Hey all I am newly clean 23 days and my sleep patterns are so jacked up it’s not even funny I’m usually am sleep by 8:30 and I get up at least four times a night 11 12 n 2:40 and then I’m up at 4:00 now I can’t sleep it’s almost 11:00 so this is around the time I wake up the first time now I’m going to get up in another hour. I’m happy that the withdrawals are gone but I still am feeling good because my sleep is up and down but any suggestions?
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Hi 
Welcome to the community 
I don’t have much advice for sleep as mine is all over the place. The only thing that seems to work when it all falls off track for me, is to exercise and wear myself out.
Chamomile tea helps in the evenings allot of the time too.
It’s great to have you join us, this community is full of great supportive people.
You can use the search bar to type in sleep and see some threads come up and take a read.
Also allot of us check in daily here
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Hey Claudia, I’m very early in recovery and it’s midnight. I have to work tomorrow and cannot sleep even at this stage. I see even at 23 days sleep is hard… Have you tried a cooling gel to put on your arms and legs? It worked for me last night. Im trying not to rely on pills at this stage but the gel may work-Biofreeze is one
Thanks no havent tried those things thanks for advice n see I am up for the first time n its 1238 am. So going to try to get back to sleep and will be back up in a hr again
Now its 122am smh i hate not being able to sleep but it seems like my body is used to being up all night every night and now that i want to sleep it just wont let me lol.
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Personally, my sleep was crap for at least 6 weeks. In the few minutes I have been on here and in recovery, this is about as common as road signs…
This too shall pass Claudia, so happy you’re here with us!
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My sleep was messy and uncomfortable for a long while. I would grab sleep when I could. We all need some restful restorative sleep tho, that’s for sure. Some people use magnesium…there is a powder version called Calm, I believe, that is helpful for some. Other folks use a sleepy tea time nightime ritual. And I know for a long while I listened to sleep meditations, yoga nidra or bedtime stories. Other folks find help in getting some physical activity in during the day to tire themselves out. You can also do a search on sleep here and find similar topics and other suggestions. 
I think for many of us, our bodies and brains had a ton of healing to do and included in that healing is relearning healthy sleep patterns. It can definitely be frustrating and take time, but sometimes just knowing our body is healing and doing its best to adjust, can help us a bit.
Wishing you some good rest. 
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I always struggled with sleep up until maybe these last two years.
Things that help me , is routine, and not over thinking sleep. The more stress you add to your sleep routine means the harder it is to sleep. Your body still functions while you’re asleep.
Always go to bed around the same time, and always wake up at the same time. I use alarms to get up everyday at the same time even if it took me longer to fall asleep the night of.
Sleep shouldn’t feel like a stressful time , which means if you’re over thinking sleep that’s already something that can trigger non-sleep cycles. It’s a time to wind down and relax.
I usually make sure that during the day I use my energy, I work out everyday even if it’s minimum, go for at least one decent walk a day, and I don’t focus too much when I need to. I binge drink herbal tea sometimes to kinda set the mood ( I have a special sleepy time tea by celestial that I live by ) .
Turn off distracting stuff like music, or over stimulating tv shows/screen time before bed.
I like to light candles , and before bed I usually turn off all the lights, and use my LED lights on a dim brightness or lamps . Even if I’m not ready to fall asleep, I don’t try to force sleep or make it seem like a chore… I focus on relaxing when my time has come and I just lay in a relaxed position and close my eyes. I use breathing methods, play white noise in the background (you can find plenty on YouTube) and I honestly count my blessings , or say positive stuff to myself in my head even if I found it was a hard day for me.
I don’t think about how much sleep I’m getting , or even worry about the next day because right then and there it’s about routine and relaxing !!
So remember it’s like any muscle memory or rhythm, you gotta build it over time get used to it, use a routine , and not treat it like a chore. If you end up getting up at the crack or dawn, push through the whole day and go to bed at the exact same time if you can.
I also avoid naps during the day .
Theres a lot of science and methods behind sleep. Avoid using substances or melatonin supplements unless you really have to , that just will make it harder for you to train your body to sleep.
I sleep like a pro now, completely sober, and it took years of hardwork, practice and research.
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I think a lot of people have sleeping problems being in recovery or not. At least that’s my impression.
When I was still drinking, this couldn’t really qualify as sleep. It was comatose laying in bed. Being tired is still better than being hungover.
Then I quit caffeine and couldn’t sleep at all. I was awake at 2am. No way I could fall asleep. It was horrible. Still better than being hungover. I recently fell back into drinking caffeine (
) and find myself being tired in the afternoon again. What I can say for myself though is that the worst is when I have spiralling thoughts. I did yoga nidra tonight (or a podcast which makes you sleepy) and managed to fall asleep afterwards. For me it is not helpful looking at the clock and calculating how much time I still have. It’s unnecessary stress.
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Thanks guys great input on definitely will try!
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