Dee74

hi and welcome Zach - it's still an open thread - it's just a down time right now...early in europe and late in the USA...getting on to home time in Asia

you'll get responses

for me the only way to stop that anxiety was to stop drinking Zach.

D

EndGameNYC

Both heavy drinking and withdrawal can precipitate anxiety and/or panic attacks.

zachdbro

Thank you Dee74! I am realizing that now..I have realized that a while back , but didn't want to believe it. I think the solution is simply not drinking. Well, i'll definitely miss my fun nights with my friends, but I'm sure I'll lose some beer weight (not that i'm fat) haha but it'll be nice to maybe get some serious abs. If I wanna succeed in life, and be the best that I can, I have to stay sober, and keep my head together. I'm a mess the next day after drinking. I have sacrificed things in my career because of my drinking the night before. I come from a big irish family where we all drink and have fun, and my freinds are the same. Looks like I have to hit the RESET button, and just get it all together

Dee74

I think we've all tried the 'time off to reset' approach - I did - but I always ended up back in the same place with alcohol.

If you can accept you need to make this change, that's awesome

D

zachdbro

Believe me Dee...I"m not trying to argue with you at all! I came here for help from people! My doctor basically couldn't tell me anything except "here's some lorazepam, and don't do shots". He called it holiday heart syndrome, which actually isn't a real physical thing. But yeah....this sounds bad, but I can't think of a time since I have been 21 (over 12 years) where I went more than a week or 2 completely sober. I love solving problems, and I am excited to see how my mind and body transforms for the better! during this journey. THank you so much for pointing me in the right direction. I'm probably just not gonna want to drink anymore after I get myself better..

newpower

I know how you feel I've been there just coming off a recent binge myself that has caused me to give it away and try sobriety instead. I say try sobriety with me and let's see how life can be.

zachdbro

ALRIGHT new power! Let's do this! I'm serious!!!! Looks like me and you have the same starting date. I don't know about you, but I'm excited for this. I think we're gonna start feeling better as soon as we get a good nights sleep. It's gonna feel really good to live life without all the anxiety restrictions.

Drunkmidget

Extreme anxiety ... major yes here. I've personally suffered from it after every single binge drinking episode I have ever had. Worst part was after a while I consider it normal ... and it wasn't until after 3 months of sobriety I began to realize that alcohol was the main cause of it.

Nighthawk8820

I was the exact same as you. Your body is starting to freak out as your alcohol level begins to decrease after a binge, and it is only going to get worse if you keep binging. I was the EXACT same as you described. That horrible anxiety, the fast heart beat, the light sweat I sometimes got. It just became to much for me, so I went into recovery. No more anxiety!!! 2 years down. That anxiety can be your ticket to sticking to a sober life though, because when you get sober and the anxiety leaves, you will do anything to not feel like that ever again. Its sort of a blessing getting that anxiety, because it gives you more incentive to get sober...............because that anxiety SUCKS.

Its also funny, I never threw up off alcohol, nor could some people even notice I was drunk, but I was wasted. You literally have the exact same symptoms I had when I drank, to a T.

RaiseAnchor

I would sometimes feel an impending sense of doom and hopelessness. The feelings worse than the sickness that came with a hangover. I felt that the world was going to fall apart because I drank. Well, my world at least. I'd always thought it was enough to scare me to stop, but I found that negativity and bad things happening would just perpetuate the problem. I had to be a bit blindly optimistic to really take hold of abstaining.

jkb

Binge drinker here as well... I had increasingly bad panic attacks when hung over (and sometimes for no reason) . I could deal with the nausea, the headache but, the panic attacks were another story. I ended up getting medicated for panic a few years back and then the meds took on a life of their own...not good.

Since I quit drinking the panic attacks are almost non-existent. Obviously I am not hung over anymore but, even the ones I used to experience for "no reason" have diminished.

0percentABV

"Crossed the line." Yeah, that's how I described the beginning of the end of my drinking career. Everything was, for the most part, OK right up until 3-4 years ago. Then the thing I thought I had a handle on started to slip through my fingers. I would notice myself drinking more and not being satisfied. I would think about drinking right away when I woke up. I would sneak beers and pulls from the bottle when no one was looking. I would have bad hangovers that screamed for me to stop drinking but I didn't want to believe that I was an alcoholic.

Then the anxiety happened and it all came crashing down, fast. I didn't know what was going on. I should have but I was in controlled denial as in I knew what was happening with my but I didn't want to believe that I was one of them, an alcoholic. I fought with myself for months before the answer was painfully obvious. I was an alcoholic. A typical alcoholic. I'm not special. I thought I was. I thought I was a guy who could handle his liquor. I thought I was stronger than that. But addiction is stronger than everyone. You don't overpower addiction, you simply avoid it. My anxiety was the wake up call. It started to change me. I was losing myself. Then I hit my rock bottom and stopped. And now I am back. Heck I was even slatted to get a night mouth guard because I was grinding my teeth. I don't do that anymore. I feel great. All I have to do is not drink and really once you get used to it life is so much better. And though you may feel you'll lose something by quitting you gain so much more back. People worry that when they quit they won't be able to handle the situations they thought alcohol solved for them. Not true. I thought I would get super stressed but the opposite happened. Alcohol caused so many "invisible" problems that I thought was just who I was when really it was the booze making me that way.

But once the anxiety starts the enjoyment drinking gives is over. The ball is in your court.

zachdbro

I've been reading everybody's posts. Looks like we are all in the same boat. It's very refreshing to hear everyone tell their stories that I can so much relate to. I'm sure we all googled the hell out of our situation; searching for a solution to "why do I have such bad anxiety hangovers???" We've all tried the "maybe I'll just increase my vitamin B? Maybe I'm vitamin deficient? Maybe I'm hypoglycemic? Maybe it's just low blood sugar". We didnt wanna accept that we have a different reaction to alcohol. Well, we're a unique bunch. The way our bodies are wired, are alot different thaN everyone else's. I was going on this site hoping to find "the miracle solution" to why I can't put on a great drunk buzz, and wake up the next day, take a few aspirin, and carry on with my life like everyone else. The solution is clear. We can't drink. I'm not an alcoholic. I can stop, and have stopped whenever I wanted to...I just never really wanted to. I've never been a bad drunk that people didnt wanna be around. In fact, I've had some of my favorite nights, and life experiences tipping back a few, and having all nighters with friends. Well...here we go. I'm not drinking anymore. I'm about to go on tour with my band on a big rock tour fest, and I'm gonna concentrate on my band. The good thing is, that two of the guys in my band are recovering alcoholics, so I'll be in good company, and there won't be any drinking going on in my tour bus. Even if there was, I really don't think I'll be tempted. As much as I love a fun drunk night, I love waking up with a positive attitude, and real energy, and feeling alive even more!!!! That beats waking up early with my heart beating out of my chest, shaking, feeling terrified of everything, and dosing myself with sedatives. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing how my life changes, as I start this sober journey and get to know "my old self" again. Free of alcohol. I bet we are all pretty awesome people without the poison

TempeBrenn

OMG...you said exactly what I felt. Never heard anyone say it so straight forward before; nail exactly on the head. Day 3 and I NEVER want to experience that again. Thank you Deeker, for all you do on this forum and God bless you, as well as all of us in recovery.

jkb

As much as I love a fun drunk night, I love waking up with a positive attitude, and real energy, and feeling alive even more!!!! That beats waking up early with my heart beating out of my chest, shaking, feeling terrified of everything, and dosing myself with sedatives.

Thank you for this zachdbro. It is so good to hear a reminder like this....

98 days ago that was me. I am so glad that is not me this morning.

I hope that the OP is doing better as well....Sorry about the hijack.

realizingtruth

that anxiety is a BITCH. there were mornings I would sit and just pray my mind would stop racing. did I offend someone last night? worse, did I hurt someone? race, race, race. it only gets worse as time goes on, too.

realizingtruth

Amen regarding the invisible problems. Drinking perpetuates problems even when you don't even know they are there. For me, drinking has always been "glue" for the problems I could see, when in reality, all it did was make everything escalate. Partnered with that anxiety, it was very difficult to function some days. I, also, had the feelings of impending doom. "I will never be happy. No one will ever truly love me. My life will never go anywhere. I'm stuck this way."

It's such a sickness.

realizingtruth

YEP. Me too. In fact, it was TERRIFYING. That was part of why the anxiety was so crippling, I think.

Joe Nerv

Hi Boogirl. I had the same experience, and in a crazy kinda way it wound up being a blessing. Started getting those hangovers a year into my drinking, and real shortly after, drinking became an every day thing for me. And it was absolutely impossible for me to stop. My desperation at the end (which wound up being an extension cord around my neck) landed me in a detox, then rehab, AA, and lots of aftercare. Thankfully, I have a life now that was unimaginable then, but I believe I was only afforded this life because I came into recovery so absolutely beaten and terrified, that I was willing to do anything anyone suggested to get better.

I agree that taking prescription drugs to overcome anxiety that you know alcohol is producing is a bad idea. It can start a cycle of anxiety and depression that can and will keep going further and further down.

I've heard it stated that alcoholism is like an elevator going down, and we can get off at any floor we choose. It seems from the little you've posted here that your elevator is picking up speed. There is recovery and hope at any level you choose to get off, and well, that's entirely up to you. Tough part at the higher floors is having the willingness... but many have done it successfully.

Consider youself lucky that this is your hangover experience. I'd have traded headaches and throwing up in a heartbeat if I could when I was drinking. But if that were my hangover experience, I think I might still be drinking. Or more likely locked up somewhere or dead.