How to Ease Withdrawal Insomnia During Recovery

Alcohol depresses your central nervous system, which means your brain activity, breathing, and heart rate all slow down when you’re intoxicated. For example, those who are sensitive to alcohol might get a rough night of sleep after only one or two cocktails. Conversely, someone else could sleep soundly even after several shots. At any rate, a regular nighttime drinking habit will increase your odds of poor-quality sleep over time. Research on alcohol and sleep shows that moderate-to-heavy drinking has a detrimental effect on sleep. But this is more of a guideline than a rule—simply because the amount of alcohol that causes insomnia is different for everyone.

1. Such results suggest that protecting sleep during recovery may help reduce the risk of relapse.
2. Because alcohol’s effects vary for each person, even small amounts can worsen sleep quality for some people.
3. Drinking alcohol in moderation is generally considered safe but every individual reacts differently to alcohol.
4. Alcohol has sedative effects that can induce feelings of relaxation and sleepiness, but the consumption of alcohol — especially in excess — has been linked to poor sleep quality and duration.
5. The most effective time of day for the body to metabolize alcohol, according to research?

Even though alcohol may help you fall asleep, it interferes with the quality of your sleep. In the first half of the night, when the body is metabolizing alcohol, studies show people spend more time in deep, slow-wave sleep and less time in REM sleep. Sleep architecture is biologically driven and finely calibrated to meet the body’s needs during nightly rest—changes to the natural, typical structure of sleep aren’t generally good for health or well being. REM sleep, which gets shortchanged in the first half of the night under the influence of alcohol, is important for mental restoration, including memory and emotional processing.

For example, the standard output for nightly awakenings was the median duration of these awakenings. It would be more useful to have data on the frequency and duration of each individual nightly awakening. Unfortunately, with the current GENEactiv set-up, we could not recover this data. Third, while the assessments capture physical activity it would also be interested to collect objective data on mental activity during the alcohol hangover state. Electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies should be conducted to provide more insight on this topic.

Fixing your sleep will work wonders for your sobriety.

McKinney and Coyle [12] examined alcohol hangover effects and sleep in 48 social drinkers. Applying a naturalistic study design, the researchers did not interfere with drinking behavior and no restrictions were placed on the subjects sleep behavior. Similar to Finnigan et al., McKinney and Coyle found that sleep was disrupted after alcohol consumption and next-day fatigue was significantly increased.

How to prevent disrupting sleep after drinking

Finally, regular drinking has been linked to insomnia and other sleep disorders, especially later in life. Statistics show that 5.3 percent of all people 12 and older in the U.S. have an alcohol use disorder.12 And many others might deal with problematic drinking, but new life house sober living 22 photos fall into the gray area. All this is to say that “just quitting” isn’t always easy, even when alcohol use harms your sleep and well-being. Being a sedative and depressant of the central nervous system, alcohol can increase feelings of tiredness and sluggishness.

A great first step is to speak with a trusted loved one, a primary care doctor, or a therapist about your desire to make a change. People with alcohol use disorder experience insomnia at higher rates than those who don’t abuse alcohol. Sleep restriction therapy reduces insomnia by reducing the amount of time you spend in bed.

Another option is to consult a mental health specialist, particularly one with experience treating substance abuse and addiction. If you can book with someone specializing in sleep disorders, do that. Also referred to as acute or adjustment insomnia, this type is characterized as a brief of difficulty sleeping. It’s usually caused by a stressful life event like the death of a loved one, a bad medical diagnosis, or quitting smoking or drinking. It’s no wonder that many of us who spent years (or decades) subjecting our bodies to this destructive cycle now find ourselves incapable of sleeping once we’ve stopped drinking.

With regard to daytime activity, several studies revealed self-reports of increased apathy and hangover symptoms suggesting reduced activity during alcohol hangover [17,18]. While alcohol consumption may help someone fall asleep, there is a reduction in sleep quality compared with sleep without alcohol. Insomnia, the most common sleep disorder, is marked by periods of difficulty falling or staying asleep. Insomnia occurs despite the opportunity and desire to sleep, and leads to excessive daytime sleepiness and other negative effects.

#7. Eat a diet that is conducive to quality sleep.

Everyone’s situation, drinking history, and health are unique, so I recommend starting with your doctor for chronic sleep issues. Even if you have good intentions, when you set your phone beside your bed, every buzz, ding, and ping is like squirting ice water on your meant-to-be-sleeping brain. Sleep health is absurdly important, and I promise it’s worth skipping that extra cup of coffee or energy drink to be able to lie down and drift off to sleep at a reasonable hour. Others claim giving yourself 4-6 hours before bedtime is sufficient. For this, I have been rewarded with bedtimes that came about two hours too late, jitters, and anxiety that did not need to be so bad.

Beverages To Avoid to Sleep Soundly While Traveling

If you sleep better when you don’t drink, you might consider stopping alcohol use entirely. However, if you continue to have sleeping difficulties, reach out to a sleep specialist. 35 sobering alcoholism statistics and facts for 2023 People who go to bed with alcohol in their system may be more likely to wake early in the morning and not be able to fall back to sleep, another consequence of the rebound effect.

If these steps aren’t enough and you’re still having sleep drunk episodes, talk to your doctor. Or you might have an undiagnosed sleep disorder or other health condition that needs care. It also covers what symptoms you might have if you don’t wait long enough between having your last drink and going to bed. It’s not because I don’t appreciate a glass of wine with a great meal, or a few beers on a hot summer evening. It’s because I know what alcohol can do to sleep and healthy circadian rhythms. Having the occasional nightcap to unwind is no biggie and may help you fall asleep faster.

Alcohol may be consumed in beer, wine, and hard liquors like vodka, rum, gin, and whiskey. It is more often consumed at night, also called a nightcap, and may negatively affect your sleep. While alcohol can make you feel tired at first, it can also disturb your sleep as it wears off. Circadian rhythms affect how the body responds to alcohol, depending on the timing of alcohol intake.

When ADH breaks down the ethanol molecules, its structure changes and it becomes acetaldehyde, a toxic, carcinogenic substance. From there, another enzyme, aldehyde is alcoholism considered a disease dehydrogenase turns the acetaldehyde into a less toxic substance called acetic acid. Men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week.