Do some people sleep better by drinking alcohol? If so, why?

Do you sleep better with drink?

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The Lunch Legend

The Lunch Legend

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
Why do I seem like I get a better night of rest after I've drank a moderate amount of alcohol?
Does that mean on a normal night I'm not sleeping properly and alcohol is putting me into a deeper sleep or something?

This issue is slightly disturbing to me, it's just something I've noticed a couple of times. It's just that quite often I can sleep like 9 hours and still feel tired after I get up but then I can drink a moderate amount of alcohol one night, go to sleep for about 8 hours, and feel great when I wake up.

What gives? Anyone else like that? I'm just concerned I have some sort of health problem like sleep apnea or something where I do not sleep properly throughout the night.
 
Short term and with a small amount it can help you feel drowsy but like anything with alcohol it won't last. Get some melatonin gummies to help break the cycle, you'll sleep much better and without the booze you also feel much better.
 
You sleep in faster but there's a good chance you'll wake up after a couple hours and depending on the person have trouble getting back to sleep again.
 
22:22:22 said:
You sleep in faster but there's a good chance you'll wake up after a couple hours and depending on the person have trouble getting back to sleep again.
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This.

It's already documented that alcohol will help you FALL asleep faster, but not STAY asleep long enough. Your sleep will be disrupted and it won't be as good as you think, like Hellblade 2
 
I have sleep issues since birth. Dreams and more importantly actually falling asleep.

My head races and depending on my state of mind and what I've dealt with that day I get in a spiral of neverending reliving cringe moments of 20 years ago and or analyzing random negative shit etc

Had pretty hefty sleep meds short of a decade. Which are great in the beginning but in actuality it worsens your sleep quality so I stopped.

I had to develop some technique to help me sleep in sooner.

First a year or two of rain sounds.

Then I started using earplugs and just analyzing positive stuff like MMA fights I've seen or other stuff and that seems to help a lot.

Some nights the incoming barrages of negative thought are to powerful but yeah.

/Lifejournal
 
West Texas CEO said:
Why do I seem like I get a better night of rest after I've drank a moderate amount of alcohol?
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You do not. It's an illusion. Alcohol is 100% negative for your health system. If you don't have one grab a sports watch that monitors your sleep and run a test to drink / not drink before going to sleep, you will see the results.
 
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I've experienced this many times but you don't actually go into a proper sleep cycle (you have minimal REM sleep). It is possible that you are quite frankly sleeping too much when not drinking. I've found 7-8 hours to be ideal. If I'm asleep for 9 I wake up exhausted ironically.

And the problem with extended booze naps as I call them, is some mornings you wake up feeling great and other times... well yea. As others mentioned, melatonin and perhaps a white noise / rain sound. I know when I use 'deep sleep' music and frequencies (search youtube there are tons) I get a pretty great night of rest.

Also, tart cherry extract or pills are an excellent way to fall asleep and they help with inflammation (which of course helps pain relief to ease feeling asleep). Just be careful with your dosing, I often don't want to get out of bed because of it.
 
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Even one drink destroys my sleep. Every morning when I wake up without having had a drink the night before I swear to always live like this (challenge: impossible)
 
MrRibeye said:
I start my day with a glass of whisky, and have several more throughout the day. Never drink past 8pm. Phenomenal sleep.
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842009.jpg
 
If I drink more than two drinks, I will wake up at 3:00 am sweating and cursing my life, fall back asleep at 4:00 am, wake at 7:00 am, and feel like shit.
This is more intense the older I get, so I don't drink as much or just in social settings.
 
EviLore said:
Alcohol prevents your brain from entering deep sleep.
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I've read this before and I doubt they did these studies on long term daily drinkers. I think your body adapts over time, as a daily drinker I usually slept well and woke feeling rested as long as I stopped drinking at least an hour before bed and got to bed at a reasonable time.

Anyway it was always easy to fall asleep for me after drinking. I'm drinking quite a bit less lately and it took me a while to "learn" to fall asleep properly sober, lot of tossing and turning.
 
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It helps me fall asleep, but wake up sooner with poorer quality sleep. Supposedly your body goes accelerated/acute withdrawal and that's the reason for poor/shorter sleep.
 
Mossybrew said:
I've read this before and I doubt they did these studies on long term daily drinkers. I think your body adapts over time, as a daily drinker I usually slept well and woke feeling rested as long as I stopped drinking at least an hour before bed and got to bed at a reasonable time.

Anyway it was always easy to fall asleep for me after drinking. I'm drinking quite a bit less lately and it took me a while to "learn" to fall asleep properly sober, lot of tossing and turning.
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I am a daily drinker, as well. 🤔
 
It can PUT me to sleep pretty fast ... I won't STAY asleep unless I'm already tired... The only time that happened was the night of my 34th birthday party.
 
Alcohol access is easy and drinking too much can be life threatening.
beer pour bud light GIF by Hooters


That said what matters is taste, and the freedom to drink.
 
Don't drink very often, but if I do and have a bit too much I'll fall asleep easy then wake up 2-4hrs later with a second wind, unable to sleep. Then once I get to midday I start to feel like crap from lack of sleep.
 
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Two things I thought would "normalize" in sobriety were my sleeping and eating habits. Alas, after 13 years of sobriety, they never did, but I've learned to live with it.
I get about 6 hours of sleep on my best nights, the average is closer to around 5. I don't have trouble falling asleep, or even staying asleep, but once the 5 hour mark hits I usually wake up. No dozing, no rolling back over, once I'm awake I'm up for the day.
 
ClanOfNone said:
Two things I thought would "normalize" in sobriety were my sleeping and eating habits. Alas, after 13 years of sobriety, they never did, but I've learned to live with it.
I get about 6 hours of sleep on my best nights, the average is closer to around 5. I don't have trouble falling asleep, or even staying asleep, but once the 5 hour mark hits I usually wake up. No dozing, no rolling back over, once I'm awake I'm up for the day.
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Do you feel well rested after? When I was younger I could pull all nighters and feel great but now anything less than 6 is dreadful.
 
If I overdo it, I usually stay up later than I normally would. If I only drink a fair, moderate amount, when I hit the sack I fall asleep way faster than normal.

I learned a long time ago that even if I drink enough alcohol to kill an elephant, as long as I follow it up by chugging as much water as my stomach can hold before I'm down for the night, I'll be fine in the morning.
 
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Back when I drank I'd sleep great if I passed out (slamming 6-10 drinks in less than an hour). If I had 1 or 2 drinks in a regular evening it would be impossible to sleep.
 
West Texas CEO said:
Why do I seem like I get a better night of rest after I've drank a moderate amount of alcohol?
Does that mean on a normal night I'm not sleeping properly and alcohol is putting me into a deeper sleep or something?
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Oy, lads! We've got ourselves a sodding royalty here on Neogaf!

4mbqNk1.png
 
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NecrosaroIII said:
Weed is better for sleeping
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Use to be for me...and then i started having nights where i would just lay there thinking. I was relaxed but it was like a weird place between being almost asleep but barely awake and thinking.

Drinking can help as it shuts down part of my brain...but it also requires me being up late.

My father makes wine and that will help knock a person out.
 
ReBurn said:
I sleep worse when I drink. Anything more than a mild buzz and I'm miserable.
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When I was a professional drunk of course I would fall asleep faster but that doesn't mean a restorative sleep.

I'm talking 12 beers not a glass of wine with supper.
Also numerous girlfriends have stated my loud snoring after drinking like Charles Bukowski.

Thank God that's over.
 
John Marston said:
When I was a professional drunk of course I would fall asleep faster but that doesn't mean a restorative sleep.

I'm talking 12 beers not a glass of wine with supper.
Also numerous girlfriends have stated my loud snoring after drinking like Charles Bukowski.

Thank God that's over.
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My reverb used to be Herman Munster. Shit was embarrassing. :messenger_grimmacing_
 
To note - the most satisfying and deep sleep that I get is after eating a hearty meal of steak and garlic fried rice and then busting a nut that glazes her tits with the force of a commercial power washer.


Cherish the little things in life that make you not care how bad Summer Games Fest was.
 
I chose YES but there's a catch.

For me, that catch is I need to be drunk before I go to sleep and then I'll sleep good. If I just get a buzz or am slightly drunk, it will interrupt my sleep and I won't get a good night.

So at least for me it's the amount of alcohol I drink that determines how well I sleep.
 
22:22:22 said:
Cat Fun GIF by Black Roses Playing Cards
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I mean, he did put it very eloquently...😁

As for me : I always had weird sleeping cycles and since I'm a light sleeper and the minimal noise can wake me up, what helped me was A) earplugs - the cheap, yellow 3M ones do the trick and B) Brown noise videos/audio on YouTube since that specific frequency is really good at blocking other noises.

ASMR whispering etc also helped in the beginning but in the end, I stuck with brown noise.
 
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Rentahamster said:
To note - the most satisfying and deep sleep that I get is after eating a hearty meal of steak and garlic fried rice and then busting a nut that glazes her tits with the force of a commercial power washer.


Cherish the little things in life that make you not care how bad Summer Games Fest was.
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I hate fucking with a full stomach but I like your very detailed post.
 
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