I’m hitting a week this Thursday of being sober but I’ve been struggling to not be sleepy or fatigue. It’s getting in the way of my daytime job. All I want to do is sleep… when I wake up I always feel like I could use more and when I lie back down I fall asleep every time.
Is this normal? And what did you do to adjust?
I’m trying to make a routine for myself but it’s hard when I don’t want to get up. It’s not helping my depression and anxiety
Totally normal, especially early on. It should get better on its own with time.
Things to help speed it along: daily exercise, drinking plenty of water, nutritious food, establishing and adhering to a sleep schedule/night routine.
Good luck!
Thank you 
Yes I understand I’m doing lots of cardio exercise, which gives me more energy but also helps me sleep, and focused I’m on day 8 myself so understand, stay strong you got this 
Yeah, time helps. It’s totally normal and healthy for it to take at least a couple weeks, maybe even months, for our bodies to level out in weird ways, especially sleep.
I didn’t realize how much drinking was screwing up the quality of my sleep. I was so used to dealing with the hangovers I didn’t notice how exhausted I always was.
Once I got sober, I found it real easy to fall asleep at night after a week or two had gone by. But then I’d wake up early and think, ah! No hangover! This is what normal feels like!
But not quite. I was sleeping better but still not enough. Only like 6 hours/night. So I’d feel great in the morning but exhausted by afternoon.
After a little more time, just being patient and keeping a healthy schedule, it got longer and more regular. Little by little I felt better and got to know my new body again.
When I’ve kept up a little exercise routine, that seems to help with getting the most out of my sleep, too. I’d suggest just do your best to stick to a regular sleep schedule and give you and your body time to get to know the new you!
Oh. And it’s kind of dicey advice, but don’t be afraid to have some sweets around to fight brain fog. Yeah, exercise and sleep are better. But every once in a while it’s normal to have a little brain fog. And weirdly just a bite or two of chocolate helped me keep my head on straight.
Not a long term solution, but a lifesaver in my early days!
Welcome Gabbi! The fatigue/exhaustion is absolutely normal. I went thru extreme lethargy in early recovery and still experience it every so often now too. Wr have put our bodies thru so much by drinking/drugging and recovery is HARD work. Its natural i think for our bodies to need that extra rest. Unfortunately i relied quite heavily on coffee to get me thru and i dont think that that was the best choice bcuz my tolerance for caffine became too high. But there are other ways to get our bodies back on track. Like others have mentioned, lots of water throughout the day, exercise (altho even that can be hard when the body is soo tired), but even a walk outside wakes the body up. A daily multivitamin can help. If the problem persists u can also get some bloodwork done at the Drs to ensure nothing is wrong. I did that in early recovery 
but quite honestly alot of the fatigue is just our bodies trying to adjust to living a different way
I had this to a supreme level when first quitting. It took a while to get thru I can’t remember exactly but maybe a couple of months, but once through the other side of it there was more energy (and free time!) Than ever!
Yeah same, I’m on day 5 or 6. I see-saw between days where I feel great/positive, horrible/depressed and everything in between. That’s how it’s always been for me at first. Just stopping drinking is a shock to the system on it’s own and it takes a while to balance out. You’re right about the routine, keep it steady and it’ll balance itself.
One thing that helps me, and it’s been the same for losing weight, stopping drinking, new job new studies whatever. Is to make it a routine to look forward to. For example, to help me get out of bed I’ll get myself the good instant coffee, I have a couple nicer smelling body washes that I can switch up instead of the same old bar of irish spring, better hair product, nice new shoes and socks. Just something small or pampering I can look forward to. I find it important, for myself, to keep it simple and minimal but treating myself to just a little extra niceness is enough sometimes on the rougher days.
Another thing that I think is just said so often yet so easy to dismiss that it loses all meaning is some exercise and nourishing foods. Don’t underestimate it. It’s always harder to get going from a standstill than to keep going with momentum but I always feel more relaxed and focused after a little mild exercise.
Anxiety and depression are really tough for me some days, but I’ve found through past attempts that it begins to even out and I re-learn some things that help stabilize it. So don’t get discouraged. Use your routines to help sail through the rougher days.
P.S. I’ve always found too much sleep to be fatiguing in itself. That’s another thing that balances out eventually is days of too little/too much but it just takes time.
I have super bad patches of dead tired too it’s awful. Someone in here said the first month if you’re tired sleep if you can and if you’re hungry just eat. So that’s what I’m doing although working FT the sleep thing is rough.
Welcome to the community. Feeling sleepy amd fatigued is completely normal. I am just a little of 3 months and still experiencing it.
At first i started drinking more coffee but that was making it worse cause i couldnt fall a sleep on time but had a set time to get up. Ive now capped my coffee to 2 cups max and added a lot of water and fresh air and excercise (when possibe) to my daily routine. Im hopeful from reading the threads that this phase will pass and hopefully ill have adopted some healthy habits along the way.
Dont feel discouraged - find your way to push through. You got this!
Your body is used to a huge number of easy access calories when you are drinking. Those suddenly disappear and leaves us tired for quite a while as our bodies fight to restore balance.
Alcohol by default is processed first by the body (before any food calories), so all those alcohol calories are like eating lots of sugar… and is why lots crave sugary treats when they quit.
The energy does return as your body begins to look for its energy from sources other than booze. Food is slower to release some of its energy so you can feel tired for a fair few weeks/months before your energy levels return to normal. But, wow, when they return you really realise how trashed your body was by alcohol.