Foo - Am I the only one

Who gets interrupted sleep patterns from drinking? I don't even mean getting stupid drunk or passing out, but if I drink, I can't seem to sleep even after most of it has gone away. I fell asleep about 2am, woke back up at 4:30am, went back to sleep eventually, and even though I've tried, I had to get up now at 9:15am.

I rarely do any real drinking, and I think I'm just going to stop all together. I don't get hangovers, but I don't need what I do on Friday affecting how I function on Saturday when I need to do a lot of school work simply due to lack of sleep. So does anyone else have this problem?

Alcohol will interfere with your REM sleep patterns, which can lead to wakefulness. The obvious solution is not to drink that much, but you can try to alleviate some of the problem by drinking 2 or 3 big glasses of water a while before you go to bed - it will help to dilute/flush some of the alchol out of your system & rehydrate your body.

I did drink at least two bottles of water before going to sleep. I had maybe five drinks over the course of several hours. I jammed out hard on the trombone [with the practice mute in ;)] to some ska music, and that really dehydrated me. I'm feeling fine at the moment. I don't feel dead tired, so I guess I'm doing ok. I'm making coffee anyway. I didn't know it messed with your sleep patterns.

On another note I'm at a crossroads. Friends I've had for a long time are all into drugs, doing ecstasy every weekend and I'm just not into it. I don't believe in losing friends, but I also don't believe in feeling second rate just because I don't do drugs. Sorry if I sound like a total geek here, but I think I'd rather go to the ham radio club meetings on Friday than hang with a bunch of high, rolling people and hearing about how one of my good friends took 10 ecstasy pills.

When I drink a fair amount I fall victim to the 'drinker's hour' effect. A few hours after you fall asleep (or pass out, whichever comes first ;) ) your body manages to process out the alcohol but since alcohol and sugar are so chemically similar a lot of your blood sugar gets processed out too. The shock of the sharp drop in blood sugar tends to wake you up and then, if you happen to be an alcoholic like I'm not, you get to have all sorts of mental fun. If you've ever woken up with the shakes and a foggy brain after drinking heavily now you know why. Eat a Snickers or something.

Sorry if I sound like a total geek here, but I think I'd rather go to the ham radio club meetings on Friday than hang with a bunch of high, rolling people and hearing about how one of my good friends took 10 ecstasy pills.

Here here! I've only ever messed with that old green standby (admittedly, I'm probably quite a bit older than you) and gave all of that up years and years ago. Chess club rocks and you get to meet nerd-chicks :D.

Back in the day many of my friends were into cocaine. I don't understand the need but I did not judge. I just got new friends. Reality is so much more fun without alcohol or chemicals. I have found that since I gave up drinking all the funny people I knew are just not that funny.

The Ham Club sounds like a lot more fun. CQ. CQ.

Oh, I'm not gonna say I've never done any of it, because that's just not true. I just feel like it's not for me, any of it. I have a lot going for me right now, and I just can't jeopardize it for something like that. Most of my old friends that do this aren't going to school or working professional jobs. They're selling drugs and working low paying jobs. I'm just tired of being "around" it even if I'm not involved.

Sounds like it is time to move along Grasshopper. You have moved beyond those folks. It's not judgemental of them it is just the way it is right? That's the way life is.

Back in the day many of my friends were into cocaine. I don't understand the need but I did not judge. I just got new friends. Reality is so much more fun without alcohol or chemicals. I have found that since I gave up drinking all the funny people I knew are just not that funny.

The Ham Club sounds like a lot more fun. CQ. CQ.

I am very familiar with this phenomenon.
In regards to the OP, in my wasted yoof, (70's casualty) even
though I spent a large part of my time passed out from OD'ing bourbon
I never 'slept' or rested. A constant state of terminal exaustion.
The only drug I have now is black coffee and my life has never been
better. Drugs are an illusion. You have all that stuff inside of you
anyway, its just people want instant gratification and drugs provide that.
Anything drug proponents say drugs do, ie provide insights, kozmic troothz,
etc is already in you, it just takes a more creative and thoughtful mind to
bring it out instead of relying of instantanious chemical stimulation

I don't want to just move on. These are the same friends I used to have LAN parties with and the like. I just wish hanging out didn't involve getting messed up in some way.

I used to believe that drugs were for thinkers, but I've come to realize that this is simply not true, and it seems like very little thinking occurs while under the influence of these things. It seems more to put you in a sort of comatose state. Is it fun? Yes, but I have never had any other thoughts the next day except "Why did I even do that?" I've never had any revelations except the one the day after that I'm messing myself up.

It is possible. I used to ride motorcycles and scooters. It might be a stretch to beleive,
but a lot of them like to drink alcohol and other stuff :p.
I just concentrated on the riding part and rolled or ignored the part I knew might not
be in my best interest to partake of. You are aware of it. You'll be Ok.
Kudos for mature decision making :D

I drink a fair bit. Probably too much but I have a soft spot for wine. I just really like it. Plus I think there is something in red wine that is really good for you.

Yes, alcohol screws with your sleep. I'm an insomniac anyways though and I sometimes sleep more/better with the alcohol than without it. I just get such lousy amounts of sleep anyway. I've adapted to it more or less, although I did have a standing Ambien script from my doc if it ever gets really bad.

Falkon - Think about this - If your friends make you feel 2nd rate because you don't want to to drugs with them are they really your friends? Way back when I was young (early 70's), I did all the crap eveybody else did, until I decided to get out of the small town area we lived in & get myself off to college a year early. So, I stopped doing all that crap, but my friends never made me feel bad about it (they just asked me to help them with thier school work). Were these friends your friends before the drugs came into play? Perhaps the only real thing you have/had in common ARE the drugs? Just a thought....

I sleep really well when drunk, but it's not a restful sleep....as my buds will tell me, I sleep like baby, but wake up like I've been playing on the nintendo all night.

Who gets interrupted sleep patterns from drinking? I don't even mean getting stupid drunk or passing out, but if I drink, I can't seem to sleep even after most of it has gone away. I fell asleep about 2am, woke back up at 4:30am, went back to sleep eventually, and even though I've tried, I had to get up now at 9:15am.

I rarely do any real drinking, and I think I'm just going to stop all together. I don't get hangovers, but I don't need what I do on Friday affecting how I function on Saturday when I need to do a lot of school work simply due to lack of sleep. So does anyone else have this problem?

Not at all....one of the reasons I hardly drink anymore. It always screws up my sleep seriously.

Little drink = good sleep, Lotta drink = bad sleep.

and as far as other drugs are concerned...there are two that I think are worthy of an experimentation (but won't talk about here due to rules), but none are worth doing a second time.

Those two were interesting just to see how the world changes to you under certain conditions....it didn't really do anything constructive, but it was just interesting to me to think back on those two and hwo they turned this usually bitter, sarcastic, and grouchy person into #1)borderline insane, but too lazy to get into any real trouble other than being really loud #2)mr sickeningly happy....I now know how being a smurf would feel.

I don't drink. And I sleep for 6-8 hours a night, uninterupted:p