Did anyone get insomnia when they first began their recovery? What did you do to help it?
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Getting as much exercise as possible seems to help me sleep at the end of the day. Reading also helps me get tired.
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Yeah especially on the steroids to get better. I worked out and read a lot and learned to meditate more. I also found that listening to sleep stories helped my mind.
Yep.
Meeting. Workout. Shower. Put a movie on that I've seen a million times. In that order, that helps my brain shut the fück up
I had it bad for the first 5 - 7 days. I found exercise and breathing exercises really helped.
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I've had trouble sleeping for the first few days. I just get up when I need to, get some exercise, eat healthy and wait for all the brain chemicals to balance back out.
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Absolutely! Took me a couple of weekends
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Absolutely, travelling through it currently, yet I am confident and convinced this time round that, i am going to be the winner.
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Reading working out, bedtime routine and sleep time time tea
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Takes a bit, not gonna lie. Your brain is used to having booze to sleep. Without booze it’s kinda “wtHeck?”
It sucks. It’s hard. But it still be over soon. If you just can’t sleep at all, and I do mean “at all”, have some Zquil or Trazadone handy. You’ll need your brain to turn off naturally, and recognize sleep time… so don’t rely on the over the counter meds for sleep, only for necessity.
Reading, drawing, audiobooks, listening to podcasts about something boring, workout early in the morning so you’re tired at night, drink warm water, try breathing techniques, listen to thunderstorms on Spotify, Imagining you’re somewhere ember in your mind.
All kinds of stuff.
Basically it’s hard the first month or so.
I still have problems almost 3 years later.
I browse YouTube and do puzzles on my phone while listening to rain on Spotify
Insomnia, the shakes, cold sweats, extreme sensitivity to sudden noises, nauseated with a complete emptying of my stomach then anothe day of dry heaves. All of it. After a couple of days I could sleep at best 2 hours, but the rest extended out slowly to normal in roughly a week.
It's good to remember this.
I struggled with this for a while initially. I read books, worked out, even tried melatonin. Eventually it evened out and I started to sleep throughout the night but it took time, like most of this stuff in sobriety, it takes time. It’s hard to focus when you aren’t getting rest. Meditation helped too, I started doing it at night before I went to bed, it helped quiet some of the mind chatter.
Exercise and supplement with ZMA-5. (amazon)
Pain keeps me with sleep issues but this is the best supplement I know of after 20+ years of trying this and that.
Also I do t consume caffeine beyond 10am and won't work out (vigorously) beyond 2pm otherwise I won't sleep.
Oh ya insomnia for sure in the early days! And every now & then still.
Counting my breath while laying in bed w my eyes closed definitely works.
I gently slow down my breath and count every exhale to increments of 30. Sometimes it’s 1 set & other times it 10 sets, but works every time! Reading the Big Book helps too.
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4/7/8 technique. Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 7, release for 8. Repeat.
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Melatonin and try doing a hypoglycemic diet for a few weeks
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My dr prescribed trazodone. I took it for a month or 2. Never refilled it. It helped me sleep and have vivid dreams and feel like a zombie in the morning. In the beginning the side effects were worth it.
There’s an expression in recovery. 10 miles into the woods. 10 miles out. Some of us spent decades destroying our bodies and yet we expect our bodies to rebound quickly and for life to be great almost instantly. For me it didn’t work that way. It took me a solid year before I remember feeling great. I definitely felt better as time went on, but in the beginning I was so broken that better was good enough. Slowly the clouds in my brain cleared. Slowly I formed a plan with my sponsor to put my life back together. I worked hard to repair as much of the damage as I could.
I guess this is just a long way of saying that you’ve just begun trudging the road towards your happy destiny. A road that you can commit to every morning when you wake up, and be grateful for every night when your sober head hits the pillow.
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Thank you 
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Read the big book till you fall asleep lol this too shall pass but it’s totally normal. Watch your caffeine intake especially late in the day. Exercise and maybe do meditation before bed. They have some great ones on YouTube. 
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