AF now im exhausted by afternoon - is this normal? I'm AF with Baclofen

[neophyte]

I'm day 15 AF after drinking everyday for 5 years, i drank about 350mls of scotch a night. where i would normally pass out at about 10:30, wake constantly during the night and often wake up really early 4-5am and not be able to get back to sleep.

Now I go to sleep at about 10, wake up at about 6, have a good 8 hours, i do wake up 2-3 times during the night though, but i get back to sleep quickly. Now After a day of work (desk job) i'm absolutely exhausted. I come home and often i go to sleep early.

I'm exhausted right now as i write this, thing is, i normally would get 6 hours or less of crappy sleep when i was drinking and woudlnt feel this tired. Is this a normal thing that happens when you stop drinking? Or is it sleepyness from Baclofen? I'm on 150mg a day i have a few cravings but they are manageable. I have been on that dose for 12 days now. Also my sleep was worse when i was drinking and taking baclofen but i am still no way as tired as i am now. It's only 6pm as i write this.

So im wondering if anyone has gone through the same? is this tiredness normal? Is it a result of me stopping drinking, the baclofen or a combination of both?

:thanks:

[Fred_The_Cat]

AF now im exhausted by afternoon - is this normal? I'm AF with Baclofen

Your experience EXACTLY mirrors mine. In fact, I had an earlier post thinking that the baclofen was getting the better of me because I wasn't drinking as much and hence didn't need to take as much baclofen (BIG mistake, don't lower your maintenance dose thinking it will make you less tired)

It's paradoxical how we can get more reliable shit sleep than real sleep by drinking.
What's your caffeine intake? Mine is pretty bad and I take a sleep aid to help me get by. If I don't I usually end up only getting 3 hours or so.

I don't have an expert opinion to offer, but if your body was used to being hammered each night for 5 years it's going to take some time getting used to sober sleep patterns.

[available]

AF now im exhausted by afternoon - is this normal? I'm AF with Baclofen

Neo and Fred ditto from me too. I am not on Bac but the first two weeks i was so bone tired and weary. God i felt like i had a sleep hangover. Slept like a log and still woke up tired and had 6-8 hours sleep. Now day 23 and i have had three nights of crap sleep and the weird dreams are back. I think as i am feeling confident about my sobriety and am thinking of wine but i am not going there.

My caffeine intake has also progressed nicely, had two cups since i have been home from work, not good when i have to sleep but my body seems to be craving that caffeine, moreso than sugar.

Love the word "hammered" Fred, so very very true and totally correct with the sleep patterns taking awhile to get back into whack, i did not think of it that way.

[neophyte]

AF now im exhausted by afternoon - is this normal? I'm AF with Baclofen

Fred, thanks for your post, im glad to see that this is something that is normal and will eventually go away. I won't lower my maintenance dose just yet. I was thinking of increasing it actually because today i had some nasty cravings, the exhaustion and depression too a first since i stopped drinking I think i will feel better in the morning though.

My caffeine intake has increased unfortunately, i've tried to moderate but the sleepiness just is too much at work. I am currently tkaing a sleep aid which i will taper off over the next 3 days then im really on my own.

I think you are right about time healing this one, from my research it appears this is all part of becoming AF. I guess i cant expect it to be easy after what ive done to myself for hte past years.


Available - If youre not on Bac how did you manage to quit? I had some thoughts of a tall glass of Vodka for a warm hug from the inside, but i too am not going there. The hangovers are horrible on baclofen and the cravings are reduced so i guess ill be content with a tall glass of water.

Craving that caffeine too

craving to be get fucked up on Ambien too for some reason

maybe i need to go higher on the baclofen

[available]

AF now im exhausted by afternoon - is this normal? I'm AF with Baclofen

Neo my decision came from going to my nieces 21st birthday, blacking out and coming to on the floor albeit very quickly as i seemed to come get up very quickly. This disgusted me no end and i thought about stopping for a few weeks before I came on here. I just stopped basically, the withdrawals were not that bad but bad enough by any standards but not as bad as what i was doing to myself with AL. I have been drinking heavily for probably 10 years, 1 to 2 bottles of sauv blanc per night. I just got it into my head that i want to live and not exist. The thoughts are still there and i still fight with myself everyday. Also i could not admit to a dr that i had a drinking problem, gees i didnt have a problem. I am doing well 98% of the time, the other 2% drives me insane and that is why i come on MWO. The support is amazing and different people with the same story and its nice not to be alone.

10.50pm here and i am now overtired. Its never ending some days but i am having a glass of water also and going to watch the net to fall asleep.

[Forgotten Night]

AF now im exhausted by afternoon - is this normal? I'm AF with Baclofen

Hi Neophyte,

I am now on Bac (bought it online a few weeks ago). Am only on 40mg a day at the moment though will probably go up to 50mg today.

I have read in a few places that somnolence (drowsiness) is a very unwanted side affect of this drug. It takes me over an hour to get out of bed in the mornings, even though I take my last dose of Bac at 6:00pm. Also, the afternoons are a killer and I can barely keep my eyes open and often have nanna naps (something I have never done in my whole life).

I have read that once the side affects subside, you should increase your dose. That doesn't seem to happen to me though I think I will up the dose today. I am only four days AF as I thought I could still drink whilst taking the stuff. Big mistake.

Available, I don't know how you manage to stay AF without any help. I take my hat off to you. I don't know whether the Bac is working but the fear of getting drunk again on it is certainly helping me stay off it (for 4 days anyway). You sound like me in the 1-2 bottles of wine per night. How do we ever get there?????

[StuckinLA]

AF now im exhausted by afternoon - is this normal? I'm AF with Baclofen

I didn't usually have a problem waking up (on bac, or even hungover towards the end but that's a different story--the withdrawal would usually wake me up by 6 or so to reach for a drink). But the afternoons--AF or not, were KILLER. I would fall asleep anywhere I happened to be sitting or standing or whatever. No joke, and don't bother trying to put me in front of a computer or book any time of day.

I am trying to remember for you though, since there were stretches when it wasn't all that bad, and definitely manageable. Usually after not changing doses for a while, like 5, 6 days or even more than a week at the same dose.

Take naps. Or if you simply MUST stay awake for work or the football game you're watching or whatever, try getting up and moving around for 10 minutes.