I'm 24 years old now. First time I quit I was about 20 years old. I had been binge drinking (10-20+ drinks) anywhere from once a week to 6 days a week since I was 16. Heaviest drinking from 18. I went through shakes, sweats, auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, and a ton of anxiety. The worst subsided after 3 days. It took me 3 or 4 weeks to feel somewhat normal again. I quit drinking for a year but still had low levels of situational anxiety. They got better everyday though and were very manageable.
I picked up again when I turned 21. I started drinking a few drinks once a month and over a year and a half I ended up drinking almost every day. For pretty much the past year and a half I drank 200ml-500ml of rum six days a week and 750ml+ once a week. I always drank after 5pm. At this point I have to drink to sleep, function, and get through anything and everything in my life. If I don't drink I get terrible anxiety. I haven't had a panic attack in years but I live in constant fear of them. Below is a breakdown of days and weeks since I quit just over 5 weeks ago:
Week 1: No DTs this time, just extreme anxiety. Anxiety comes in waves and peaked on day 3. I had a friend stay with me and I can't sleep much due to anxiety. Wake up 2-3 times a night in panic. During the first week my emotions came in waves too and I'd go from being the happiest person in the world into the most depressed person in a matter of a few minutes. From day 3 everything slowly started getting better.
Week 2: Anxiety still in waves. A new feeling of missing something intermittently manifest itself. It's a feeling of impending doom, mixed with lonesome, mixed with sitting on the edge of your seat while watching your team in double overtime. I also feel like I'm going through the motions but I'm not fully cognizant of whats going on. All these emotions and feelings come and go without any rhyme or reason. Sleep still messed up. Scared to sleep because I know I'll wake up in panic.
Week 3: Feeling of missing something still there. Sleep gets better. Have hard time getting to sleep some nights but start making it through the night without waking up. Waves of anxiety still present but not as bad.
Week 4: Sleeping through the night no problem. Anxiety gets better. Still comes in waves. Mood stabilizes with some depression still. Haven't felt on top of the world again though since week 1.
Week 5: Feeling of missing something almost completely gone. I am mostly "out of the fog" and am finally aware of what I'm doing. I'm consciously doing things instead of going through the motions. I start to get occasional cravings for a drink (I haven't had any cravings until now). Some days anxiety is almost all gone. Some days its back to week 2 levels. I have a lot of relationship and work stress that's not helping it though...
Week 6: Only started a few days ago. Same as week 5 so far.
I hope this helps. It's not easy, but after the first week I felt better than I did while drinking. And although initial withdraws were worse my first time, this second go around has been harder and worse overall due to the anxiety. As I write this I'm still not back to "normal", but I can see that each week I get better and better. Hopefully this is the end of the line and there is no 3rd go around for me! Good luck with your sobriety!