Flyersfan

I've been off the booze for a week, drank at a bachelor party on Saturday and haven't drank since... The one symptom I can not stand is certain days with severe sadness... feel like I could cry if I wanted to... anyone else have this?

kind of of a lonely feeling

Ghostlight

Hello.
Your drinking may hid underlying depression. Just a thought.
I know I drank to self medicate bipolar disorder. It worked great, too. Until I became an alcoholic, and it made the anxiety worse.

If your depression persisits, might be a wise idea to talk with a doctor or therapist.

I hope your depression leaves after you get some sober time behind you.

Flyersfan

Im on Zoloft for anxiety attacks, thats why I began drinking.... now drinking would cause panic attacks the following days. Thank you for the response.

DayTrader

Most alkies experience that FF.

In my case, the AA program fleeced out and dealt with all the underlying "issues" quite handily. I also did a fair amount of work on those issues outside AA but that was mostly to help me break out of some delusions, to identify what was affecting me, and to wake up to reality.

Just identifying those sorts of things though didn't go very far in growing past them. Great, now I see all this "junk" I have in the game but now what do I do with it? That's where AA's program really comes in handy....in the "getting past" the junk that's held us down for so long.

I used Effexor and Xanax for a while but it became increasingly apparent to me that all i was doing was putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound. I wasn't treating the bulk of the damage. I wasn't doing anything about the true source of the pain.

It's a good thing that you're noticing sadness, alone-ness, and some of the other emotions that bubble up. It reminds you that the drinking, while problematic, probably wasn't the source-problem. You may be like me - someone who not only drank alcoholically but who also has alcoholism. AlcoholISM continues to work against you whether you're drinking or not. In fact, it hits hardest when you're NOT drinking.

AA is a fabulous treatment for alcoholISM...I can tell you that from first-hand experience.

tomsteve

i used to be lonely. now i have a God personal to me. now i'm never alone and am okay with being by myself. but i'm not a hemit, either.
i am with daytrader. the program of AA and a very good, honest, blunt sponsor showed me what makes me tick and what the cause of different emotions is. i can honestly say today that i know alcohol didnt help with lonelyness and depression, since alcohol is a depressant. there were deeper issues.

sugarbear1

Zoloft and alcohol are a bad mix. It may be the reason you are sad now. Alcohol messes with the efficacy of the Zoloft. Try staying stopped and work a program of recovery. you might benefit from working the steps of AA.

waw545

That's wds from alcohol 1 hole week of detox thats good work and it takes some foot work to stay sober just hang on without the booze and maybe some aa meetings and post and reading. Blessings to you.

CarolD

I'm glad you stopped drinking again....
I too had false starts on my way into solid recovery.

Crying is a good way to release emotions..I cried today over a strangers death.

Please don't quit your quest for lasting sobriety...it's a wonderful way of life.

.

betterlate

This is not to address depression, but negative feelings like sadness.

For me, it really helps to simply go ahead and feel a negative feeling like sadness. Meaning I just sit there and let the sadness go on. Without thinking "oh, I have to turn this off, I have to run away from this", like I did for decades. One thing I have learned with this technique is that the bad feelings don't really last all that long. Not one percent as long as a hangover.

Flyersfan

I did not see this response until now... thank you friend