Originally Posted by mattymatt

I need to reach out to community to determine if what I am experiencing is anything close to normal. About 10 years ago, I was a constant and unrelenting drinker (at 23), so I did 30 days of recovery in-patient treatment. The treatment was great for me because it made me realize that I didn't have to drink. I spent the last 10 years drinking 'normally' or not drinking at all. Anyway, this summer I noticed that I was drinking most nights rather than not and my amount was going up (maybe 12 beers, 4 nights a week)... so I decided to stop.

But, as soon as I stopped the anxiety kicked in... it was almost uncontrollable, frequent panic attacks, constant worry etc... I had my last drink 2 Saturday's ago and didn't drink all week, that's when Friday, I had a sensation of a heart attack and thought that I needed to go to the ER. I didn't, I called a doctor and he said that I wasn't having a heart attack. That scare made me drink, I had a 6 pack both Friday and Saturday nights and haven't had a drink since. But, the anxiety hangs on... almost seems to get worse.

I don't have the shakes, sweats, anything, just high level anxiety. I went to the doctor and he checked my vitals and blood pressure, ekg, pulse was all good. My question is, could this recent spike in anxiety be a result of decreased alcohol use and could it be dangerous? I have read about kindling, but don't think that the amount that I have drank recently and the amount of days that I have not drank pose a threat of significant withdrawl issues, DT's or anything worse.

Has anyone had a similar experience? And finally, when will the anxiety go down?

Thanks for reading
- Matt