Sleep Struggles After Quitting Drinking: Fixing the 3AM Brain Spiral

3am wakeups after quitting drinking? Let’s fix your sober sleep—for good.

You jolt awake at 3am.
Your heart is racing.
Your brain is going 100 miles an hour.
You know you’re exhausted—but you’re wired and wide awake.

Welcome to the 3AM Club, my friend.
It’s not just you. And it’s not just early sobriety.

Sleep issues can hit you at any point in recovery—whether you’re 30 days sober or 30 years in.

And in this episode, I’m going to show you exactly what’s going on in your brain and body when it happens—and give you real tools to quiet that 3AM mind.

Because here’s the truth:
This isn’t a “you problem.”
It’s a nervous system issue.
And you don’t need to panic—you need a plan.

In this episode, I walk you through the hidden causes of those middle-of-the-night wakeups (ADHD, anxiety, sugar, trauma, overstimulation… just to name a few), and I hand you my 3AM GET-YOUR-CALM-BACK PLAN—the exact system I use to calm my brain, get grounded, and take my power back.

No more shame spirals.
No more doom scrolling.
Just strategy, structure, and the truth about what’s really happening behind the scenes.

🔊 Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
(03:22) Why waking up at 3am isn’t just an early sobriety thing (and why it still happens years later)
(08:55) The truth about ADHD, anxiety, sugar, and your overloaded nervous system
(16:33) How cortisol, trauma, and hangxiety hijack your brain in the middle of the night
(25:40) What your brain needs to finally feel safe enough to rest
(29:12) My full “3AM Calm-Back Plan” to stop the spiral and get grounded fast
(41:20) The biggest mistakes to stop making when you wake up anxious
(46:44) How to rewire your beliefs about sleep—and start trusting your body again

This isn’t about chasing 8 perfect hours. It’s about regulating your body, reclaiming your calm, and learning to rest without sedation.

👉🏼 Listen now and start building your 3am strategy—because a regulated brain is a rested brain.

🔗 Links & Resources

Related Episode: Guaranteed Ways to Make Sleep Easier for You

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