Cannot Sleep Without Drink

[HongTong]

Having problems with sleeping I am drinking before I go to bed since about 10 years. Since I am here in Thailand - 8 month - I drink at least half a small bottle Hong Thong every night. If I don't drink I hardly fall in sleep and wakeup in the middle of the night. Since I start to go to the Gym again I really what to stop. Sleeping pills are not an option. Any ideas ? Thanks

[noudb]

General advice: stop using any caffeine, no coffee, tea, chocolate, energy drinks and soft-drinks (most of them here in Thailand contain caffeine)

Try it for 3 weeks solid, no caffeine at all, then you will really enjoy good and solid sleep with or without alcohol.

[cooked]

I tried some herbal teas when I was going through a similar crisis some yers ago and they helped. If I woke up in the night the ritual of walking around in bare feet, making the tea, watching TV for 5 minutes, usually did the trick. Bare feet? Seems to help, blood circulation or something.

[Sydneycraig]

Try AA

[mrtoad]

Lifestyle changes are important, Diet, exercise, relaxation. You need to follow some good sleep hygiene guidelines. These may be a good starting point. If it doesn't have the desired effect, and you are still having sleep problems, a sleep clinic appointment will also be useful. If the drive to continue drinking coatis the also discuss with a suitably qualified health professional.

[sirchai]

You might find this article helpful:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/ask-our-experts/herbal-sleep-remedies.aspx

Just say no and stop drinking. It will be gone after a few weeks. Your body is so used to it. Destroy all that destroys you. Good luck.----

[GooEng]

I used to be the same. same booze too - hong thong ........ my advice is to stop drinking completely. after about a week or so (maybe as much as two weeks) you will start to sleep normally and very well and wake up feeling much better than you did when you used Hong thong to sleep - remember be patient as the first week or so is difficult - bad sleep and tired in the daytime. but stopping drinking worked perfectly for me. exercise also helps.

sent in good faith ....

[HongTong]

Thanks for your good feedback. Maybe I should give it a try and just stop rightaway. It is also a psycological thing, like a ceremony. Everyday at midnight opening the bottle and taking the first slug. It sucks but I wait for this moment the entire day. Anyway, have to stop !!

[Potosi]

So did you try and succeed quiting cold turkey? I have the same problem. Start drinking at midnight, one small bottle of whiskey, and the stupor gives me 8 to 10 hours of really good sleep. Don't feel good after weaking up for half a day, however. When I don't drink, two or three hours of doze. Tired all day, no good either. Caffeine was mentioned in the thread, but it's out of the system within 5 hours. A coffee in the afternoon can't affect sleep late night.

[chiangmaikelly]

I stopped cold turkey under a doctors care. He prescribed a non opiate sleeping pill which I only took a quarter of a tab nightly for a couple of weeks then I was OK. Go see a doctor who has some experience in the area and ask him.

[Potosi]

I started with the wiskey to get rid of sleeping pills. Xanax in my case. They didn't help much in the end anyway. What pill did you take, and did you have trouble to quit them?

[chiangmaikelly]

I started with the wiskey to get rid of sleeping pills. Xanax in my case. They didn't help much in the end anyway. What pill did you take, and did you have trouble to quit them?

I would not advise anyone to self medicate especially when doctors are so inexpensive here. It was Trazodone along with two others for other symptoms. LIke I said talk to a doctor,

[doontp]

I'm convinced I'll only sleep good when I'm dead. I've tried everything. I moved to Thailand almost 5 years ago from the USA and I am sleeping better. I have a relaxing job and lifestyle and I know that can only help.

[Dancealot]

No self medication! Indeed CMK!

Herbal teas is gay and no go Mr. Cooked, but worth a try!

I think the OP has to look whitin himself to re check his own ability to go to sleep. Go back to basics i suggest:

Do a runner for 30 minutes before going to bed. Mean to say i mean force your body and muscles and blood stream get tired and overworked.

The Al cehol will not be needed for a good eyes shut!

Body and mind are 1 beautiful co-excistence working together all the time.

Make use of it, my fellow.

[farangme]

Sleep issues can be difficult to sort out. Can have many causes. Really should see a physician with experience in this. Alcohol is definitely a bad crutch. Prevents you from getting REM sleep, thus leaving you tired. Good luck.

Sent from my PC36100 using Thaivisa Connect App

[bangkokburning]

Dont take Ambien, Xanax or Valium. Stopping those will leave you a mess as well.

Establish regular sleeping hours

A minimum of one solid hour walking per day.

[Joe Bloggs]

I started with the wiskey to get rid of sleeping pills. Xanax in my case. They didn't help much in the end anyway. What pill did you take, and did you have trouble to quit them?

Spirits are extremely bad for you, in fact they are not called spirits for nothing. Someone i know of had trouble with hearing voices in his head. The solution was to drink even more whisky and he would drink almost 100 ml of 70 proof per day. I am not a doctor but in my opinion the voices in his head were caused by the whisky!

In the end he developed an ulcer (a duodenal ulcer?) Six feet of his destroyed intestines had to be removed. With his intestines now being shorter than those of a normal person his food passes through him without being properly digested. The solution is to take Imodium for the rest of his life as this slows things down.

If one does crave for a drink, drink beer, DO NOT drink spirits regularly on a daily basis. A "wee dram" at Christmas or New Year should do no harm though and if a bottle of whisky lasts a year in your house you should be OK.

On the downside an expert doctor said to me "Oh whisky, that's harder to give up than Heroin!" The good news is that once one looses six feet of ones intestines one WILL give it up.

The expert doctors opinion was that life's problems can be like the layers of an onion. With whisky being on the outside layer the persons real problems can never be examined.

Take care!

[itsrebel]

I started with the wiskey to get rid of sleeping pills. Xanax in my case. They didn't help much in the end anyway. What pill did you take, and did you have trouble to quit them?

Spirits are extremely bad for you, in fact they are not called spirits for nothing. Someone i know of had trouble with hearing voices in his head. The solution was to drink even more whisky and he would drink almost 100 ml of 70 proof per day. I am not a doctor but in my opinion the voices in his head were caused by the whisky!

In the end he developed an ulcer (a duodenal ulcer?) Six feet of his destroyed intestines had to be removed. With his intestines now being shorter than those of a normal person his food passes through him without being properly digested. The solution is to take Imodium for the rest of his life as this slows things down.

If one does crave for a drink, drink beer, DO NOT drink spirits regularly on a daily basis. A "wee dram" at Christmas or New Year should do no harm though and if a bottle of whisky lasts a year in your house you should be OK.

On the downside an expert doctor said to me "Oh whisky, that's harder to give up than Heroin!" The good news is that once one looses six feet of ones intestines one WILL give it up.

The expert doctors opinion was that life's problems can be like the layers of an onion. With whisky being on the outside layer the persons real problems can never be examined.

Take care!

Oh dear! my one bottle of 100 pipers lasts max 3 days. I must be in real shit trouble then!

Edited September 1, 2013 by itsrebel