[nandm]

Welcome to the Mental health forum.

When I read your post it made me wonder when you quit drinking. I say this because my anxiety increased when I quit drinking. It is really common for that to happen. When the alcohol is taken away it is like an anxiety buffer has been removed, leaving nothing between us and the anxiety. The good news is that it does get better. For some it is a couple of months for others it is up to a year.

If you work the program of AA, I would suggest getting going on the Steps as they are a great tool to help manage anxiety. You might even consider seeing a therapist during this time. I needed to work the Steps, get a therapist, and start medication to deal with my anxiety as although mine got better at about 6 or 8 months it never completely went away. Then it started really getting bad at about 3 years sober, so now at nearly 7 years sober I am dealing with PTSD issues (anxiety for me is related to that), acute anxiety disorder, and depression.

Even with all that though I do not regret getting sober, as even if I was drinking sooner or later all this would have caught up with me and I would not have had any tools to even start to deal with it. My life today is good.