Stop Drinking

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This is a place to motivate each other to control or stop drinking. It is also a place for non drinkers to discuss and share.

We welcome anyone who wishes to join in by asking for advice, sharing our experiences and stories, or just encouraging someone who is trying to quit or cut down.

Please post only when sober; you’re welcome to read in the meanwhile.

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What do I do when it hurts too much to sleep? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I have struggles with PTSD. Some very terrible things have been done to me by people I loved and trusted.

I can be very distracted during the day. I have a very active mind, lots of coping mechanisms and most of the time I’m fine. But it’s trying to sleep that is impossible.

Weed can help, but there’s this pain that hits late at night. It’s crushing. Weed will quiet flashbacks, will help me get to the point that my parasympathetic nervous can kick in and I don’t feel afraid and hyper vigilant, but it can only sometimes help the pain.

Drinking helps. It’s making me sick at this point but I don’t know how else to cope with the black pit of despair. Doomscrolling and drinking all night at least stops the rumination.

And so I pay for help with this and see the therapists I can. There’s barely any options for therapy and I try to journal and do all of the things but it just doesn’t help when I feel like my heart is bleeding out and I need to sleep.

It feels almost physical, a gaping wound that needs a beer to hold it together.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I find that Trazodone works really well for me. I'm not going to try to compare my shit with yours, but some of what you said resonates with my situation. It isn't an OTC medication, though, so you will need a prescription, but it is one of the most prescribed meds out there for anxiety-related sleep conditions.

I find this med to be a real godsend, because it's the only medication I've ever taken that's managed to reliably allow me to sleep without any of the associated grogginess or brain fog the next day. As for how it works for me... I find that it doesn't actually make me sleepy; it just sort of tells my brain to knock off its bullshit for a while so that when I am sleepy I can actually sleep without it fucking my shit up. As far as I'm aware, it's pretty non-addictive.

So yeah, I'd recommend asking your doctor about it. Not sure if a GP will prescribe it; might have to get referred to a psychologist first. Good luck!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's going to sound shitty, but you don't sleep

Eventually, fatigue will win, and you will sleep

It's going to feel like absolute hell, but if you keep going back to the bottle or other substances, then that's what you will keep doing

I have done dry July and other things, just to make sure that I'm not an addict, but I still can't go more than a couple of days without drinking

I want to. And I know that it doesn't really help me sleep, but it's the lie that I keep telling myself

I'll do it one day

Exhaustion will get you to sleep eventually. Drying out is a much, much longer process

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Please bear in mind that deliberately depriving yourself of sleep can be extremely dangerous to yourself and to others.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

I agree completely

It's not a case of deliberately depriving yourself of sleep, it's about not using booze to knock yourself out

It's a difficult balance