Chronic insomnia and depression during abstinence

[Greg]

I am scared of the chronic insomnia and depression that have accompanied all my previous attempts at abstinence from alcohol, and I find myself using these problems as excuses to postpone my latest plan to break free of alcoholic drinking.

I know that treatment and recovery are not meant to be fun or easy, but after trying to fight these two problems for months every day during previous periods of abstinence, I would appreciate any opinions or suggestions. Does anyone here have any successful experience using medications to combat these problems during abstience?

Thanks for any advice offered.

Greg

[startingover]

Chronic insomnia and depression during abstinence

Hi Greg, for me, my depression lifted when I stopped drinking. Also, once I made my decision to sober up I did find recovery fun. Not every hour or every day, but I did actually start living again.
I dont have sleep issues, but i understand that these will resolve after a period of sobriety. In the meantime have you tried any supplements? I gather melatonin, valerian, and a combination like True Calm will help.
Have you seen a doctor or a counsellor about your depression? Sorry if thats an obvious one. I am just trying to suggest alternatives to the bottle.
Best Wishes to you and hope you find something that helps soon.

[last10years]

Chronic insomnia and depression during abstinence

Greg - I'm not a big exercise fanatic, but I know when I need a good night of sleep, I will get on a stationary bike, go for a 2 hour walk, go for a swim, whatever it takes to where myself out. This might not be of great help in the first few days, but should surely help thereafter. I was a huge insominiac many years ago, and the best way I found for sleeping (and depression for that matter), was to outright make myself exhausted! LT

[crazyforwine]

Chronic insomnia and depression during abstinence

Greg,

Insomnia was my worst fear about giving up wine, I depended on it to get to sleep and to put myself back to sleep during the wee hours. Unfortunately, the reality of it is that alcohol screws up your sleep terribly. It's the cause, not the solution. So I tapered my wine down and started to sleep more heavily with more dreams, which is good. When you drink too much, you get poor quality of sleep!

I'm still paranoid about it, even on day 8; I take 1 1/2 mg of melatonin every night, and have a small prescription for Ambien for when I'm desperate. The longer I am AF, the less I need these things.

I also had to tell myself each night: "It's not the end of the world not to sleep. I'll sleep when I'm ready. No one died from this, and it will get better!" And it has.

Hard for me to address the depression. I am waiting to see if mine lifts now that I'm AF and exercising. The exercise helps me a lot. I have a script for Prozac, but am hoping I won't need it!

Ann

[Winefree]

Chronic insomnia and depression during abstinence

Greg, I too suffer from insomnia when I don't drink and therefore have continued to use that as an excuse to continue drinking. I tried Benadryl, velarian, and calms forte, to no avail.
Years ago when I was being treated for depression, I was started on an antidepressant as well as trazadone to assist with my sleep. It did seem to work, but I also still drank.

I am desperate to stop drinking now, since my marriage is on the rocks, due to my drinking. My MD prescribed the trazadone again to help with the insomnia. I stopped drinking after last Wed night, since my husband took off. I have been using the trazadone, sleepytime tea with velarian and benadryl if I wake up in the night. So far so good. Why don't you check with your MD about the trazadone?

Hope this helps. And no I don't know what came first the depression or the drinking, but I had many stressors during that episode that could have aggravated either.

Best of luck. If you find any other great solutions, keep us all posted.

[Boss.man]

Chronic insomnia and depression during abstinence

Greg, same problem here. I used alcohol to make me "sleepy" for years. I had AF stretches starting in August, but sleep remained a key problem.

First I read a lot about sleep. I like this book:
Amazon.com: The Sleep Rx: 75 Proven Ways to Get a Good Night's Sleep: Norman Ford: Books

Currently I take Zolpidem (generic Ambien) which is not in the book. Ambien is supposed to be non-habit forming. I split the 10mg pill and take 5mg on nights my mind is active at bedtime. You can't take Ambien while drinking.

I know it is substituting one habit for another. But I'm following the book and working on stabilizing my cycle, exercising, and getting my body ready for bed. Overall I feel I have a long term solution. The Zolpidem is a short term crutch to help me bridge the gap. I'll report in a few months whether I'm successful in reducing or eliminating the Zolpidem from my new habits. You need a doctor to prescribe Zolpidem, but it's pretty easy to ask for it and get it, as it is not a pill that can easily be abused.

[peacenik]

Chronic insomnia and depression during abstinence

exercise exercise exercise and if that doesn't work i take 4 squirts from a 10 cc dropper of melatonin...gets me to lala land everytime.