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Depression, anxiety, emaciation and suicidal thoughts



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Depression, anxiety, emaciation and suicidal thoughts

Old 06-07-2012, 05:20 AM
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Depression, anxiety, emaciation and suicidal thoughts

I have posted numerous threads re these issues and i feel like over the last three weeks i have been through maybe the darkest period of my life. I have support from a crisis team, psychiatrist, dietician and some friends (including those on this site) and feel very fortunate to have his- alone i would have definately ended this by now. I guess i am trying to work out how bad things have been for other people when they quit drinking - i have a history of depression and have been functioning at some level (employed-house - friends etc) with drink for 2 decades. Now 10 weeks in I am severely clinically depressed, admitted to a pysche unit for 72 hrs, have completely unbearable days in which i can spend up to 10 hrs curled into an anxiety guilt ridden ball - this has paralysed me, stopped me working, i have lost so much weight i may end up in hospital being tube fed etc so the wheels have really fallen off. I am not sure how much of this i can equate to the cessation of drinking??? is it more my underlying psyche issues that have been "dampened" by the drink. Surprisingly i don't actually want a drink although i know the anxiety would lift at least whilst it was in my system etc. I have already asked for advise for most of these issues - thanks to everyone who has sent me comments/ advice - so this is more an update. Things seem to really be going down - okay it's only 10 weeks but i feel i am becoming really psychologically scarred by this process of "recovery" and i am starting to wonder if this is "as good as it gets"...p.s. have not been to AA because i can't really get out the house so this is my quasi AA meeting
Thanks again
D
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Old 06-07-2012, 05:27 AM
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I'm so glad you have a support team who will help you sort things out, and so glad you are here. I'm no expert but I believe it gets better.
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Old 06-07-2012, 05:49 AM
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Thanks for sharing. I hope you are feeling better soon.

Hugs & love,
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Old 06-07-2012, 07:21 AM
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Hey there,

I myself started boosing so heavy in college because it would stop the panic attacks and I could live "normally". I thought I was going to lose my mind, I could not sleep ( when I say can not sleep I mean I would sleep for four hours and wake up 20 times) . I lost a ton of weight... I am 6"3 and I weighed 138 pounds at the time. The doctor put me on lexapro which had horrible side effects for 2 weeks but after that I started to feel better. I started forcing myself to eat even if I got sick and started working out and my life turned around from there.
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Old 06-07-2012, 11:51 AM
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In my 14th year of sobriety depression took me to the point I couldn't get out of bed. I couldn't even kill myself. My shrink had taken me off an anti-depressant and I had to wait three weeks to take anything else. He started me on Wellbutrin & Effexor which worked beautifully. Depression lifted, hasn't been back in seven years. It takes time for all medication to work, sometimes over a month.

It's the norm for alcoholics to suffer from other mental illnesses like bi-polar and depression. It sounds like you're in very good, safe hands. I was as bad as you (doctor tried to get me to admit myself but I refused) and have a very good life today.
Hope this helps. When we're in deep "depression-think" it's almost impossible to believe we may get better ... here's a reminder that it really does.
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Old 06-07-2012, 11:56 AM
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I am so glad you have a support team. Hugs.:ghug3
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Old 06-07-2012, 12:29 PM
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Donut, you will probably start to feel better when you are more nutritionally stable. Could you manage to drink Ensure supplements? Lack of adequate nutrition can lead to distorted and negative though processes. I'm not saying this is the 'cure' but it definitely will help. Have you had blood work done to check for vitamin, mineral and other deficiencies? Severe deficiencies of certain B vitamins (common in alcoholics) can cause a number of psychiatric symptoms.

I'm sorry if you've answered any of my questions in other threads.

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Old 06-07-2012, 06:04 PM
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Originally Posted by DONUT View Post
...p.s. have not been to AA because i can't really get out the house so this is my quasi AA meeting
Thanks again
D
I think we have found the problem.
DONUT, you have done , IMHO, everything possible except what is specifically required.

I remember thinking in an anxiety attack when I thought I was going to die "I am going to go to the AA meeting and if I die it won't be on the floor of the pub... it will be on the floor of AA with God"
Well... I didn't die and as a matter of fact I never had those anxiety attacks much either after that. And I've been sober for nearly 23 years.

"I have support from a crisis team, psychiatrist, dietician and some friends "
If you can see them you can get to a meeting.

I wish you the best. You're thinking is just like mine was... I just couldn't face the truth.

Bob R (in the colonies)
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