Originally Posted by
BullDog777 
I was in a s#it load of trouble physically, when I got sober. However, even after all my test results improved and I was on medication to help repair my body, my health related anxiety was total hell at times. I also have anxiety, ptsd, and OCD.
I had anxiety attacks that would mimic heart attacks. I could convince myself in an afternoon I had something else. My anxiety could mimic almost any symptom I got obsessed with. It was awful.
I visited the dr. a lot. I hated it. The people here can tell you I complained about it a lot. I also got therapy. A lot of that too.
Most of my early sobriety was going through the motions of doing the right thing even when my head told me not to. It's really hard to put into words. I didn't trust my judgement anymore because all that ever got me was wasted.
So I just put one foot in front of the other until time took care of a lot of the intensity of the emotions.
It gets a lot easier. The cravings start to go away and your brain won't be going a million miles a minute and you start to get comfortable in your own skin again. It just takes time.
This sounds a lot like me when I quit cigs and weed 5 years ago. Unfortunately I was not in the know and used beer to substitute. Now 5 years later it's basically Groundhog Day, except after the 5 years of abuse I'm sure my anxiety is much worse. Last summer I made it 71 days and then thought I had it all figured out. The more I read about kindling the more it seems like I was screwing my self over time after time this last year. I ended up seeing my therapist for extra sessions after a handful of regretful weekends.
I also have a 4 month old son now and learning to deal with that stress plus the not drinking plus the OCD and plus adjusting to a new marriage with the baby is overwhelming at times.
I'm contemplating trying Lexapro that I was prescribed but scared of side effects.