I think my body is still trying to imitate the sleep pattern it was used to even without being drunk.
I’m on my second week of my second month and at first my sleep sucked terribly. I was helping with chamomile and 5-htp supplements. I finally slept long and deep for about a week and then I’m back to waking up at the same time I used to wake up when I was drunk all night. You know that sleeping pattern of passing out and then popping up at 4 am and checking your phone for dumb texts and then half sleeping till the alarm goes off.
Now all the shit stuff is gone but I think I’m just programmed at this point for this silly sleep pattern. I can’t wait to break it. I’m not expecting over night success but I’m surprised to see the obvious truth that it might take more than a month to untrain decades of repetitious behavior.
The same. I had to start purposely staying up later, but I still wake up pretty early. At first it bothered me, but now that I realize I’m not tired during the day, I just accept it as my new norm. As long as I sleep until 5 am I’m happy. Waking anytime between 3 and 5 is annoying but that is getting less frequent.
Just this week started to sleep through the night again. 107 days in. Though I do still feel knackered when I get home from work everyday. Last night I slept on the sofa from about 9 through to midnight, then couldn’t sleep when we went to bed.
I had been sleeping really well but a few weeks ago it suddenly turned sour again. I’ve even had a few nights waking up at 2am like I used to when drinking. It is so frustrating. But this week I’ve had a few nights of better sleep again so I’m hoping I’m on the path back to better sleep.
I make sure I go to bed at the same time every night (which is between 9 and 10 pm) and I now use a weighted blanket to help with restless sleep.
It take me off Gaurd sometimes because I don’t expect the effects of my drinking to last as long as they are. It’s kinda cool though because it’s like long term rewards.
I have totally been eyeing those weighted blankets since I quit drinking. I think now that going to sleep is a thing, vs passing out after blacking out, those blankets have totally caught my eye.
It’s weird but logical though right?!? I mean we have been doing the same sleeping pattern for years so even without alcohol our bodies are like “this is what we do yo” haha.
In the beginning i couldn’t sleep for love nor money, then the doctor gave me sedatives. After i stopped taking them all i wanted to do was sleep no matter what time of day or night it was, after i went back to training in kickboxing my sleeping started to even out, my sleep is back to all over the place because I work 3 nights a week
So I had another 2am wake up last night. Plus a 3:30am wake up on the weekend. I’m a little upset by this. I read an article once that explained what could be physically wrong with you based on when you wake up in the night. This post said that 2am was a sign of an unhappy liver. That totally made sense when I was drinking. But it’s been 12 weeks since my last drink…I should have a fully brand new liver now (my liver enzymes were good in my last blood tests so I shouldn’t have had any liver disease to prevent it’s regeneration). So why am I still waking up??? Is my body just in the habit of waking up like that? Is it new or worsening anxieties?
That’s what I’m beginning to think for myself. I mean I had a repetitious sleeping pattern for so long that even though the true cause is gone my body still thinks it’s the thing to do. I mean the truth is that it’s been studied time and time again that once a behavior is created with a stimulus that it continues even without the stimulus. Perhaps we are just playing out the truth behind Pavlov’s experiment. “Oh sleep? I know what to do when it’s time to sleep. I wake up at 4 am and then lay around for 2 hours in a half sleep. Right?” I don’t think my body has any idea that alcohol has anything to do with the pattern anymore. It just thinks that what I do. Well it took years to create so I’m assuming it’ll take a minute to undo.
@VSue, are you in your late 40’s? If so could be the perimenopause thing. So much fun. I have nights like this as well. Hormones are all out of whack! Good luck to you.
But you’re right. I know it will come soon. Last time I had blood work it seemed still far away but that was about a year ago. And about a month ago I was VERY hot in bed two nights in a row with normal pjs and blankets. But since I haven’t experienced much else I dismissed it as a slight warm spell in the weather.
I’m about 8.5 months in and my sleep is still terrible, but I feel as though it has to do with my occupation and shift work. I get up at 4 am on work days and try my hardest to be in bed by 9, but I’ve also worked my share of nights and my body just seems to be programmed for staying up late and sleeping in as I rarely get up early on my days off. Which is poor sleep hygeine on my part. I guess what I’m saying is booze is only one factor of sleep quality.
