this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
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Having a drink before going to sleep at 9 Is better than laying awake until 2 am tossing and turning for 3 hours and getting up at 5.
Its literally a tough decision. I remember sleeping a lot better when I was still drinking alcohol, especially one or two beers to dinner.
Due to personal circumstances, my nervous system is on constant alert and years of training did get it down a bit but one bad experience makes it spike 10x.
I decided to quit because it was becoming very regular. My sleep quality has gotten a lot better since the beginning but also its been 5-6 yrs since I quit. Regular exercise and meditation did the trick.
Same. Just started a new job too and my shit has been going nuts. I'm not even struggling with anything my body is just freaking out for no reason. I try not to rely on alcohol to deal with it but when it's really bad sometimes that's the only thing that works and let's me level out. I will probably quit for a while after I get through the new job nerves though because I'm definitely drinking too much the last couple weeks.
I‘d suggest a „pause“. Just see how long you can make it. It takes the „I can never do x again“ pressure away and makes it a lot easier to keep off something. Did the same with smoking.
Have you tried yoga/meditation? I make breathing exercises if stuff gets rough. Either awake or when I want to fall asleep. I count breaths in and out. When I come to 100 I start over. My brain calms down at repetitive stuff and i get tired.
I do breathing exercises and they do help a little but not usually enough to get to sleep or stay asleep.
So no exercise at all? Thats a pretty important part imo.
Have you considered or tried medication?
You didn't mention exercise before but I do weight lifting and various forms of cardio. I'm in very good shape physically but those do not help at all with my sleep. Medication requires going to a doctor and that's too expensive.
Whoops. I did include it mentally but as I see now I didnt actually say it. Sorry.
Very tough situation you‘re in. What country do you live in?
U.S.
Why is that no surprise to me? The american dream these days to me feels like „I hope I can make it before I become seriously sick or injured.“
I suppose you have no way of getting insurance or some program to help you? Because self medicating with alcohol is pretty brutal for your health over time.
I have insurance but every time I go to a doctor they always still manage to make it cost 100+$ and thanks to their incomprehensible medical billing codes I don't even have a way to budget for it if they decide to do some test that costs a lot and insurance comes back saying it's not covered after the fact.
I'm mitigating the alcohol thing by only using it in majorly stressful times. Normally I don't drink as much.
Thats quite horrifying. Sorry you have to go through that.