I historically struggle with sleeping. Alcohol at least let me pass out at night for a few years. The past few months I thought I’d found something great with diphenhydramine, but I’ve already built a tolerance to it and it doesn’t do it anymore. What are the weird suggestions that actually help you fall asleep consistently? (I have tried all of your standard over the counter and rx sleep meds; blue light; no screens; etc; looking for suggestions I probably haven’t heard of before).
Thank you!
Personally, I stay away from pharmaceuticals. I do some form of exercise everyday, enough to wear me out on top of my routine of being out and about. No caffeine after lunch, no sodas or anything overly loaded with sugar, especially late in the day.
I've got a mild case of tinnitus (constant hum) from my years of rock concerts, power plants, and motorcycles, even with ear protection, so I sometimes go to YouTube and listen to extended music, environmental sounds, meditation chants, whatever. Chamomile tea sometimes helps, too. There are some meditation apps that can be useful. Asana Rebel has yoga workouts, healthy diet recipes, meditation and mindfulness guides that help quiet the mind--always helpful early in recovery and as general maintenance as one goes along.
Good luck!
Binaural beats. Go on YouTube. Find binaural beats for sleep. Preferably use headphones but it's not necessary. It helps me and many others. Do some research on binaural beats, they can be used for relaxation, study, meditation, sleep, focus, lucid dreams, astral travel, healing and so many others.
I’ve never heard of this; googling immediately, tyty
I too have trouble with sleeping (up at 1:30am, up at 3:00am etc) but I can still function well enough at work and I feel ok when I wake up. I don't use any medication or sleep aids, I just accept my weird sleeping habits and try and use my time productively. I exercise every day and limit my caffeine intake and sometimes I sleep very well. As long as I don't drink, I wake up feeling ok and ready to start my sometimes very long days. Good luck to you!
It takes a couple weeks for the alcohol to be completely gone, and it interferes with sleep quality and duration. Drinking and falling asleep just resets the cycle of purging the poison out, delaying the homeostasis that helps us sleep. I used to take zma to help me sleep along with some other stuff you may have tried like melatonin, and zma helped me quite a bit. Having exercised helps too. I hope you get a good night's sleep soon!
I struggle with not sleeping well at night either. I liked how I could take my medication with a beer and then be able to sleep through the night. So yeah I get the struggle.
Podcasts have been a revelation for my sleep. They take me out of my own insane brain. I put one on, usually history related, and am out within 20 minutes. Best of luck!
If we’re talkin relapse talks ask your doctor about hydroxyzine. i take it as needed for anxiety. And sometimes when I can’t sleep at night it puts me out consistently (a month ago i took it every night for a month straight).
I have the ADHD so I take Vyvanse every morning so i was taking it once in the morning and once at night 10mg very tiny pills. Normally I would say if you’re not on adhd meds stay away from them but if you specifically need to sleep, hydroxyzine will calm your nerves and put you to sleep without feel like you’re on something. It’s not like a high or some weird feeling like idk anxiety meds that people abuse like xanex.
When you first take it i would make sure you’re going right to bed, but after a few days or so it becomes something to where if you want to sleep you’re able to, and if you have things to do before bed you can stay awake.
Paige
I took the same sleep medicine for the longest time. I'll tell you what works for me. I take a high dose of Melatonin. Most stores don't sell it. You have to buy it online. I get it in gummy bear form. Two gummy bears equals 20 milligrams of melatonin. I have a whole lifetime of having sleeping problems and it has cured my problem.
Every once in a while, I will have one of those nights where I can't seem to sleep, but I seem to skate through the next day despite that loss of sleep. For the most part, I have no trouble falling asleep now.
Oh, and by the way, in addition to what I posted above, don't believe the big lie about picking up a drink. All you're doing is starting the clock all over again. The only way you're going to overcome this problem is to turn it off completely. Our disease is very cunning, baffling, and powerful when it comes to talking us into taking the next drink.
I finished steps 4 and 5. Got all my secrets out. Held nothing back. It sounds completely nuts in a world convinced that solutions are ingested, but for me purging all my secrets and shame left me nothing to obsess over. My mind grew silent. I found peace. I take nothing after suffering from insomnia for 20 years.
I too thought alcohol was the solution. But it turns out it was the problem.
At least an hour of hard exercise and 45 minutes of sunlight.
Do hydroxine I personally think it’s a good sleeping pill-antidepressant that helps you relax and sleep good at night.
Had the exact same problem... Couldn't detox because I absolutely could not sleep without alcohol. Melatonin works for a bit. CBD gummies have worked. Chamomile also. Alternating those is an idea. I've been prescribed hydroxyzine and Seraquel, which absolutely work like a charm but are hard to wake up from. I'm now trying a natural combination of supplements backed by neurological studies: L-Theanine, Apeginin, and Magnesium Threonate. This combo naturally shuts down your frontal cortex and stimulates GABA receptors... essentially it's to shut down overthinking if you are just lying there all night. This combo has worked , but the surest thing is Seraquel if you could get your doc to write that until your over detoxing. 100mg knocks me out and I'm 190 lbs. Afterwards, try a few other of the things I listed up there. And ,of course, exercise very much helps. I know how frustrating this problem is. Good luck.
Hey Paige. I too struggled with sleeping. 5 things have been instrumental. 1. Hard exercise 2. No caffeine after lunch 3. No screens at least one hour before bed 4. No eating at least two hours before bed 5. Get to bed the same time every night. Practice these and it will work. Give it 2 weeks before giving up. Trust God
I always struggled with sleep also. Drinking and drugs helped till they didn’t. Now what I find helps is a good daily workout and then before bed I find a meditation to listen to. I shut off the lights and lay in bed, close my eyes and breathe in slowly and out slowly. I focus on my breathe and the meditation. I usually fall asleep before it’s over. I hope it helps.
I personally take L-Theanine, Vstaril, & Trazodone to knock me out… so I get it.
When I couldn’t sleep initially I found mindfulness meditation with some sort of visualization (like imagining you’re walking on the beach—and somehow feeling it in your feet w/ each “step”) truly did help.
Main reason I can’t sleep is due to racing thoughts, sooo ymmv.
Oh, and a buddy of mine from IOP swears by Ashwagandha 
First, you're not alone. When it happened to me, I was surrounded by people who said it happens to most people in recovery.
Medication is a personal decision made between doctors and yourself. That being said, I personally needed to see a doctor about non-addictive anxiety and sleep meds until I could work the steps and progress out of the fight/flight mode. I take Trazadone and have since Month 4, I don't anticipate always being on it. But it helps to know that I will get restful sleep while I heal and do the steps.
When I couldn't decide whether to seek help, I found some luck in the International Women's 24 hour zoom. Lots of insomnia struggles there to help and be supportive.
I found that lying still and meditating could provide enough rest to function the next day.
Sleep affirmations on YouTube significantly help too.
Best of luck.
Hi Paige, I do a combination of the things mentioned above a sleep aide, no caffeine or sugar after 5pm. I still have some issues falling asleep. So this is the weird part. I play disc golf. So when I lay down and close my eyes I imagine myself playing a round at a course, I have a few memorized. Sometimes my thoughts wander to issues and such. I redirect myself back to the game. I have also done this with fishing. It works for me. I am generally asleep before I play 9 holes. Lol. Try it with something you enjoy doing.