Drinking Alcohol to Sleep

There was a time in my past when because of financial worries, I turn to alcohol to sleep. Though, not everyday, but still a little frequent than the usual occasional drink I am used to. I'll drink 2 to 4 bottles of beer or sometimes 2 to 4 shots of any available alcohol there is at home just for me to sleep. I though that I need to get my sleep so I'll be able to get my much needed rest for me to be able to do all my work the following day. That's how I rationalize my increasing alcohol intake at the time.

Though my alcohol intake is not yet others may call an alarming rate, I felt alarmed already. I am only used to an occasional drink of about 2 bottles of beer or 2 shots of tequilla or vodka. And I have already doubled the amount I consumed and the occasional becomes weekly already. I was afraid that if I continue at this rate, it may lead to alcohol abuse.

That's the time, I said "enough". Instead of drinking myself to sleep, I used the time to work "online" on top of my full time 8 hours office work and the exhaustion I felt prompted me to a sound sleep night after night. I still do worry financially, and I still drink alcohol but I manage to return to my occasional drink once again (my last drink was 2 months ago when I celebrated my birthday).

Hey, Anne. I'm very happy to hear you've learned to manage the addiction of alcohol. Yes, stress can overtake ones life, but to exert that into drinking is something we wish on nobody. From this post, I'm glad you are like many other quitters, exercising your stress and applying it to new and more positive outlets. Instead of drinking down the stress, you used it to your advantage and made it into your drive to stay financially stable and work online. That is the character of someone who is strong mentally. Alcohol-abuse has taken many people out mentally, but to see posts like this makes me, and others, want to follow your footsteps. Great inspiration.

I'm glad that you got your drinking under control and can still have a drink every once in awhile without adverse effects. Alcohol is commonly used by many people to help themselves get to sleep at night. Unfortunately, it does become an addiction issue for many individuals that find the alcohol necessary to even fall asleep at night, and the problem only becomes worse as time goes on.

That story sounds very familiar. I myself went through exactly the same thing a few years ago. I split up from my partner, found myself in a bad financial position and saw no way out of the situation I was in. So, having always liked a drink anyway i turned to drinking even more, mainly just so I could get some sleep. I found that it was getting out of control and I was getting in to trouble at work etc.

One day i just thought enough is enough. Everybody seemed to be getting on with their lives and I was stuck in a rut going nowhere.

I've finally managed to turn things around although it's been a very hard struggle. I still drink on the odd occasion and i'm still worried about money also but cutting the alcohol out as certainly helped me to focus and have some direction in my life now.

Alcohol is a depressant and won't help you sleep. As a person who has suffered anxiety, stress and depression I know how desperate you can get when it seems nothing is going right in life and anyone who turns to drink has my full sympathy. I do not judge people, I just believe there are better methods to overcome problems. A hot bath before bed time and reading til you can't fight the fatigue any more helps me.

I occasionally drink to go to sleep, but I drink very little, like a shot glass or 2 of wine, or maybe a shot glass of vodka. But drinking a lot has never been a real problem for me, so there's that.

As a person who has never really liked beer, drinking 2 bottles to try to sleep seems excessive to me. Only you know if you are really having a problem with it though, and since you feel like you have been having a problem, it is best that you have stopped drinking so much.

Hello @anne16!

Well, I'm really happy to hear that you have finally ditch drinking alcohol to sleep since of course, it's not beneficial to your health, and also alcohol could be a little bit expensive. Good thing, you have found something that could be an alternative solution to your sleeping problem, not to mention, you also earn money from doing it. Way to go! Best of luck!

Hey, it's nice to see that you stopped with that habit. It's a quite common thing to do - and sometimes I do it myself - but making it an everyday thing is bad for sure. Since I was diagnosed with T1 diabetes I changed the scheme, and now instead of getting a drink I go for a run in the evening. It both de-stresses you and makes you tired and sleepy so if you are fed up with work I'd reccomend that!

Alcohol may relax you and make you feel sleepy initially, but it will wake you at a later stage in the night. It is much better for your health and sanity that you have managed to break this habit. I am sure you feel a lot better now that you are achieving something rather than drinking your problems away.

Hi, Anne! Perhaps, you can drink a glass of lukewarm milk before bed. Milk contains tryptophan and helps in getting a sound sleep. If you vigorously exercise everyday for 45 minutes, tired muscles induce sleep as well. But turning to alcohol for a good night's sleep is bad. Every time you drink alcohol, thousands of brain cells die. I'm glad you handle your drinking habit now. Occasional drink is fine, as long as you stay in control. Best of Luck!

My husband does the same thing. Everytime he can't sleep, he buys bottles of beer. I bet he's worried and a bit problematic. I was trying to tell him what seems to be the problem, though. It happened a couple of months ago. He drank tons of beer everyday and was being a bit grumpy.

He's okay now. Which is a good thing.

It is a good thing that you are aware or know when to stop or had enough already. One will really need to have self control and determination to avoid getting into addiction. Occasional drinking will be just fine in moderate amount too.

I have known a few people who use alcohol to escape from their problems and to put them selves to sleep. This is very dangerous because it is a slippery slope. Everybody has problems and to live a healthy way you need to establish healthy coping methods. If you turn to beer or liquor every time you feel stressed out, you will find yourself addicted soon enough. Be careful of how you cope with your stress.

I think this is very good advice, not only for addicts or potential abusers but for everyone in general. There's always a more positive way to spend your time and energy and chances are they are much wiser paths than just taking the shortcut which eventually would have stopped working anyway and would cause you to drink more and more.

It can be easy, to turn to alcohol to get relieve from stress or any worries a person has and soon it starts to become a habit and you spend more money on it than the important things like the bills or saving money. It is good, that you managed to do something good with your time as alcohol does affect different people and using that to get to sleep will cause head pains the next day and not feeling like going to work. It is alright to have sometimes, and also can be nice after a hard day or a drink with other people and as long as it is not eating into your budget a lot than it is good to have it sometimes.

Thanks a lot! I am also glad that I was able to come out of it and avoid serious damage or repercussions. Forums like this one helps and I can talk about it without anybody blaming me or condemning what I've done. I mean, it was my past, I am not proud of it but I have learned from it and I would like to believe that I am stronger now and a better person.

That's what I have in mind before, that I needed alcohol to sleep and forget my worries. I knew that my problem is still there and drinking alcohol will not solve it, but rather it would just make the situation worst. Thus, after hours of thinking and collecting my determination, I stop before alcohol really consumed me.

It is good for me to know that I am not alone in this kind of struggle, that there are people out there who are like me - people with worries and issues, turning to something that they thought will help them and then realizing that it won't do them any good. And then, finding that courage to face the problem head on. It is such a relief to have someone to talk to like this. Thank you!

I am happy to have forums like this where I can talk about things like this and not afraid of being judge for what I have done in the past. I am not proud of it, but I have learned from it and I know that I am stronger now and a better person. Right now, I do read a lot and I also joined a zumba class (dance sessions) every weekend. Things are getting better and I know that if I'll have problems like this in the future, I'll be better off without alcohol or any other substance.

Alcohol will never be the solution to forget any of our problems. It will only add up to them eventually. I say just meditate. That's the awakening that you will need.