wishmaster1980

I drink a 12 pack of beer ever friday night in about a 4 hour period. I have done this every week for 9 years. I developed anxiety a few months after drinking and just got to wondering if I am drinking enough that it would cause an anxiety disorder. Others on here that experience anxiety from drinking are drinking 24 packs a day or drinking excessively 4 or more times a week. I am not that bad but still have the same symptoms they do. About 2 months ago I had been sober for three months. My anxiety did decrease but not a lot so I started back. I have decided to quit again and I am at the two week mark and my anxiety has gotten real bad, I am really bad foggyheaded and I have tingling in my lips. I guess I am going through withdrawls again. OK here is my question. Am I drinking enough to cause anxiety since it is just a 12 pack once a week in a 4 hour period? Can it take more than three months sober to notice a change in my anxiety?

Dee74

I think it's best you discuss this with your doctor wishmaster - none of us could, or should diagnose you here.

There was certainly a correlation between stopping drinking and anxiety in my case tho, yes.

D

wishmaster1980

My doctor told me to quit drinking because it can make anxiety worse the next day but he thinks I drink because of my anxiety and didn't think my drinking was the root cause of it. I never had anxiety before I drank though. I was just looking for some personal experiences from anyone that drank about the same amount I did (around a 12 pack just once a week) and after quitting their anxiety went away after a few months.

CarolD

Welcome to SR....

I don't know about anxiety disorders....sorry you are
having difficulties.
I drank more than you..anxiety is not in my history.

Please check out this Forum....it might have information
that would benefit you.

Anxiety Disorders - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

All my best as you and your doctor work together.

intention

Hi, I am currently ready Beyond the Influence, which was recommended on this site.

According to the book, yes anxiety could be caused by the drinking. You have been drinking a long time and the cummulative effects on your central nervous system will start to cause symptoms.

Some people can drink for many years, heavier than you and not see damage to their health, some people can end up with irreversible liver damage within a couple of years of starting drinking.

I think your body is telling you something...so is your doctor. Have you read about P.A.W.S.


Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) — Why we don’t get better immediately) Digital Dharma

intention

Just to add in that book that I mention that they say they believe a lot of doctors get it wrong in that people drink to relieve anxiety and other pyschological symptoms and that they believe it is the other way round, that it is drinking alcohol which produces many pyschological symptoms and anxieties.

Whatever the cause, as your doctor says, it's best not to drink.

RacerX

Both my therapist as well as my psychiatrist have told me that my anxiety and drinking have turned into one massive snowball effect - they feed off of each other. Keep in mind that I've suffered from anxiety much longer than when my drinking started. But the drinking did have a very large role in worsening my anxiety.

I would suggest getting in to a therapist counselor who can better direct you on if you need a psychiatric evaluation and referring you to a good one.

Best of Luck!

RacerX

Ago

I had acute anxiety that was caused short term by the physical effects of alcohol, what goes down must also come back up, ie alcohol is a "downer", a sedative, so when you "come off it" it causes anxiety, but I also had anxiety because I was using alcohol to "stuff" my feelings, like the old joke:

I drink too much because of my problems...

Huh? You seem fine, what problems could you have?

I drink too much

So I drank to relieve my anxiety which was caused by my drinking, but the funny thing was it was to relax, or get relief from anxiety that made me start drinking in the first place, which ultimately made it worse.

To complicate matters, quite frankly when the brain wants alcohol it will manufacture the symptoms I need in order to justify a drink, If I drank to relieve stress, my brain will create so much stress that I HAVE to drink, ditto with anxiety, if I drank to relieve anxiety, my mind knows what to do, create anxiety, then after maybe ten years? of being around the program, being sober, working the steps etc my anxiety got so bad I went to a psychiatrist, where I discovered I was in fact "counter-phobic" ie I created dangerous situations in front of me in order to manage my fears because of an unsafe childhood.

It's not just a snowball effect, it was a snowball cubed for me.

Anyhow, a good therapist/psychiatrist and a good sponsor each had half the tools necessary for me to deal with this, but I needed both, because my anxiety had interwoven so tightly with my alcoholism there was no treating one without treating the other if I actually wanted relief.

Other peoples experience is different, anxiety is a common side effect of quitting drinking, so some get relief just from sobriety and the steps, some from drinking, some from a doctor, some from meds, but without addressing the drinking it is impossible to say whats going on as alcoholism mimics many mental "illnesses" like anxiety disorders.

flattrackbaby

Hello there,
I also suffer from off the charts anxiety. Since my last and HOPEFULLY final drinking binge this past Saturday my anxiety has been worse than ever. My doctor knew I binge drank (on occasion - do we ever tell them the truth? -sigh-) and also knows I have suffered severe anxiety since childhood. I was 'supposed' to be taking xanax daily for anxiety (I never took more than 1 per day - thats why I thought I didn't really need it) BUT 'I' thought I was better and didn't need it. Wrong - again. I also thought I could control my drinking - WAY wrong on that count. 0 for 2, sounds like a football game... Anyway, I would check with an MD straight away, as they can direct you to what the appropriate steps are. Also, don't be like me, tell him how often you binge and how much you drink AND just how bad your anxiety is - if it is causing you issues. I've started back on 1 xanax per day and while I still am anxious, it's getting a little better. I should have sought out my doctor earlier, as I am now to the point that I never want to leave our farm, and will only do so in the company of my husband and even that causes me anxiety. What a mess. I cannot beleive I let myself get like this!
Best of luck to you! There are great folks here, I think you'll find the support you need - I did!

flutter

My anxiety went away completely after a few months of sobriety. I too thought I was medicating an anxiety disorder.. but after more than a year now of continuous sobriety, I've yet to experience anxiety again.

Mattcake

I suffered from anxiety disorders (various forms), coupled with depression, since my late teens. Drinking provided some respite at first, but the tables turned soon enough... alcohol made it all so much worse.

One of the main reasons that drove me to give up drinking was to restore my mental health. Sustained sobriety dramatically decreased my anxiety - I still had to get professional treatment to address my depression.

You should definitely work together with a doctor, as we're all different. Regardless, I've never heard of binge drinking *easing* anxiety disorders though

Drk

Yeah, that's the weird thing with me too; I had crippling anxiety and thought I was medicating it, but when I quit cold-turkey, it disappeared completely.

hendershot

You will have to speak to a doctor. For me, alcohol significantly aggravated my anxiety symptoms. I was drinking everyday for several years but I think the neurochemical changes that cause increased anxiety can occur if you are just binging on the weekends. Once I quit, and stayed quit, things got so much better. Recently the anxiety has come back pretty bad, and it can be difficult, but it is not as bad as it was when I was in the middle of drinking still. Even if you have a legitimate anxiety disorder, as I believe I do, alcohol makes it much worse. As others have mentioned, you may find the anxiety subside if you quit.

mikefreak

Speaking for myself, of course, MY Frankenstein anxiety monster GORGED on my drinking. I would stay holed up in the house every available moment I could, & waking up on Monday morning to face the world was terrifying at times. My high Blood Pressure brought on by the booze didn't help matters, either. After a little over a year sober, these symptoms has largely dissapeared.....

barb dwyer

Once you get the doc out of the way,
think about this for a bit...
I've had a few years to think on it....

My own thinking on the post binge freakouts is
the body is reacting to being poisoned.

I mean, a binge isn't just sitting around drinking.
It's a huge-monster-drink-or-drown-in-it-don't-bother-swallowing-thing.

IT's downing as much alcohol as possible in as short a time as possible.

So the body... is giving us a 'warning'
it's saying - 'danger! danger! too much poisionous substance!

I don't think it's so much the anxiety
as in a mental state

but that we're misreading what it is -

it's a physical emergency alarm that something
bad for the body has happened
the system can't handle it well
it's hurt....
and this needs to not happen again.

*shrug*

wishmaster1980

Thanks for all the reply's. If I only drink a 12 pack just on Saturday nights and still get bad anxiety and panic attacks from it then I can't imagine how much anxiety someone who binge drinks 2 or 3 times a week has. I guess the reason I wasn't able to tell a big difference in my anxiety when I gave it up for three months is because I didn't give it enough time. I have been drinking like this for 8 years so I guess I can't expect my problems to go away in just 3 months.