Anxiety

[LadyJane666]

Hi - just wondering if anyone has experienced the same as me with anxiety since stopping drinking and if they have found any medication to be useful.

It's been a few months (deliberately not counting) since my last drink but I feel awful. I thought I would feel physically wonderful fairly quickly but I don't.

I can't sleep, have pounding headaches, easily tearful, racing heartbeat, stiff neck and sore throat. I'm pretty sure it's anxiety.

Has anyone else felt like this after stopping drinking and did they find any type of medication to be helpful?

Best wishes
Jane

[Mongo]

Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome

Here's a link:http://www.tlctx.com/ar_pages/paw_part1.htm

I experienced many of the symptoms listed here and still do, even after 7 months, although they are becoming infrequent.

Taking vitamin and nutritional supplements can help a lot. Personally I take L-glutamine, multi B vitamin(thiamine especially), and Vitamin C.

The cells in our body take quite a while to heal and return to normal.

A good book to read is "Seven Weeks to Sobriety" by Joan Mathews Larson based on her clinical experience.

Seeing your doctor and explaining what's going on is wise to rule out any other causes.

Keep well

Ron

[historyteach]

Oh, wow! I didn't see this thread before I posted in your other one.
I think you may be having minor panic attacks. Your symptoms sound almost like mine. Anyway, please see your doctor.
Also, researchers are now touting the multiple benefits of Vitamin D now. They say the government daily requirements are too low. We should all get 2,000 IUs for maximum benefit, and there's no fear of overdose. Just read about it today in an older Newsweek magazine in the health section. Somehting to think about anyway.

Shalom!

[LadyJane666]

Hello Teach and Ron

Thank you both - I looked at the link Ron and this makes a lot of sense:

"The symptoms of PAW typically grow to peak intensity over three to six months after abstinence begins"

I didn't understand why I was feeling worse not better since it's been a few months.

I do feel in fairly frequent "fight or flight" type of mode and I think it must be anxiety.

I'm going to make an appointment with the Dr asap. I will also get to the health shop.

Thank you both.

Best wishes
Jane

[nolonger]

Hi Jane, thanks for good question and mongo/ht for good info. I have had a few of those symptoms since quitting three months ago, plus a weird obsession with death that I never had before. Must be all the same anxiety-thing.
peace, nl.

[historyteach]

hi, nolonger;
Please note, if that obsession begins to turn into plans, see a health care professional immediately. That's a medical emergency. Go to the emergency room if necessary.

Shalom!

[paulmh]

Hi Jane, I was pretty much entirely loopy for the first few months - and I was like you, deliberately not counting!

Just don't pick up, and give time, time. Being entirely honest, I found myself benefitting enormously from step 3 of the 12 step programme - though not believing in a G*d in the formal sense, I tried to suspend disbelief and just kept "handing over" lot's of things that previously my mind would fuss over - things that hadn't happened, things that I thought other people were thinking, things I had done in the past and hadn't resolved. I just "let go", and over time I seemed to get some peace!

Step three, incidentally, is "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him". A Step with very little place in a secular forum I grant you! Somewhere in the forum there is an alternative 12 step list, I think the alternative version of Step three is "3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over." Which is pretty much what I did.

I also found a thread on "Letting go" on the forum which I found really useful -
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...your-life.html (Letting Go: The Journey for your Life)

Have a good day!

[nolonger]

Originally Posted by historyteach

hi, nolonger;
...if that obsession begins to turn into plans...

Hi HT,
thanks for the concern, but it's not that kind of obsession at all: more a kind of hyperawareness of mortality, that sort of thing. Of course, as the alco that I am it's my *own* mortality that's first and foremost bothering me... ;0)
salaam, nl.

[LadyJane666]

I know what you mean Nolonger - I can (far, far less now that I'm not drinking) certainly obsess over what I would do/say if something happened to one of my kids and I had to discuss what to do with an organ transplant person. What would I do, and would I call a vicar? For that I would like to collect my crazy prize now please.

Teach and Ron I've taken your advice on the vitamins and have been to the health shop and stocked up. I've also got an appointment with the Dr for this afternoon - I've written down a few antidepressants that deal with anxiety and I'll see if I can squeeze something out of her. They are sooooo stingy here! Or perhaps just super cautious about over-medicating.

The article on PAW was totally new to me and very useful.

Paul thank you for your post, I'm pleased to hear that I am not alone in this loopy squirrelyness. I am surprised that this is happening but then I haven't strung together this length of sobriety for many years. I've read through quite a lot of your different posts and they are making me think!

My firm "no thank you" stance about AA is mostly about fear and ignorance. I've done what is probably the most annoying thing to AA followers which is attend a few meetings and then stomp out thinking "Moi? Powerless?! Pah!"

I would like to ask you a few questions about how you have reconciled yourself to and welcomed the new way of living but I totally understand if you are pigsick of defending/explaining yourself. I think I might not be alone in wanting to ask what might be silly questions without being deluged in rhetoric that currently does not resonate for me. Either way, thank you for your post.

Best wishes
Jane

[LadyJane666]

Hi

I have been to the Doctor and no anti-squirrel remedies. However, she did recommend psychological support and counselling. Which I think was wise. So I will access that.

She also gave me a week's worth (told you they were stingy) of sleeping pills which should help me get back on track.

Best wishes
Jane

[Mongo]

Just thought I'd reflect a bit here re: squirell issues.

My doctor has me seeing him about every 90 days. I do need to use meds for blood pressure and he only scripts me for 90 days at a time, and antabuse too.

When I first quit he offered me any sort of AD to help with my quitting. His eyebrows went up when I requested antabuse instead. He was not completely familiar with it and had no experience with it. Yeah, I guess it's not prescribed much anymore.

I've had a lot of ups and downs emotionally in my sober time. Sometimes I think that an AD may help. I've truly had spells of what to me is depression, lasting for days or weeks and really feeling black and genuflecting vigourously behind closed doors.

The only thing is too, Ive had really nice mellow periods where I regain a positive outlook. One by one I'm straightening out the problems that my drinking for so any years has caused. For instance, I'm poised to get my driver's license back after suspension, and I'm just about able to plug my phone in again because the bill collectors don't have me on speed dial anymore.

The nice periods are getting longer and my bouts with the blues are not so intense.

I'm so convinced the longer I stay sober, the better my life will be. My answer to my depression and anxiety is working slowly, albeit working, and I'd rather not try medication for either.

I've read too many not so happy stories on this forum and others about issues with meds.

Perhaps giving time a shot would be the best anwer. It's probably not the instant type gratification we're looking for, but based on my last few months, it works and will continue to work.

Anyway, good luck nd keep well

Ron

[Abbadun]

Hi

Here are some ideas that I use

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.

---Marcus Aurelius Roman emperor, best known for his Meditations on Stoic philosophy, AD 121–180


I assume that the above Author expects us to use reasoning with applying this.


We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world

--- Buddha. Hindu Prince Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism, 563 - 483 B.C.

AB

Originally Posted by paulmh

Hi Jane, I was pretty much entirely loopy for the first few months - and I was like you, deliberately not counting!

Just don't pick up, and give time, time. Being entirely honest, I found myself benefitting enormously from step 3 of the 12 step programme - though not believing in a G*d in the formal sense, I tried to suspend disbelief and just kept "handing over" lot's of things that previously my mind would fuss over - things that hadn't happened, things that I thought other people were thinking, things I had done in the past and hadn't resolved. I just "let go", and over time I seemed to get some peace!

Step three, incidentally, is "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him". A Step with very little place in a secular forum I grant you! Somewhere in the forum there is an alternative 12 step list, I think the alternative version of Step three is "3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over." Which is pretty much what I did.

I also found a thread on "Letting go" on the forum which I found really useful -
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...your-life.html (Letting Go: The Journey for your Life)

Have a good day!

[historyteach]

Lady;
I think you are more lucky than you realize that the doc's where you live aare stingy. Some hand out meds like they were candy! And the counselor can advise you to a psychiatrist if you still think and anti-depressant is necessary. Good luck to you!

Nolonger,
I know what salaam is...and peace to you also.
But, what is the nl after it? I've tried, (quickly, I admit), to find something but, couldn't. Thanks for your help!

Shalom!
Salaam!
Peace!

[nolonger]

Originally Posted by historyteach

But, what is the nl after it? I've tried, (quickly, I admit), to find something but, couldn't. Thanks for your help!

That one's easy... "nl" = "nolonger". Just me, signing off.

Originally Posted by historyteach

Shalom!
Salaam!
Peace!

and to all here too.
nl.

[historyteach]

LOL, Thanks, nolonger!

Shalom!

[mike_mass]

Originally Posted by LadyJane666

Hi - just wondering if anyone has experienced the same as me with anxiety since stopping drinking and if they have found any medication to be useful.

Hi LadyJane,

I have struggled with anxiety in sobriety on and off for many years now. What I have found:

- A lot of it is situational, subject to the up and down stresses of daily life. When my septic backed up I was anxious, when I got a bonus at work I felt good, etc.

- I am very sensitive to caffeine and sugar intake...when I do less of both I feel better.

- I learned breathing and meditation techniques through the "Mindfulness" program. These come in handy when I am under stress. I also do a yoga class once a week.

- I have been taking St. John's Wort for years now. My doctor supports it and it works for me. I know, because when I try to stay off it, my wife is ready to divorce me.

Hope this helps.

[BeamMeUpScotty]

Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread. I've learned a lot about myself in 15 minutes. I've read part of the thread on PAW, and I'll read the rest when I wake up (I'm going to bed soon).

I was four and a half months sober and in mid-April this year I started up again. Of course in that sober time, I had started a new job, had to finish out my old one, move to a new apartment, furnish it, set up utilities, Internet (all in my second language which I'm not especially good at), etc... and one day (due to the Internet company taking over a month to connect service) I snapped. While it's still my responsibility, I now understand there might have been a physiological reason for it as well, and I can look out for it in the future.

I've been on and off since then. Right now I'm on day 4 going into 5. But now I have another weapon in my arsenal to help me.

Thanks again.

[Arpeggioh]

After weeks of lurking, this thread is where I finally feel compelled to post: sober about two months now, and not feeling much better, dammit! Grrr, spit, snarl...

I'm clinging to the "give it time" adage I hear from others; my daily pint-maybe-fifth of vodka over the past year probably pickled a whole passel of my parts, I'd assume! I also know stress is baaaad for a body, and I've got plenty right now, thanks...so I'm just shlumping along day to day, not drinking, trying to stay positive, yadda yadda!

On other forums, I know I'd be immediately recommended toward my nearest A.A. meeting; I'm open to entertaining the concept, I suppose, but not especially excited about the notion, having been there / done that several times over the years. Mostly makes me feel nagged, or worse, down on myself, which I'm trying to avoid these days!

So maybe the secular forum is where I belong right now...or a state-run asylum, perhaps?! Ehh, this is cheaper and easier...

Thanks for listening to this evening's blather,
Arp

[nolonger]

Hi Arp, welcome here, glad you delurked. Hope all's good with you today. Sounds like you've been down the road of not drinking a few times before. Me too, and I kind of think that's one reason I haven't had much in the way of a pink cloud this time around - I know too well what a struggle this can be.
best wishes, nl.

[t-bear]

Hey Arpeggioh,
Do not give up on meetings. Sometime we just need a different frame of mind in order to get out of them what we need. I have been coming around for quite a while, and there are days when the meetings do not seem to do anything for me. If I look back I usually find that it is me that is not giving the meeting a chance, not that the meeting had nothing to offer.

[shockozulu]

I have found this sheet works wonders for me. Its one of the things that brought me to SMART Recovery. Someone had linked me to it, and I thought "This makes sense". It's called dealing with Anxiety about Anxiety.
http://www.smartrecovery.org/resourc...statements.htm

[nevabetta]

Hello Jane,

My dr. prescribed antabuse for me.

I have been on it for quite some time and it has worked for me. I know that I do not want to get sick, or worse, die.
Of course, I am doing AA meetings and counseling as well.

I would like to hear from others who have taken it, and their success.

Hope you are doing better!

[Mongo]

Welcome to SR Nevabetta.

I've used antabuse for about 8 months now and it's working exceptionally well for me. I don't adhere to any one recovery program but do use REBT and participate on several message boards.

I was a heavy drinker and was unsuccessful in the past in abstaining for more than a few weeks.

It's given me a chance to work on sober living and changing my behavior in a very positive way.

Keep well

Ron

[nevabetta]

Hello Ron and Thank you. I actually did some reading up on some of your previous posts from last summer. I have always been told that antabuse is just a crutch. But...... If crutches were invented to help those in need, well then....I would say i qualify! I have been on after a brief relapse about 3 months ago. It has been very helpful, and I strongly feel that I am not quite ready to give it up yet.
I have been working on my spirituality and going to meetings too.
Happy to be sober today!

Thanks again for the warm welcome and your insights.....

Tara

[LadyJane666]

Hello All

I am glad to hear (though sorry you share) my - what can I say - anxiety freakazoids?

I have slipped (got p*ssed/drunk) in the past week and I really thought I wouldn't. I had almost 5 months under my belt and, despite squirrels, was at least sober.

Which has been bloody hard won - you know what I mean.

What happened? I don't know - I have an idea though. My eldest son (16)needed some help with his exam coursework and I helped him very effectively. I have been a bit behind with some reporting for my work and I completed it. Sound familiar? I "rewarded" myself with my worst nemesis.

I did well, I had a few beers. Yawn. Thankfully nothing "happened".

Doh! - I do not want to drink. I am back on path but part of me wanted to come back on here and lie (sorry!) G*d - even on a website!

Part of me is thinking - is AA the only way I will be free of this sh*t?

Antabuse seems not to be an option here (Drs will NOT do it) - I am thinking of online pharmacies but maybe AA is the way?

Bummer

Best wishes
Jane