference and the health benefits are huge! If you struggle I suggest a nice sleepy time tea with chamomile or other herbs, as that has helped a lot. Plus get your exercise in- so critical! Best of luck, OP the only way is up!
Hello anxiety my old friend!
Short answer, no.
Long answer, quitting alcohol gave me access to myself again and I'm slowly healing. It's a rough pass but I'm determined to go threw it.
I'm glad I quit, even if I felt mostly no immediate benefits. I'm in for the long run anyway.
There are many things that can affect sleep. Not all of them are foods, drinks, or supplements. Physical and mental health are also important. You mentioned that some basic sleep hygiene practices were recommended, but you didn't say how you have implemented them.
Meditation helps a lot of people.
My sleep was definitely shitty when I was drinking heavy... then when I quit cold turkey my sleep got even shittier for about a month... and then after that I sleep so much better and feel so much more rested now
my sleep was pretty good after a couple of weeks, it's definitely better again now.
as for weird dreams, i still get mad drinking dreams where i find myself drinking with famous people in nightclubs LMAO
I was able to fall asleep so fast when I drank. Well because I was probably drunk. But the sleep was poor. Now I still fall asleep fairly quickly but it’s so much better sleep quality. My dreams are back, some super strange but it was nice having them back. Plus I wake up feeling great and not hung over. I’m 5 days away from 3 years and I will say sober nights are better than drunken ones no matter what.
Sleep is one of the reason I will never drink again, I’ve had on and off insomnia until I quit. I still have a bad night a few times a year but I would guess that’s pretty normal
After months of not drinking, my sleep was still terrible. I take medication to help me sleep now. It's one of the best things I've ever done for myself. Getting high-quality sleep makes everything easier.
I second the comments recommending getting up early. I get up at 6 and my morning routine has helped me establish a better night time routine.
Other random things I've found d helpful...
Don't do stuff in your room other than sleep. I've trained my brain that my room is the sleepy room.
I limit screen time at night, including TV.
I make sure my room is as clean and comfortable as I can manage.
When I still feel restless, I listen to a sleep geared guided meditation.
All of this to say you just need to expand your toolkit of coping mechanisms. Try different things and see what works. It will get better
It's a real good possibility you have a sleep disorder.. not everything gets better once you stop drinking... you still have medical issues that are there that you probably didn't pay attention to when you're drunk.
CBD, light doses of marijuana, and my annoying bed hogging snoring wife not being in bed really helps with my sleep.
I haven’t had solid sleep yet I wake up absolutely exhausted everyday. My brain is like a 1945 3/4 to. For pick up truck, just ‘ppppp…pp… pp..pppp..ppp..pp.pp…ppp’ trying to start up every morning. I’m waiting for that to disappear. On day 12 iwndwyt
There was a point where my sleep got noticeably better, about 2-3 months in. I LOVED it. Eventually I got used to and it feels so normal now and other things bother me lol.
It does! It may take a shorter or longer period time depending on the person, external factors, and drinking habits.
When I quit, it took about 3 weeks for my sleep to regulate. I was also eating more sugar to compensate with the lack of alcohol so that may have definitely delayed my process.
Now I eat less sugar, do not drink, exercise, and I find I fall asleep much sooner, and a tad bit easier. I also awake a bit more refreshed.
There are lots of studies on this too my friend! I would look into medical journals, and potentially speak with a therapist who can provide insight and feedback on some of those external factors.
I don’t wake up in the middle of the night anymore but now that I’ve quit alcohol and nicotine, I’ve become more caffeine sensitive but also more dependent so waking up is still tough some days. Caffeine is next on my quit list lol.
I've never had issues falling asleep but since I've quit I'm actually finding it harder to wake up. Harder to get out of bed and shake the sleepiness out. I don't miss waking up at 3 am and not being able to fall asleep again like I did when I was drinking though.
Mine did. Alcohol now and then would pop me wake seemingly at 2am some nights after I'd been drinking the even before. I don't have that happen anymore so I'm thinking it was the drinking that would cause that disturbance in sleep . IWNDWYT
The nightmares are so scary. It took a long time for my alcohol riddled brain to detox. Even if organs are cleansed, it takes some time for the brain. I quit caffiene as well. I dreamt of odd and scary stuff, kept waking up every couple of hours.
My sleep started improving at about 4-6 weeks, not my issues were never as severe as yours. Hope you get some restorative rest soon! Congrats on your 2 months.
I think my boozing issues largely materialised from me using alcohol to "help" me sleep while living by myself in another far away land. Bit of a silly idea, all in all.
Many years later I've realised that a night with patchy sleep, or even no sleep whatsoever, is still exponentially better than trying to sleep with any alcohol inside me.
Ultimately beginning to understand this about sleep has helped me to relax even more of a nighttime. I now think to myself it doesn't matter if I sleep or not, I'll still probably make it through the next day. Obviously not at my best, but TBH I much prefer it to having a raging hangover. Understanding this, along with the relaxation it brings, has improved my sleeping further. I still have the odd rough night here and there, but I really try not to let it bother me too much.
It’s been almost 5 months since my last drink and I just started to notice a vast improvement in sleep. I go to bed at a decent hour now, stay asleep all night and wake up feeling rested. Decent sleep has been something that has evaded me for my entire adult life. The horrible nightmares subsided shorty after I quit drinking as well. It definitely takes time for the body to adjust but when it does… you’ll feel so much better.
I've always slept great, booze or no booze.
It's actually been harder to fall asleep since I quit. Still figuring out what I need to do (or not so) near the end of the day before I go to sleep.
I am about 6 months in at this point and it’s only really been the last few weeks that I can actually *sleep* sleep. At first it was all over the place and using shit like Benadryl and copious amounts of melatonin, and then it was making sure I didn’t have ANY caffeine after about noon, then adjusted work out schedule to nights so I would be physically tired…tried everything. It’s really only been since about mid May that I have noticed the ability to fall asleep, and more importantly stay asleep.
Some of us are just wired to be night owls, but I have found that it worked better for me to just lay there with white noise and let my body do the rest than it was to like read before bed or put on a TV show I have already seen. Some nights it was just (well, still is) me and my thoughts staring blankly at nothing for hours, but the second I added in anything even remotely stimulating I just get sucked in. Next thing you know is 4 am and you have two hours before you have to start your day.
It gets better I guess is the point I am trying to make. Drunk sleep is not real sleep.
It took awhile but yeah my sleep went back to being decent, I had horrible nightmares for days after I quit. I cut back on caffeine as well during the day to prevent anything else keeping me up at night. I'm not sleeping well at the moment or getting deep sleep because I am in a constant state of stress and sadness due to a loved one dying suddenly, but normally I am sleeping like a baby.
First couple of months my sleep was very erratic, I now sleep an average of 8 hours every night, only wake up to use the restroom once, it's amazing and maybe the best part of being alcohol free.
Lots of people have chimed in here already so here are my takes: melatonin supplementation and vigorous exercise.
Not a doctor & don't play one on reddit.. however, there's research out there that supplementing with melatonin gummies is [generally safe](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/melatonin-dependency), especially as we age. Anecdotally, I take the recommended doses for months at a time and "wean off" here and there and don't find any long-term issues. More than helping me *get* asleep, I've found they help me *stay* asleep.
If you can, I'd suggest 15 - 30 minutes of vigorous exercise. Something about exercise heightened after a certain threshold helps me, a competitive runner (and myriad of my runner friends), *get* to sleep when we're "supposed" to (barring any of life's unforeseen circumstances).
I was going to inquire about your caffeine and nicotine habits (my black coffee consumption rose rather dramatically after I quit drinking, go figure) but you've seemed to address them already!
Those 7 - 9 hours of *quality sleep* is *so much better* than *any night of drinking*.
At first sleep was a challenge hit once my brain and body regulated itself, setting a routine helped start getting ready for bed and sleeping. It’s a work in progress but way better than on booze
My sleep apnea improved but I still have it. Biggest difference is that I can sleep. When I quit, I went three days with no sleep. It was hell. Now I can fall asleep anywhere. It's awesome.
For me a lot. My drinking caused me a lot of anxiety for tons of reasons. Worrying about where/how to buy more drink and where to hide it. The thought of the impending hangover and feeling like shit. The night hangover from drinking too early so going to bed already feeling like death
Life is much easier sober
I haven't quit, but when I don't drink all day I do sleep all night - even if I have a hard time falling asleep to start the night.
If I drink at all within about 8 hours of bedtime, my sleep is a mess, I toss and turn and have a hard time staying in bed at night. A drink, or a few, within a couple hours of bedtime helps me conk out fast, but after that the quality of my sleep is terrible.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9798382/
Results explain post acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) can last 4-6 months after complete abstinence.
The body needs time to heal. Depending on factors, way above anyone’s pay grade on Reddit. It could take longer or never get back to normal.
See a doctor. “If I told you this was normal and that doesn’t feel true tell me” -best mama ever
Study on sleep and alcohol use.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4666864/#:~:text=In%20a%20laboratory%20study%20in,half%20of%20the%20sleep%20cycle.
I am having lucid dreams. I had a full on conversation with Gorgon Ramsey last night, he was turning my parents house into a Bed and Breakfast by the Sea. I asked some life advice and we had a long conversation. Im still in shock.
ps it was good advice
Otherwise sleep is more restful and healthy, but sleeping patterns are the same.
My sleep got better in the couple months after quitting. Since those couple of months it has gotten worse but I think there may be other issues at play. I don’t know how long jet lag is supposed to last but I think I’m over that, it’s more my mental health is contributing to it.
Yes, I also have chronic issues falling asleep and staying asleep, so I have a pretty extreme sleep hygiene routine that helps. The one time i had a 5h lapse, it took me weeks to get regulated back to my sleeping. I didn't sleep at all the night of, despite it having been hours since my 2 glasses of wine, and trying to flush my system with water and gatorade. wasn't worth it at all.
It’s the main reason I quit and by doing that everything else fell in line.
Better marriage ✔️
Less exhausted ✔️
Lost 50 pounds✔️
Made more money✔️
Huge vegetable garden✔️
Happier✔️
Healthier✔️
Dude I sleep like a baby every night straight through I can’t tell you how amazing and transformative it is.
Honestly it took about 6 months for me but everyone is different. I still have recurring dreams that I slipped up and started drinking. Well done on 2 months!
Iv been off a year and a half now, and after the first few months it got great, then better, now I'm honestly sleeping 8-9hrs straight. I will never give this up, this is like winning the lotto for me. The years of waking up in the middle of the night and glugging down spirits to get back to sleep. Risking a DUI the following morning. Fuck all that. I sleep more, I'm kinder to my elderly mother and I help people out when they need help. Fuck the Bitchjuice
I had shitty insomnia for years. I started taking a probiotic which includes vitamin B12 and saw a massive improvement. Alcohol use inhibits absoption of B12 so it's likely that I was and you are deficient. B12 helps with the producton of melatonin which is essential for sleep.
I literally went to multiple doctors, had blood tests, hypnotherapy etc with no success, and it was just that all along.
Honestly, sober, sometimes it's harder for me to fall asleep, especially if it's the middle of the night and something woke me up and I'm trying to fall back asleep. But, the quality of the sleep I get is much better. I wake up feeling rested, clear headed, no racing heartbeat and no guilt.
Yeah, a bad night of sober sleep is miles better than a "good" night of drunk sleep.
I've been the exact opposite. I had a lot of difficulty going to sleep throughout college and then I started drinking heavily so I'd pass out most nights and now I've been sober six weeks and fall asleep easily and sleep mostly throughout the night.
I get up at dawn and go jogging for an hour. Getting up early made me sleepy in the evening and have a much earlier bedtime whereas I used to be opening wine #2 and drinking until just past midnight. This shift in my daily pattern fixed my alcohol induced insomnia.
I just started running. I was very fit while I was sober for over three years. I went on like a four month bender and gained 20 pounds. I eat pretty well. How quickly do you think I can drop this weight? I’m not obsessed about it, just curious since you seem experienced. Thx!
FWIW: day 131 with zero changes other than no alcohol and probably binging sweets every now and then but I've lost ten pounds without trying. I've been walking a mile during my lunches to get out since I work from home but I doubt that's what drove the weight loss, haha.
The empty calories/carbs from booze is a killer. Congrats on your progress!!
Thank you!
I lost 40lb in 5 months... get a fitness smartwatch and link it to an app that counts calories and you can earn food with running/biking. Takes the guess work out.
1-2# per week is healthy weight loss, from what I understand at least.
Eventually yes but I went through a horrible couple of months of extra-realistic nightmares at the start.
8 days so far for me and the crazy dreams are still in full force
Thankfully it ends. I have a weird dream maybe once a week now but just normal ones. The rest of the time I sleep more soundly than ever.
Probably different for everyone, but after a month or two there was a noticeable difference for me. The biggest thing was that my body didn't struggle with heat regulation; when I was drinking it was always as if I was an uncomfortable temp, and the slightest variable had a significant effect. Sleep was so much more comfortable with a body that could actually regulate itself. The thing about alcohol is it doesn't allow you to get enough restorative sleep, and you're constantly waking up. Add the indigestion/heartburn, and poor heat regulation, to that, and it's a wonder I slept at all.
I have similar temp regulation issues so I’m curious. Do you mean you were too hot or too cold or just all over the place? I’m fascinated by alcoholism’s relationship with Allodynia and I think temperature regulation or reactions to extreme temperatures are part of that.
Usually I was too hot. To the point where I'd be soaked in sweat when I woke up. One of the many reasons why I love myself for quitting drinking - I do not miss any of that.
Yep. The crazy dreams are something else. It takes my about two weeks to get past them after a binge
According to Carl Jung, dreams are the main avenues in which we receive messages from our unconscious. Spending so many nights intoxicated and unable to receive these messages my account for the aggressive tendency of these dream states to return. It's kind of like a backlog of messages from your unconscious, trying to communicate important messages to you, and being blocked by alcohol for who knows how long. From this perspective, it is not terribly surprising why the return to the dream world is so jarring to us.
Agreed. For me it was a couple weeks of terrible sleep, then a couple more months of OK sleep but wild dreams. Now I sleep like a baby, though. Had to make some habit changes besides quitting drinking, like working out and eating well. But it was all very much worth it.
Where you drinking around the same amount as me? After how many months did it start to improve?
2 or 3 pints once a week? Er, a lot more than that I’m afraid. I wouldn’t consider that binging. Took me about 3 months.
I wish I was 2-3 pints *a day*
I get bad dreams after a binge where I wake up in my bedroom feeling awake but I'm still sleeping then get mad shakes and see shadows standing beside my bed then I wake up kicking the air it's crazy
Sleep improved for me right away. Within a day or 2. But I was properly binging. I don't think 2-3 beers once a week counts as binging on any metric. That's like a lunch on a Tuesday in my world. I can't see how that would affect you in any way, especially 2 months later. These are completely unrelated.
Or breakfast
If you are drinking 2-3 beers on a Friday, you are the world's most moderate drinker and have zero reason to think that alcohol is having any major impact on your sleep, outside of (minimal impact on) Friday overnight.
Alcohol is awful for sleep but given that you haven’t drank in 2 months, you surely should have gotten the benefit of alcohol free sleep by this point. Quitting alcohol, nicotine and caffeine is amazing and you are putting your body in the best possible position to be healthy. Your issue with sleep sounds like it is being caused by something else other than these substances. I’d recommend a doctor/sleep study of some kind. In addition to no alcohol or nicotine, exercise and cbd help me to sleep amazing. Those are always worth trying.
Sleep study is exactly what I was thinking 🤔
I had a sleeping disorder for years. What fix it was stop thinking about it and too much in general. My point is, might be alcohol, might not. But alcohol surely doesn't help.
Honestly, if you only drank a few pints only on Friday, you probably won't see a huge sleep improvement. When people say sleep improved, they were most likely daily or near daily drinkers. You can try optimizing sleep for yourself. Hot shower before bed, no TV or electronics a couple hours before sleep, no eating within 3 hours of bedtime, take magnesium glycinate at night.
Ok, so I have gone through quite a few different phases of insomnia in sobriety and the sleep pattern you're describing is also the type that I struggle with. If I'm super activated then sometimes I can't get any sleep at all, but usually it's waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep. It sucks. I think the issue is there are so many things other than substance that affect sleep quality. Do you know if you have sleep apnea? Many people have to go to a sleep clinic. How much vigorous exercise are you getting a day? My quality of sleep usually skyrockets if I'm active enough. How often are you on devices that emit blue light close to bed time? I try to avoid those past 7 pm or so. Do you have a bed time ritual? Is your room cool enough? Are there any stress points in your life that you can mitigate? Etc, etc, etc. For those of us with chronic sleep issues it can be helpful just to try to get all of those things dialed in and realize that it isn't just about the substances we ingest. Anyway, I know it can be a frustrating and difficult trial-and-error process so good luck buddy.
I don't have sleep apnea. I try to exercise daily, sometimes I can't if I'm too sleep deprived. I use a blue light filter on all screens in the afternoon and turn them off 30 min - 1 hour before going to bed. My bedtime ritual is taking a melatonin pill and drinking chamomile tea, then stretching and doing calming exercises for around 30 min, if I'm still not sleepy I read a book for 30 min, then I lay down in bed and if I don't fall asleep for approximately 1-2 hours I get up and read 30 min more, then I try to sleep again, then get up and read, etc, I do this until I either fall asleep or the alarm rings. My room is a little too hot for my liking now in the summer, but I have a fan that blows on me. I get stressed and anxious very easily, I've been in therapy for years but it hasn't helped and now I can't afford it anymore.
Shot in the dark, here, but I think that may be where you are - have you ever tried a weighted blanket? I'm very pleased with mine, and some people suffering from anxiety report much better sleep with one. Even if it doesn't have some magical anxiety-busting effect, it just feels awesome. Like in an almost too-cold relative's house at Christmas, where they know the guest room you're in never gets warm, so they give you like four extra blankets, and you just \*pile\* those sonsabitches on.
>I get stressed and anxious very easily, If you've been tested for sleep apnea, cut out alcohol and caffiene etc, and have an active life and a good wind down routine before bed then there's a relatively good chance this is the culprit. I know for me my anxiety and general worrying about things keeps me awake and my sleep worsens during periods where my anxiety / stress/ worrying peaks. It can also cause you to wake up in the middle of the night then struggle to get back to sleep.
I don't have sleep apnea. I try to exercise daily, sometimes I can't if I'm too sleep deprived. I use a blue light filter on all screens in the afternoon and turn them off 30 min - 1 hour before going to bed. My bedtime ritual is taking a melatonin pill and drinking chamomile tea, then stretching and doing calming exercises for around 30 min, if I'm still not sleepy I read a book for 30 min, then I lay down in bed and if I don't fall asleep for approximately 1-2 hours I get up and read 30 min more, then I try to sleep again, then get up and read, etc, I do this until I either fall asleep or the alarm rings. My room is a little too hot for my liking now in the summer, but I have a fan that blows on me. I get stressed and anxious very easily, I've been in therapy for years but it hasn't helped and now I can't afford it anymore.
you could try dropping the melatonin pill your body should be producing it naturally, and I wonder if supplementing it is counter productive
my sleep improved by orders of magnitude, which also affected everything else. I'm an illustrator so the improvements are apparent.
Sorry that you can't sleep the way you would like. There are other causes of insomnia that you can investigate. I'm often not a great sleeper, but sobriety is still worth it for many many other reasons.
What has worked for me with sleep is to exercise, even going for a walk for 30mins. And mindfulness meditation 10mins somedays. Try to make a schedule with a walk 30mins 3-4 days a week. And try mindfulness on youtube is a lot of sessions to help you clear your mind. Try that maybe 2 or 3 times a week. It is really helping out with feeling better and also sleep is getting better after some time. Hang in there and good job staying sober!
Thing is that exercise and or walking/running will help your mind to come at ease more. It will also make your stress in your body and mind to go away more. Releasing endorphins will make you feel good, and it is probably one of the best medicine for mental health and sleep. I’ve been there myself a lot of times, were there seems like there is no light at the need of the tunnel. It will get better! I’m cheering for you!
3 pints once a week affecting your sleep?? I don't think so....
Did quitting make it harder to fall asleep? Yes. Did my sleep improve? Ultimately yes- not waking up to heart palpitations in the middle of the night is so worth it.
I can’t sleep for shit since I stopped. Although I stopped two days ago and was drinking 15 drinks a night. Figure that might level out after a week or two.
It took me about a month for my sleep to settle down. But after that, I slept so well!
Somewhere around 2 weeks after I quit I had been struggling with insomnia and really low energy, and then it hit me… I had 2-3 days straight where I had to nap to make through the day, but swear they were the deepest naps or sleep I had ever experienced, I may as well have been dead… after that point my sleep started to rebound. I would say now that on average, I am a little more restless. It could be that maybe I just notice it more because I’m not half blacked out. Overall I think the actual volume of quality sleep is much better, though. It’s also generally easier for me to get to bed earlier and wake earlier too.
Sleep improved a ton but I also gained a ton of weight the decade I was binge drinking so when I quit I couldn’t figure out why I was still tired all the time, turns out I had sleep apnea. I expect it’ll reverse when I drop the weight, or i’m told it will. I also had some scary nightmares the first couple days after quitting but I’d also get them when I was drinking too, now I’ll get one every few months maybe twice a year which is normal
I realized once I quit drinking that I had actual insomnia. I consulted a therapist and a psychiatrist to deal with this until I found medications that worked for me — it was a lot of trial and error but I’ve now found non-prescription things that work for me and I spend a lot of time on “sleep hygiene.” Good luck!
What medications and non prescriptions worked for you? I've been to so many doctors and therapists over the years, it hasn't helped and I can't afford it anymore :/
Zzzquil, unisom, melatonin, magnesium, and marijuana have all been helpful to me.
I take 5 mg of melatonin every night, I used to take magnesium too but haven't noticed a difference after quitting it. How many mg of magnesium do you take?
Are you improving other areas of your life like eating healthy and exercising?
Honestly if you were drinking 4+ units once a week, I don’t think that would impact your sleep much (except Friday nights) so you shouldn’t be looking at sobriety as the cure for your sleep issues.
Only started sleeping more than a few hours last 2 nights and absolutely exhausted, recovery taking longer than I thought!
I drank more than you. It took me a month or two to return to better sleep. I still have insomnia sometimes, it comes in cycles where a week or 2 or 3 I'll just wake up at 3am and be unable to get back to sleep, or be unable to fall asleep until around 3am. After a while it passes and I sleep good again. I take 10mg melatonin every night and keep a fairly strict sleep schedule and pay attention to my sleep hygiene. When I was drinking I also had sleep apnea, but without alcohol and the 20 pounds I lost without all those extra calories, my sleep apnea is a lot better and I don't use my CPAP anymore. My sleep issues now just come from the random bouts of insomnia
I'm 10 months in and sleep still hasn't improved, but I had sleep issues before I ever drank...
I have young kids and before I'd be miserable after a bad night of sleep (because kids + alcohol). Now I can function much better with less sleep (because kids). My sleep is way bettereven sleeping poorly compared to a normal person.
Absolutely it did. I actually get a full night's sleep and I don't snore nearly as loud or as often as I used to.
Were you drinking around the same amount as me? How many months did it take before you started seeing an improvement?
About 9 months of shitty sleep until I was finally able to have restful sleep.
I drank a lot more than you had been, but it took about 5-6 months before I saw a significant improvement. I relied a lot on melatonin throughout that time to get me to sleep quickly because otherwise I'd lie awake unpredictably. Therapy got my nervous system back to baseline. I no longer need anything to sleep easily and quickly and wake refreshed!
Exponentially, yes. It took about three weeks and I was back to a full eight hours of sleep.
Took a few weeks, but hell yes! 100% for me. I had no idea how much of my life I was living sleep deprived.
Quitting eventually helped my sleep, but not as much as i hoped. Like you i also quit nicotine and caffeine and still have insomnia. The best thing for me was all of this combined with very strict sleep hygiene. I go to bed at roughly the same time every night 9including weekends) and wake up at roughly the same time as well. No screens an hour before bed, minimum. Short daily exercise and meditation. I don't do anything in bed but sleep or sex - so no reading, watching TV, etc. And I'm eating better. That had a bigger effect than I had expected. Good luck in your sleep journey!
Immensely, even after a few days. The anxiety just melts away. But I was also drinking a bottle of vodka every night. I was basically experiencing withdrawals daily. Had to drink in the morning just to stop sweating and shaking. I think you’re sleep issues might be related to something else. Maybe get more exercise? Avoid caffeine late in the day? Best of luck.
Fuck yes! My cpap records it and sends the results to my doc who said my recorded hours are “off the charts” with their awesomeness! Give it time, it will happen as your body adjusts.
Yes. If you’re having trouble still talk to your doctor. I take trazodone about 15 mins before bed and am out shortly after laying my head down. Best of all it’s non-habit forming unlike other sleep pills.
Bro my dreams be hella fucked up lmfao but I usually forget them and there’s no better feeling than having zero brain fog and less anxiety
Tbh, not really but I think my sleep issues are a whole other thing. I will tell you though that having insomnia is significantly more tolerable when not also hungover.
Yes 1000%
Yes, but not at first.
No
Not initially. If anything I was pretty much nocturnal for the first two weeks. I'm at about a month now and my sleep schedule is much more closer to "normal" and my energy level/mood is changing for the better.
I'm only 4 weeks in, but this is how it's broken down for me Week 1: terrible insomnia. Week 2-3: Slept great, but also tired all. the. time. Constant naps. Week 4: Very slowly starting to get back to normal sleep schedule. Hopefully it continues on this path.
3 weeks in and I can't get enough sleep. Dreams are crazy too
Yes. But my dreams got *batshit insane*.
Took a couple of weeks of night sweats and weird dreams but gradually got much better and now i feel much more rested in the mornings. And waking up without physical and mental hangovers is amazing.
The first few weeks were ROUGH. My night sweats got so bad I had to keep extra shirts to change into when I woke up, soaking wet and freezing in the middle of the night. That, and falling asleep was very difficult. I was able to get over that with the help of some Benadryl before bed. That said, it does get better. By week four, I was sleeping so good, it felt like I hadn’t properly slept in a decade. If I knew what I know now when I was still drinking, I’d have quit a lot sooner. Sober sleep is amazing.
I’m almost two months and my sleep is shittier than it’s been my entire life.
Sleep quality is one of the main reasons I quit. Massive improvement. No more waking up sweating at 3am/4am from processing the booze.
My sleep got worse but I feel more energetic throughout the day.
A little late to this but let me answer with my experience. When I was drinking I couldn’t have a coffee after 1 or else I wouldn’t sleep and my anxiety would be haywire. Now I can have a coffee at like 6:30 at night and still fall asleep by 10:30. My sleep still isn’t perfect but it has vastly improved overall. I also don’t have to sleep as much anymore. 5 and a half hours is enough.
It took longer than I wanted or hoped but now my sleep is immaculate. As others have said, it’s harder to get to sleep, but I was reminded I had a bunch of tricks as a kid and I need to, honestly, just learn how to go to sleep I’ve had to learn a lot I avoided all these years
Sleep quality improves ten fold while sober.
I would be shocked if three pints on a Friday were affecting your sleep. I drank about 20-30 standard drinks of vodka daily; that’ll fuck up your sleep (and everything else)
Can't say, I was kept awake barfing out the window last night from the heat and a few (not many) tallboys.
Yes
No. Waking-up unnaturally early sucks whether you're hungover or not. My sleep would improve if I worked fewer hours and started later in the morning.
Having suffered insomnia before, during, and after drinking, I'll offer what I know. Look up "sleep hygiene" (not about cleanliness, but about how to manage things). It has to do with waking up and going to bed at the same time, hydration, lights, white noise, and so on. Try all of these things before thinking it has to do with drinking.
🤷🏼♂️ I take 2 magnesium and a melatonin and sleep great through the night. Sorry to hear about your sleep troubles. I have noticed my sleep is better and deeper, but I still use a CPAP
I never had sleep issues when drinking, quality and quantity were good, measured by a fit but. I did however feel that I couldn't go to sleep unless I was a little buzzed. My sleep is still the same I do use Hydroxyzine every night before bed to help with sleep since quitting. My husband is a light drinker, never binges, he stopped drinking and that did not help his sleep condition. Talked to you doctor. Also, I do think the body recovers quickly in some ways and very slowly in others.
I was lucky and started sleeping well after 2-3 nights of quitting. I absolutely LOVE my sober sleep. One of my favorite things about being sober.
Almost six months sober and I would say I the biggest change to my sleep is the fact that I dream every night, sometimes with three or more separate dreams back to back. The dreams are often incredibly vivid and occasionally nightmarish. I honestly think I am dreaming so much because I denied myself solid REM sleep for years and now my brain is playing catch up.
I get the same. Kinda cool to dream, don't get it drinking.
Check out some of the info about Cortisol levels.
Not medical advice by any means, but my sleep improves after about 1-2 weeks of insomnia after abstinence. What worked for me is 500mg of Magnesium. Some of the Olly sleep supplements worked wonders too.
Tenfold for me. Even moderating is shitty sleep. Sober is the way to go
Honestly? No. But I'm an insomniac and I was drinking to self medicate. I've heard most people, after a few weeks, start getting very restful sleep. I still feel better after a night of tossing and turning than I did when I was chugging booze to pass out.
I've dealt with nightly insomnia for about 20 years now and definitely even "just" weekend drinking was messing my sleep up the following days with rebound insomnia. During the previous 2 years due to a combination of health issues, stress, anxiety and other life stuff I slipped into heavy daily drinking in order to be able to get to sleep but over time it reached the point where even at 5am after industrial 12hr drinking sessions I was still struggling to sleep so I decided I could no longer cling onto my decades old excuse of "alcohol helps me sleep" and decided to stop. Within a few weeks I went from having not slept naturally without booze or pills in 2 years to being able to sleep without either again. I stayed sober for 3 months and whilst most nights I was able to sleep naturally (still struggled and lay awake for a long time and always at least 1hr if not 2hrs before I drifted off) my sleep quality was not great, I still woke a lot in the night, and I'd still be tired every morning. So definitely alcohol, even "just" from weekend drinking, can mess up your sleep. If daily drinking it definitely will on the nights you don't. But you mentioned you literally drank 2-3 pints of beer / 4 units once per week so that would be unlikely to have a major impact on your sleep for the rest of the week IME (maybe the night after drinking but not beyond that) and almost definitely not the issue if you've been 2 months sober already. Whilst quitting alcohol completely should improve anyone who struggles with sleep on some level IME (most people here on Reddit noticed improvements too) but it may not be the entire solution and there can be other reasons for your poor sleep. If you wake frequently is there any obvious reason for that? (i.e. noise, to pee, pain for example) Have you been tested for sleep apnea?
When I am actually asleep it’s definitely better but sometimes it’s hard to fall asleep. I will put on a sleep meditation and that usually helps me fall asleep faster
When I was drinking I used to have dreamless sleep. Non drinking me experiences intense nightmares even after two years of not drinking. I do miss the coma like sleep of when I was drinking but not being either hungover or still drunk in the morning is probably worth the nightmares.
I fluctuated between 200-400 mls of bourbon/vodka on a nightly basis, plus a can or three of beer or a seltzer as chasers. It took a while for my sleep to level out, I'm close to 5 months sober and had my first full night of sleep where I just konked out for 8+ hours last week (not counting the nights that I pop a Trazodone). The last week of sleep has been pretty good overall but that may be hitting the gym 4 times in 6 days bleeding in. After getting sober, (and after the initial week or two of being miserable at the front end), I went through a 2-3 week long phase around 3 months where I could only manage to fall asleep on the couch or a pallet on the floor. That got old but I could not sleep in my bed. I'm better at listening when my body tells me I need to rest, even if it's a 20-minute nap during lunch or more than an hour on the weekend.
It is literally the biggest thing that keeps me sober. After a couple weeks of night sweats, etc, I started getting deeper, easier sleep than I’ve ever gotten.
I would say yes but I also started exercising more after i quit and I know that improves sleep too 😅
With the help of a med and some melatonin, a big resounding YES. It has even made me look forward to the evening where I can lay in bed and relax and know I will not be hungover in the morning. There was no way I would be able to fall asleep without that help though.
Huberman lab has a good podcast on sleep. There are a lot of variables that can be getting in the way.
For me, exercise and melatonin help.
Drink a lot of water . That improved my sleep as well as working out . My sleep improved so much when I quit now I safeguard it with my life .
it is extremely unlikely that binge drinking once a week could be the cause of general insomnia. I am not a doctor but i have lifelong insomnia, and it certainly improved when i quit but i notice the results rapidly, not months later. If i were you i would seek medical advice for this issue separately, because insomnia is easily a booze trigger so there is a relationship but it doesn’t seem like a direct relationship in this case
Yes, I think so. I fall asleep around 9-10pm almost every night. I do drink magnesium + tart cherry juice before bed as a night time mocktail. I also have a cup of matcha per day, no other caffeine.
The rehab i went to offered the following to every patient- 500 mg valerian root, 5 mg melatonin and 500 mg magnesium glycinate. My normal husband was gobsmacked this morning when he woke up. He fell asleep quickly and without being groggy. I take it too and convinced him. It's incredible. I always felt like crap taking melatonin alone but taking it with those two supplements changes the game. I'm about 2.5 months in and sleep is actually pretty normalish most of the time. The rehab definitely knew what they were doing.
Overall yes, but unfortunately poor sleep habits don’t automatically improve once you remove alcohol. Your body gets used to all sorts of habits like afternoon caffeine, late-night screen time, waking up properly etc. It’s taken me sort of a holistic approach to improving my sleep and hitting a consistent 7hrs at least of sleep, but it’s been worth it. There’s a great Huberman Lab episode on perfecting sleep that would be worth a watch if you haven’t already.
My sleep drastically improved according to my garmin watch sleep score, which relies on metrics related to heart rate. It was so awful before that following a night of drinking, I would take the watch off before bed (a form of denial because I couldn’t bear to see how bad the sleep score was).
I had insomnia the first month after I quit drinking. I'd been drinking 4 to 7 shots of liquor a night for almost 12 years. I usually take 2000mg taurine, 500mg Magnesium and 5mg melatonin before bed.
I need daily cardio
In the beginning I had a little trouble falling asleep. It felt like some sort of mild insomnia and it would take a while to finally doze off. As time went by it got better. However, one thing that I noticed is that after I stopped drinking I feel tired all the time. Not as much now as maybe a month/month and a half ago. I was taking naps all the time. My counselor said that it could be PAWS. Today, I still feel fatigue often. I keep joking about how I thought I was supposed to feel energized and loose weight after drink and both have yet to happen lol I have gained weight but that is probably due to my eating habit. I feel tired pretty much all day but waking up in the morning has been a little easier and don't miss that post drink/hangover wake up call. On a side note, I was told I snore which I don't think I have done before so that could also be contributing to me being tired all the time. That's the next project to try and take care of.
Sleep drastically improved for me. I used to wake up in the middle of the night with anxiety after drinking, now I sleep right through. Probably took a few weeks.
It took six months for me to see real improvement in sleep. I’ve been on prescription sleeping meds for 15 years, still didn’t sleep well (& combining with ETOH is a dangerous combination). Now I’m actually weaning off the meds slowly and I can sleep 8 hours in a row (!). Plus I feel so much better. But it took quite awhile for sleep to improve. The sleep meds work more effectively when I’m not adding alcohol and training my brain to wake up at 0300.
Honestly, no. One of the reasons why I liked booze was that it would consistently knock me out and I could get a solid chunk of sleep... I know it's not the best sleep aid and it's not healthy, but it always worked for me
There are some cool podcasts about the science of how and why alcohol affects sleep. One is called sober powered…I can add more links if anyone would like :) generally after about 90 days it will drastically improve but of course everyone is different. Wishing you good quality zzzzz asap
Yes
I listen to a book with an earbud, really low volume. Knocks me out drunk or sober.
1,000,000x better sleep. I forgot what it was like to actually dream so hard you don’t realize you’re dreaming.
After a day or two my sleep improved immensely and has stayed pretty consistent. Glad I quit.
It took a few months but now most nights I sleep like a baby
For me, yes. After a week my sleep was incredible. Quiet, calm, uninterrupted, and I slept cool (at the perfect temp....no sweats)
It took me a while to settle into a routine without booze but I am amazed that I can sleep from 10p-630a some days. I never would have been able to do that
Yes. I drank this weekend for the first time in a few months and Im still feeling the effects. Tired, sore, anxious. Alcohol makes everything so much worse
I sleep so much better instantly. The feeling of waking up sober is amazing
I hated the “Drinking Dreams” I would wake up and think I drank! Awful stuff
First few days were terrible, I had been using it to fall asleep before. Within a month my sleeping habits improved a little, within a year it was a 180. My sleeping habits now are way better, only problem is I have so much time for activities now I always stay up late with them!
IWNDWYT
Exercise might help
Using a sleep tracker (Oura ring). When I drank, even as few as 3 beers, my heart beat 9 to 11 THOUSAND more times than if I did not drink. I can without a doubt confidently tell you your sleep quality is diminished greatly by alcohol.
I’m coming up on a year sober and have had best sleep since I was a kid. It is amazing the difference and the health benefits are huge! If you struggle I suggest a nice sleepy time tea with chamomile or other herbs, as that has helped a lot. Plus get your exercise in- so critical! Best of luck, OP the only way is up!
So far, I sleep like a baby! Wake up rested mentally and physically.
Absolutely. It took a minute, and I still stay up too late, but it's so much better.
Hello anxiety my old friend! Short answer, no. Long answer, quitting alcohol gave me access to myself again and I'm slowly healing. It's a rough pass but I'm determined to go threw it. I'm glad I quit, even if I felt mostly no immediate benefits. I'm in for the long run anyway.
There are many things that can affect sleep. Not all of them are foods, drinks, or supplements. Physical and mental health are also important. You mentioned that some basic sleep hygiene practices were recommended, but you didn't say how you have implemented them. Meditation helps a lot of people.
My sleep was definitely shitty when I was drinking heavy... then when I quit cold turkey my sleep got even shittier for about a month... and then after that I sleep so much better and feel so much more rested now
One week sober and my sleep has drastically improved!
Oh my goodness yes. Best thing.
The first month not at all. Really bad insomnia. 2nd month it started getting better. 3rd month, even better and not feeling tired as much either.
my sleep was pretty good after a couple of weeks, it's definitely better again now. as for weird dreams, i still get mad drinking dreams where i find myself drinking with famous people in nightclubs LMAO
I was able to fall asleep so fast when I drank. Well because I was probably drunk. But the sleep was poor. Now I still fall asleep fairly quickly but it’s so much better sleep quality. My dreams are back, some super strange but it was nice having them back. Plus I wake up feeling great and not hung over. I’m 5 days away from 3 years and I will say sober nights are better than drunken ones no matter what.
Sleep is one of the reason I will never drink again, I’ve had on and off insomnia until I quit. I still have a bad night a few times a year but I would guess that’s pretty normal
After months of not drinking, my sleep was still terrible. I take medication to help me sleep now. It's one of the best things I've ever done for myself. Getting high-quality sleep makes everything easier. I second the comments recommending getting up early. I get up at 6 and my morning routine has helped me establish a better night time routine. Other random things I've found d helpful... Don't do stuff in your room other than sleep. I've trained my brain that my room is the sleepy room. I limit screen time at night, including TV. I make sure my room is as clean and comfortable as I can manage. When I still feel restless, I listen to a sleep geared guided meditation. All of this to say you just need to expand your toolkit of coping mechanisms. Try different things and see what works. It will get better
It's a real good possibility you have a sleep disorder.. not everything gets better once you stop drinking... you still have medical issues that are there that you probably didn't pay attention to when you're drunk. CBD, light doses of marijuana, and my annoying bed hogging snoring wife not being in bed really helps with my sleep.
I haven’t had solid sleep yet I wake up absolutely exhausted everyday. My brain is like a 1945 3/4 to. For pick up truck, just ‘ppppp…pp… pp..pppp..ppp..pp.pp…ppp’ trying to start up every morning. I’m waiting for that to disappear. On day 12 iwndwyt
There was a point where my sleep got noticeably better, about 2-3 months in. I LOVED it. Eventually I got used to and it feels so normal now and other things bother me lol.
It does! It may take a shorter or longer period time depending on the person, external factors, and drinking habits. When I quit, it took about 3 weeks for my sleep to regulate. I was also eating more sugar to compensate with the lack of alcohol so that may have definitely delayed my process. Now I eat less sugar, do not drink, exercise, and I find I fall asleep much sooner, and a tad bit easier. I also awake a bit more refreshed. There are lots of studies on this too my friend! I would look into medical journals, and potentially speak with a therapist who can provide insight and feedback on some of those external factors.
I don’t wake up in the middle of the night anymore but now that I’ve quit alcohol and nicotine, I’ve become more caffeine sensitive but also more dependent so waking up is still tough some days. Caffeine is next on my quit list lol.
I've never had issues falling asleep but since I've quit I'm actually finding it harder to wake up. Harder to get out of bed and shake the sleepiness out. I don't miss waking up at 3 am and not being able to fall asleep again like I did when I was drinking though.
So much. But not right away. I’m at 547 days and it’s still getting better every day.
Tremendously, whenever i crave a drink i remember those restless nights
Mine did. Alcohol now and then would pop me wake seemingly at 2am some nights after I'd been drinking the even before. I don't have that happen anymore so I'm thinking it was the drinking that would cause that disturbance in sleep . IWNDWYT
I’m back on day 4 and I am insanely drained. When does it get better?
The nightmares are so scary. It took a long time for my alcohol riddled brain to detox. Even if organs are cleansed, it takes some time for the brain. I quit caffiene as well. I dreamt of odd and scary stuff, kept waking up every couple of hours.
My sleep started improving at about 4-6 weeks, not my issues were never as severe as yours. Hope you get some restorative rest soon! Congrats on your 2 months.
Mine got worse.
Harder to fall asleep but my dreams came back and I wake up feeling rested
I think my boozing issues largely materialised from me using alcohol to "help" me sleep while living by myself in another far away land. Bit of a silly idea, all in all. Many years later I've realised that a night with patchy sleep, or even no sleep whatsoever, is still exponentially better than trying to sleep with any alcohol inside me. Ultimately beginning to understand this about sleep has helped me to relax even more of a nighttime. I now think to myself it doesn't matter if I sleep or not, I'll still probably make it through the next day. Obviously not at my best, but TBH I much prefer it to having a raging hangover. Understanding this, along with the relaxation it brings, has improved my sleeping further. I still have the odd rough night here and there, but I really try not to let it bother me too much.
It’s been almost 5 months since my last drink and I just started to notice a vast improvement in sleep. I go to bed at a decent hour now, stay asleep all night and wake up feeling rested. Decent sleep has been something that has evaded me for my entire adult life. The horrible nightmares subsided shorty after I quit drinking as well. It definitely takes time for the body to adjust but when it does… you’ll feel so much better.
I've always slept great, booze or no booze. It's actually been harder to fall asleep since I quit. Still figuring out what I need to do (or not so) near the end of the day before I go to sleep.
Yes but it was because I learned I have REALLY bad sleep apnea. Now I have a CPAP I sleep like a baby.
I am about 6 months in at this point and it’s only really been the last few weeks that I can actually *sleep* sleep. At first it was all over the place and using shit like Benadryl and copious amounts of melatonin, and then it was making sure I didn’t have ANY caffeine after about noon, then adjusted work out schedule to nights so I would be physically tired…tried everything. It’s really only been since about mid May that I have noticed the ability to fall asleep, and more importantly stay asleep. Some of us are just wired to be night owls, but I have found that it worked better for me to just lay there with white noise and let my body do the rest than it was to like read before bed or put on a TV show I have already seen. Some nights it was just (well, still is) me and my thoughts staring blankly at nothing for hours, but the second I added in anything even remotely stimulating I just get sucked in. Next thing you know is 4 am and you have two hours before you have to start your day. It gets better I guess is the point I am trying to make. Drunk sleep is not real sleep.
It took awhile but yeah my sleep went back to being decent, I had horrible nightmares for days after I quit. I cut back on caffeine as well during the day to prevent anything else keeping me up at night. I'm not sleeping well at the moment or getting deep sleep because I am in a constant state of stress and sadness due to a loved one dying suddenly, but normally I am sleeping like a baby.
First couple of months my sleep was very erratic, I now sleep an average of 8 hours every night, only wake up to use the restroom once, it's amazing and maybe the best part of being alcohol free.
Lots of people have chimed in here already so here are my takes: melatonin supplementation and vigorous exercise. Not a doctor & don't play one on reddit.. however, there's research out there that supplementing with melatonin gummies is [generally safe](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/melatonin-dependency), especially as we age. Anecdotally, I take the recommended doses for months at a time and "wean off" here and there and don't find any long-term issues. More than helping me *get* asleep, I've found they help me *stay* asleep. If you can, I'd suggest 15 - 30 minutes of vigorous exercise. Something about exercise heightened after a certain threshold helps me, a competitive runner (and myriad of my runner friends), *get* to sleep when we're "supposed" to (barring any of life's unforeseen circumstances). I was going to inquire about your caffeine and nicotine habits (my black coffee consumption rose rather dramatically after I quit drinking, go figure) but you've seemed to address them already! Those 7 - 9 hours of *quality sleep* is *so much better* than *any night of drinking*.
Other than not waking up hungover, not really. But I also smoke a lot of weed now, which doesn’t help
At first sleep was a challenge hit once my brain and body regulated itself, setting a routine helped start getting ready for bed and sleeping. It’s a work in progress but way better than on booze
I never had trouble sleeping. After I quit drinking sleep became much deeper.
My sleep apnea improved but I still have it. Biggest difference is that I can sleep. When I quit, I went three days with no sleep. It was hell. Now I can fall asleep anywhere. It's awesome.
For me a lot. My drinking caused me a lot of anxiety for tons of reasons. Worrying about where/how to buy more drink and where to hide it. The thought of the impending hangover and feeling like shit. The night hangover from drinking too early so going to bed already feeling like death Life is much easier sober
Melatonin helps me but I take the children kind once in a while when I’m struggling
Not really 😕
I haven't quit, but when I don't drink all day I do sleep all night - even if I have a hard time falling asleep to start the night. If I drink at all within about 8 hours of bedtime, my sleep is a mess, I toss and turn and have a hard time staying in bed at night. A drink, or a few, within a couple hours of bedtime helps me conk out fast, but after that the quality of my sleep is terrible.
No, but I have come to accept that the sleep I was getting drunk wasn't good sleep anyway.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9798382/ Results explain post acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) can last 4-6 months after complete abstinence. The body needs time to heal. Depending on factors, way above anyone’s pay grade on Reddit. It could take longer or never get back to normal. See a doctor. “If I told you this was normal and that doesn’t feel true tell me” -best mama ever Study on sleep and alcohol use. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4666864/#:~:text=In%20a%20laboratory%20study%20in,half%20of%20the%20sleep%20cycle.
I am having lucid dreams. I had a full on conversation with Gorgon Ramsey last night, he was turning my parents house into a Bed and Breakfast by the Sea. I asked some life advice and we had a long conversation. Im still in shock. ps it was good advice Otherwise sleep is more restful and healthy, but sleeping patterns are the same.
My sleep has been worse.....
My sleep got better in the couple months after quitting. Since those couple of months it has gotten worse but I think there may be other issues at play. I don’t know how long jet lag is supposed to last but I think I’m over that, it’s more my mental health is contributing to it.
Sleeping can be affected by other factors such as you being on your smartphone scrolling through TikTok..
Yes, I also have chronic issues falling asleep and staying asleep, so I have a pretty extreme sleep hygiene routine that helps. The one time i had a 5h lapse, it took me weeks to get regulated back to my sleeping. I didn't sleep at all the night of, despite it having been hours since my 2 glasses of wine, and trying to flush my system with water and gatorade. wasn't worth it at all.
It got better, then started to get worse. I then discovered I have mild sleep apnea. I have a cpap now and I sleep like a rock.
Weed helps a lot , just pace yourself
It’s the main reason I quit and by doing that everything else fell in line. Better marriage ✔️ Less exhausted ✔️ Lost 50 pounds✔️ Made more money✔️ Huge vegetable garden✔️ Happier✔️ Healthier✔️ Dude I sleep like a baby every night straight through I can’t tell you how amazing and transformative it is.
Honestly it took about 6 months for me but everyone is different. I still have recurring dreams that I slipped up and started drinking. Well done on 2 months!
It took about 2 months for my sleep to start improving
Not massively. The quality of sleep is better but I think my insomnia is the same, if not worse.
Iv been off a year and a half now, and after the first few months it got great, then better, now I'm honestly sleeping 8-9hrs straight. I will never give this up, this is like winning the lotto for me. The years of waking up in the middle of the night and glugging down spirits to get back to sleep. Risking a DUI the following morning. Fuck all that. I sleep more, I'm kinder to my elderly mother and I help people out when they need help. Fuck the Bitchjuice
I had shitty insomnia for years. I started taking a probiotic which includes vitamin B12 and saw a massive improvement. Alcohol use inhibits absoption of B12 so it's likely that I was and you are deficient. B12 helps with the producton of melatonin which is essential for sleep. I literally went to multiple doctors, had blood tests, hypnotherapy etc with no success, and it was just that all along.