Effects of Alcohol on Sleep
Many of you will say that you need a drink in order to sleep, that alcohol actually helps you sleep better. While it may be true that drinking will get you off to sleep quicker, unfortunately the quality of your sleep will be much worse overall.
Alcohol inhibits the brain from entering REM stage sleep, which is when we do most of our dreaming, and prolongs the initial stage of deeper sleep. So when you wake up, you will probably not have dreamt enough – and dreaming is an essential component of sleeping. That or you wake up early once the alcohol has worn off.
Alcohol also inhibits your kidneys from absorbing water, so you tend to urinate more, and end up dehydrated. This further disrupts the quality of your sleep, and often produces a headache by morning. As such you end up feeling tired and unable to concentrate for the rest of the day. If you drink every evening, then you may be chronically sleep deprived, even though you might sleep all night, the quality of your sleep is not what it should be.
Making the transition to drinking less is often marked by a difficulty in falling asleep however, so you’ll have to readjust to dropping off naturally again. Getting regular, strenuous exercise is a good idea then – if you’re physically tired you’re much more likely to be able to sleep without needing your usual ‘knock-out drops’.
I had a lot of trouble sleeping when I quit drinking. I started taking prescription sleeping medication in order to sleep (I took Ambien). I still didn’t feel like I was getting good sleep and I was always tired the next day. So, I decided to quit taking Ambien and had an even worse time trying to sleep than when I quit drinking. It took awhile to be able to sleep normally after I quit taking it. I think I exacerbated the problem by taking something to help me sleep and I would have readjusted faster without it, that’s just my opinion looking back. It was like I had to go through it twice.
Hi Rebecca
From the first day/night you stopped drinking approximately how many bad nights sleep did you experience?
We stopped yesterday and last night I had such nightmares that I was afraid to close my eyes. I also did not have much more that a couple of hours very broken sleep. It was so bad I am tempted to have a few drinks before bedtime just so I can have some sleep but I realise that that is against what I am trying to do.
Many thanks for any advice
Ann and Paul
Paul & Ann,
I had 2 nights of absolutely no sleep at all. I think I slept ok on the 3rd and had crazy dreams, but it gets better because you eventually have to sleep. I wouldn’t recommend drinking to sleep, just wait it out. I’ve been through withdrawal symptoms more than once and like I said I also took sleeping pills – getting off of them took about a week to get back to normal sleeping, maybe more, I can’t remember but it was worse!
Good luck!
Rebecca
i think that people shouldnt drink becuase they will get really ill and they will ruin there family they wont get looked after and also ur liver will eget s big as a ball, dribnking really effect no just you but also the people around you. Also if you only one drink you want to keep drinking more and more. Thne from then you cant stop it. Also if you drink you dont look nice and people think taht you are an idiot and you satrt to smell.
goddamit man….everybody thinks now you are the coolest one cause you dont smell,you are having nice relatioships,you are fucking healthy,to sum up you are the BRIGHTEST DIAMOND….and the rest of us will go to hell…..return back to the primary school and ask your theology teacher,even quicker speak tonight with mr God and then please let us know if we are going to hell soon.thanks a lot holly friend…and never forget to wash your hands twice after touching one of us,THE CURSED!!!piece of stone around dark thornfull roses!!!!stoko!
Damn, there’s always someone there to state the obvious.
I always worry that i wont be able to get to sleep then of course i cant an i just lay there drifting in an out of consciousness but i think drinking has made it worse because i used to drink every night for 2 years just to get to sleep so i have to try an get used to it without it.
About three nights ago, after about a half bottle of vodka, I climbed into bed at about 2 a.m. At 4 a.m., I bolted upright in bed, panicking from a nightmare that was undoubtedly alcohol induced. It was not pleasant. My nightmare was along the lines of the Exorcist!
As an aside though, I have learnt to totally avoid hangovers no matter how much I drink and how wasted I get – even after a half bottle of vodka. Of course, I am not particularly proud of that accolade, and will be tackling this drinking problem soon.
hey vintage … you just described the same scenerio i go through alot with nightmares of that sort after drinking alot of vodka .. makes ya wonder huh … devils sweat
Good article! Alcohol is killing brain cells. Each time we have a zip of alcohol, a few thousand cells die irreversible.
I binge drink and then I sleep for a couple of night, but after that its awake for 2 or 3 nights on the trot, I,ve never slept well anyway waking up between 4 or 5 times on a good night. I,m not always drinking and when I don,t drink I don,t sleep. You name it I,ve tried it, sleeping pills, herbal pills, etc.. etc.. some days I am so tired,yet nothing works. I,ve seen huge dragonflys coming up from the carpets, and once woke to find a tall dark hooded figure standing over me in bed. I really thought the grim reaper had come to get me, I wonder why we do it!
I have given up drinking for about six weeks now. I was prescribed ‘librium’ by my GP and it worked wonders for getting me relaxed enough to sleep.I still think my body needs to settle down a bit though. I was waking up and getting up and about at around 4:30-6:00 in the morning. I sleep a lot longer now, though it’s hard to get to sleep quite often. I have long since finished the librium now. I find I’m constantly drinking tea, chocolate and coffee. I think it’s the calories my body is missing from the alcohol days. I have gained weight with the return of my appetite, so I will be going to the gym soon to try and get some exercise, which, incidentally is recommended on this very website for a more healthy night’s sleep.
AL!