Hi guys. Just a small rant. 41 day sober, doing actually great, BUT.
Every god damn day I wake up at 3, 3.30 or 4 am and cannot fall back asleep. When I was drinking I would sleep 8 hours straight, however bad, and wake up hungover, sad, angry, guilty and so on. Now I sleep no more than 6 hours, and granted, I feel good and kind of rested, but I would sell my soul for another hour of sleep. Note that I must get up for work at 5.20 so that waking up at 4 really pisses me off. That used to happen on mondays, the one day I wouldn’t drink, and I thought that’s because of heavy drinking in the weekend. Now it happens every god damn day. Everyone who stopped drinking reports better sleep and a bunch of other improvments. I can’t report anything special yet, but I also must admit I haven’t had a hard time with withdrowals or anxiety. Anyway, it’s annoying.
Thanks for listening!
Sounds pretty good to me TBH. I recognize the waking up early. I started journaling with the extra time I have before having to get ready for work. And am happy now with the extra time for myself. Time just for me, before all the demands of life are on me again. Maybe try and do something good with the time you’ve gained?
BTW, feel free to rant and vent any time you want. It’s what this place is for (amongst other things). Congrats on your 41 days of sobriety and have a great day Dora!
Thanks Menno, yea I’ll do that, make peace with sleeping 6 hours now and having extra time, instead of trying to fall back asleep and be pissed about it.
You know what? This just made me think: “Why don’t I just get up, when I wake up earlier than I’m used to, instead of pointlessly trying to fall asleep again, when my body just doesn’t want to sleep?”
Thanks for sharing Dora! I love this place. Our shared struggles become our shared strenghts! And thanks @Mno for talking sense.
@DoraV I’m in the same boat as you, and it seems, @Mno and @acromouse too. I’ve been that way during and after addiction, especially waking up around 3-4am. I used to wake my partner up with my aggressive rolling in bed, due to feeling frustrated with not being able to fall back to sleep.
Now, as suggested above, I use that time for me. Exercise, chatting here, preparing the family breakfast, household chores even watching an episode of something I enjoy. It’s taken sobriety for me to make peace with this, I hope you find some too.
Good morning and welcome to the best part of the day! Early early morning is when I celebrate my sobriety the most! Early morning is a chunk of time to myself before the work day and before the rest of the world is too busy.
And I’m so grateful to feel good. No hangover. There, I will say it again… no dehydrated aching body with a pounding head and a sick stomach. Early morning is when I get to congratulate myself and practice gratitude for the freedom and the time I have gained back in my life.
Several mornings a week I head to the pool and have a good swim before my very busy workday.
Other mornings I read a bit or take care of some online banking or other housekeeping tasks.
Sometimes I scroll thru here and practice my thinking about my sobriety.
Sometimes I wake up my husband.
Sometimes I take the dog for a longer walk.
It’s the best part of the day and helps me stay centered and calm for my workday. (I teach 6th grade, so someone has to be ready for all that crazy!)
Enjoy your free time!!
Speaking of, I reduced my caffeine intake to two small coffees before 10 and none of the caffeine after that time. I do see one nice improvement, I can actually put my wedding ring on my finger. Oh and my hair is nicer because now, when I’m not drunk, hungover, lazy or depressed - I actually WASH it. So I better not complain, small steps, small wins. And above all, not being hungover, now that is just beautiful.
Thank you! But don’t you get tired and sleepy during the day if you swim before work? I’ll certainly do some nice walking as soon as it get warmer.
Thanks, yes I’m thinking might be just how I am now, or maybe it will improve with time. I even stopped doing deadlifts because that burns my cns and from that I will surely wake up at 3. I’ll meditate for starters.
Yes I love this place too, so much joy, tears, support and empathy.
I get an awesome bit of endorphins from swimming. That brain chemistry helps me stay calm and patient during the day. The exercise actually gives me energy. It also helps me sleep better!
Read up on brain chemistry and you will be amazed!
Have a great day!
Your not alone my sleep been all over the place from 2-6 hours a night
For me….my body had to do a lot of calibrating and healing before I was sleeping through the night again, but now it happens all the time! Exercise has been the single most effective tool I have to 1. Balance my energy levels during the day which 2. Helps me actually sleep at night and 3. I have found exercise to be of the MOST benefit to me MENTALLY. When I exercise in some way everyday, I stop spinning, and my anxiety brain is almost completely silenced. All of this leads to better food choices, and my brain, sleep and energy levels are all wildly different when I’m eating Whole Foods. Good luck!
Welcome to the 6 hour a night sleep club!
I’m up at 4am everyday and I actually enjoy that time before work. I take the dog for a long walk. The peace and quiet in the crisp cold mornings is magical. The clouds and stars are beautiful.
Then into the shower and off to work. Leaving early means very light traffic for my commute. Having a couple hours before everyone else gets to the office gives me that jump start to a busy day. It’s amazing what I can get accomplished without interruptions.
The only day I find it bothersome is Sunday, my only day off. What I try to do is stay up late Saturday night but I still wake up at 4. Since the dog is used to his walks, I’ll take him and then go back to bed for a few hours.
If your body is rested, there’s no reason to fight it. Embrace it and eventually you’ll find what you enjoy in those wee hours over time. Then it will become your new natural routine.
Ugh, I totally know that feeling and it is so annoying. I struggled a long time with sleep issues when I was drinking and even after I stopped. It took a long while, but finally my sleep did get much better. But it took a looong time for me. I am also an older woman, so I know hormones had a lot to do with it. I tried a million things and every sleep hygiene tip there is…but as is often the case, it was letting go of my attachment to the problem and time that helped me.
Glad you vented, hope it helped a little. 
I know I am not an expert on this subject as I have struggled myself, albeit for little blips of time.
I did have a few decades in the bedding industry and what I do know is your surroundings and the way you set yourself up for success is very helpful.
There are plenty of great articles on this subject, so I won’t bore everyone with too many details but sleep clinics write on this stuff regularly.
Blue light (screen time) is one of the largest contributors to poor sleep, conditions in your room as well as light, temp, humidity, noise, comfort etc, that should be considered honestly.
Stimulation before bed is also a no no. Obviously alcohol, caffeine even sweets will ramp you up.
Look around your sleep area and consider if you are set up well. If you are and still struggle with duration (getting to sleep is another issue with anxiety, overactive imagination etc that I am not speaking directly on), then perhaps a sleep clinic is necessary to ensure you don’t have underlying health issues, like sleep apnea for example that needs to be diagnosed as soon as possible.
Anyway hopefully helpful, anyone can reach out to me if you want other insights and or, like mentioned, there are lots of great articles from
Sleep foundations that give great and thorough advice/
Sleep well 
I’m the same but I have embraced the 4am wake ups over the last couple months, evenings are when I feel hollow so prefer early nights now and early wake up
Hey another who is up at 4 lol but like others have said i find it amazing i eat which was unheard of during drinking and even get to go gym or catch up with admin side of buisness. I look at it as a blessing now and if i am tired or fall asleep early well no loss as i have my mornings 
Congratulations on choosing sobriety. I believe your quality of sleep is a lot better when you dont drink. You’re able go through complete sleep cycles and bot just be passed out. Therefore, you feel a lot more rested with less sleep. That’s what I’ve studied so far. Good luck my friend.
Yeah I’m not sure how true this is for me. I’ve only been sleeping a couple of hours a night and constantly feeling tired and feeling like i need more sleep but not feeling sleepy
Yeah, that only goes for the “alcoholics”. No disrespect 
. When you mix in stimulants, it creats a whole different type of beast. You kinda mess up all the chemicals your brain produces…dopamine, serotonin, melatonin and all that. It just takes a while to somewhat go back to normal/heal.
Specially mixing alcohol and coke. Kinda creates a new drug in your body called Cocaethylene. It blocks some hormones in your brain and messes up your whole cycle. I know you like the scientific view of things so you might wanna research the topic. Sorry I don’t remember much of this due to it being a short topic in class.