Is terrible sleep normal after quitting drinking?

Question

Two weeks in. Falling asleep is okay but I'm wide awake at 3am like clockwork. Melatonin does nothing. When did real sleep come back for you?

Marcus_K · Accepted Answer

The 3am wake-up was my constant companion for about a month — alcohol wrecks sleep architecture and the brain takes weeks to relearn it. What moved the needle: same wake-up time seven days a week (this mattered more than bedtime), no screens in the bed, caffeine cutoff at noon, and getting up to read in low light instead of lying there negotiating with the ceiling. Most people I know got real sleep back in stages over 4–8 weeks. Worth saying: if it's paired with sweats, shakes, or feeling physically wrong, or it just doesn't improve, tell a doctor — that's information, and sleep help exists that isn't a nightcap.

GroundedGreg · Answer

Week 2 was my worst sleep of the whole first year. Week 6 I slept like I was 12 years old. Hold the line — real rest is one of early sobriety's first actual paychecks.