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    #1

    When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

    .... (1) what do you think about? .... (2) how do you get back to sleep? ... and (3) does your mind ever "shut up" ??

    (1) I usually pray for help to stop drinking (not a church-goer, but a believer for sure). Then I try to remember what I did that evening right before bed (I often can't remember the moments just before going to bed, as I have that last drink-for-the-road to help me sleep, which likely is the reason I can't sleep sometimes). Sometimes I think of things I wish I'd done .. either yesterday, last week, or in times gone by.

    (2) To get back to sleep, I try to think of something that excites me (a sexy co-worker? something I'd like to do this summer, etc.)

    (3) My mind never shuts up. I'd love to be able to turn that thing off!

    Maybe a booze'less lifestyle will help with this. Yes, I think so.


    ..... Curious if any of you have night-time issues. Thanks for the replies!

    ~Catt
    AF for two years. Slight relapse. Working on it at the moment.
    Tags: None
    #2
    When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

    I have had problems sleeping/I still do at times. They were apparent during the first few weeks when I was coming off of the alcohol.

    I would say many prayers/beg to God/passed on relatives to help me quit drinking for good.

    I would lay there and feel like a horrible person for the way I have turned out - wishing like heck how to turn back the clock.

    It does get better over time. Once your body starts to get with a sober program and starts to heal you will sleep more soundly. Another thing I am working on is accepting the fact I have a problem and learning to forgive and love myself which helps with the feelings of guilt that prevent sleep.

    Sorry though, no sexy co workers in my thoughts. For some reason I have lost all desire for the opposite sex since I quit. (Oh well, tit for tat - I will take no drive over drinking any day. At least for now)

    Comment

      #3
      When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

      Accountable, I'm SO glad to *hear* you say that your sleepless troubles lasted a few weeks. That's probably my biggest irritant right now is just not sleeping well. I fall asleep for a couple hours, wake up, have one heck of a time getting back to sleep (often an hour or more), repeat. It is SO WORTH it to not be drinking. I might find I require less sleep once my body is further along in it's repair and my energy level improves through better nutrition and exercise etc. Who knows. But for now???BRING ON THE SLEEP!!! Hopefully another week or two and this will calm down.

      DG
      Sobriety Date = 5/22/08
      Nicotine Free Date = 2/27/07

      One day at a time.

      Comment

        #4
        When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

        One of my biggest compaints too DG. That and the constant headaches. I thought I was going to snap from lack of sleep. Finally one morning I woke up and it was actually 5am and not 1am.

        It does get better, it does take a while - and the quality is to die for! I compare it to going from sleeping on rocks to feathers.

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          #5
          When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

          I went through a loooong period where I would wake up every single night at 3 am and could not get back to sleep until 5:30 which of course was a nightmare because I had to be up at 7 to get my day started. I finally tried the hypno CDs from here and my sleep instantly got better. Don't know if it was coincidence or not, but I no longer wake up at 3, or if I do I am able to go back to sleep right away. I am now very conscious of trying to tell myself, "go back to sleep, you can worry about things tomorrow" because otherwise my mind will get racing. It is hard to do but I have been able to train my brain to calm down (most nights anyhow!)
          I'm really easy to get along with once people learn to worship me

          Comment

            #6
            When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

            Accountable, you just made my day and filled up my kudzu with hope just saying that!!! I'll sleep on rocks for awhile to get some high quality feathers down the road!!

            Lushy, I do the hypno CD's. I really like the sleep one. I dont' think that's what's waking me up. When I go to bed, I feel so tired I fall asleep immediately. I love the hypno though!

            I shall keep my hope alive that this too shall pass!!

            Thanks for the feedback - it sure helps.

            DG
            Day 14 AF
            Sobriety Date = 5/22/08
            Nicotine Free Date = 2/27/07

            One day at a time.

            Comment

              #7
              When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

              When I was doing good and managed to have some days AF. I had problesm falling asleep every night. I took melatonin and ended with a headache every morning. I stopped taking that and after awhile I was falling asleep on my own.

              I became really stressed out and ended up drinking and been having problems ever since.
              Hope the sleep problem improves.

              Comment

                #8
                When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

                One of the (MANY) reasons I went moderate then quit 4 days ago is because I was sick to death of lying awake at night after drinking thinking about how tomorrow I would NOT do this and trying to remember what I said or did during my witching hours. Not the role model I want to be for my daughter. I was frankly sick of my own self. My sleep (and clear conscious) has improved greatly. I don't mind waking up in the middle of the night and thinking "ahhh I didn't touch a drop of alcohol." It's such a refreshing change. Here's to better sleep for us all! : )
                AF since 2/22/2012

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                  #9
                  When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

                  I don't know if it is a woman thing but I still can't sleep - 3 months af - I am only sleeping 6 hours and that is not in one go.

                  My mind is also racing - I can't shut it up at the moment ! Maybe it will get better though?
                  At least I am sober in the mornings now, so only tired, not tired and hungover !!

                  Diamond
                  I feel as though it's all happening to someone right next to me.
                  I'm close, I can feel it, I can hear it, but it isn't really me.

                  Marilyn Monroe

                  Comment

                    #10
                    When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

                    Diamond, I think it does tend to be an issue with women more than with men, for what ever reason(s). When I was drinking most heavily, I was waking most consistantly 2:30ish most mornings and not getting back to sleep til 5 or so most mornings. Yuck. But then again most af nights it takes me quite a while to get to sleep, but I tend to stay asleep for the whole night. I take gaba most nights, as well as melatonin. My health store person told me to take 5htp at night, but I was afraid to try it more than one night since I take SAMe in the mornings (don't want to over seratonin). I was impressed with the 5htp for sleep. 100-200mg 1 hour before bed is what he told me, but research it for yourself if you are interested. But regular exercise early in the day seems to help the most. As far as waking in the night, I listen to the sleep or subliminal hypno cd on my ipod and that seems to help the most. Good luck
                    Life itself is the proper binge. Julia Child

                    Comment

                      #11
                      When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

                      42 cat
                      Praying can never hurt ! Thier are sites that can help you out here. Try them ! Some of faith, some of hope ! Make up your own mind. We' are all here to help each other ! IAD
                      ?Be who you are and say what you feel because
                      those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.?
                      Dr. Seuss

                      Comment

                        #12
                        When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

                        I too wake up around 2AM and my mind races for hours until I fall back asleep just in time to get up again. What works for me is to listen to the clearing or the hypno CD's on my ipod. They take my mind off of things and relax me enough to fall back asleep once they are finished.

                        Also, I find that I sleep better if I am AF for a week or so.

                        TC

                        Comment

                          #13
                          When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

                          Wow, this is a great thread for me. I thought the sleep thing was just something hereditary in my family. (My mom has never been a good sleeper). I hate to say it, but I never connected the waking up thing with QUITTING alcohol. I did realize when I was drinking that there was a definite connection with waking up (the awful taste in my mouth and the headache and feelings of guilt usually gave it away), but I was wondering why after quitting I still have episodes of waking up at 3 or 4 and not able to fall back asleep until 6. Big problem since I need to be up at 7! Glad to hear that this is temporary? I did try taking several calm forte the other night at 3:00 ish and it seemed to help me fall asleep a little sooner than my normal 6:00 a.m...I also love the hypnotic CDs, but usually can't stay awake to get through the whole thing! Maybe try doing one at 4:00 a.m???
                          Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow.:h

                          Comment

                            #14
                            When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

                            I have a hard time of it too. Its worse if I've been drinking and end up praying and meditating and sometimes just give up and get up for awhile. The past couple weeks I have tried taking 1/2 a Dramamine. Not every night but 3 or 4 times. Its for motion sickness but I noticed it made me drowsy last time I was on a plane. I sllep most of the night with it and feel ok next morning. I'm just going to use it occasionally as I already have 1 monkey on my back. Bird

                            Comment

                              #15
                              When you wake up in the middle of the night ....

                              Hi Everyone: Sleep has been a problem for me all my adult life. I've got a good string of AF days & am still finding it difficult to fall asleep (which was a problem before I started drinking alcoholically). In fact, I began drinking at night alone in order to fall asleep. In the beginning, I only drank 1 or 2 glasses of wine. That soon progressed to way too much drinking until I passed out. As most of you probably know, drunken sleep is poor quality sleep. For me, it was restless, shallow, & sweaty w/many wake-ups during the night. Now that I have some AF days, I find that I sleep 6 - 7 hours per night. I usually have 1 or 2 really bad nights per week (when I'm still looking at the clock at 2 AM). But, I'd much rather have 5 good hours of sleep than 7 - 8 hours of drunk sleep. The next day I'm tired but not hungover. I do take melatonin but don't know if it really helps. I think what really helps me is plenty of outdoor exercise. Good luck & good night everyone! Mary
                              Wisdom, Courage, Strength
                              October 3, 2012

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