danejah01

Hi, all.
Here's my story in short. I'm 32 and I've been drinking eveyday for about 8 years. 8 to 12 oz. of vodka a night with weekend benders on top. I've been sober since mid November.

This August I started cutting down on my drinking completely unaware of alcohol withdrawls. A glass of wine some nights and nothing others. Then it happened... One morning on the way to work I had a full blown panic attack. After that I went to tons of doctor appointments. I thought I was having heart issues. During this time I dealt with high anxiety, crazy muscle tension, and more random panic attacks (one landed me in the ER). After a ton of tests it clearly wasnt my heart. That's when I completely put down alcohol and began to feel like garabage. Weird aches and pains, muscle tension, heart palpitations, insomnia, nightmares, mood swings, you name it, but the panic attacks went away for about a month. I wss starting to feel better until a week ago I had another panic attack. Now I'm taking an SSRI to prevent the panic attacks.

Now here's my issue. During this time I saw a therapist who said I don't have an anxiety disorder (she felt like she felt like she was stealing my money) and my doctor says the same, but my doctor doesn't believe it's related to the alcohol. She thinks I'm past any withdrawls, but it's the only thing that makes since to me. I've never had anxiety/panic before this.

Does my story relate to anyone's experience? I'm just confused at the moment and could use someone else's experiences.

P.S. I have read about PAWS and tons posts on the forum.

LBrain

All I want to know is this, do/did your doctors know how much you drink/drank?

SoberLeigh

Same question as LBrain.

Another question: How experienced is your doctor in treating addiction? Maybe you should seek out a doctor who makes addiction his specialty or at least a subspecialty.

Delve into some of the posts and threads here. You will find many that deal with anxiety/panic attacks.

Welcome, Dane.

danejah01

Not in the beginning, but after yes. Through the process I told the doctors I had 2 to 3 drinks a night. I was being honest because I never measured the amount I poured until after all the madness started. Like I said, I was completely unaware of my issue myself. After tons of research I figured alcohol was my problem. I brought this up to my GP and she said I may just be taking longer than others to recover.

Mountainmanbob

good question because

you stated that
"I'm 32 and I've been drinking everyday for about 8 years. 8 to 12 oz. of vodka a night"

that is a lot of very strong booze
may take a year or two to be 100 %

MB

I agree with the statement below

danejah01

Thanks, Mountain.

I completely understand that and am 100% okay with that recovery time. I have absolutely no desire to drink anymore. I just want the panic attacks to go away. I have a family that I love and need to take care of as well as a great job.

SoberLeigh

Have you tried meditation or meditative yoga, Dane?

danejah01

I did use meditation to get through the rougher parts in the beginning. No yoga though. I'm not sure if I was doing it right, but it seemed to help.

All in all I have been getting better everyday. It's just the last panic attack snuck up on me out of nowhere for no reason. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get over this.

biminiblue

Give it time.

The longer you are away from the alcohol, the less will be your symptoms. I agree with Leigh, meditation and/or prayer work very well.

Most of what you are experiencing is your Central Nervous System trying to repair. It takes a long time with that much alcohol intake.

Be patient. Think of something soothing when it happens, and take deep breaths from your belly.

danejah01

Thanks, all.

Liegh - My GP stated that she treats a lot of alcohol patients. She's been super awesome and kind through all of this. Taking a lot of time to sit and talk with me when I go in.

Also - My BP has been high through all of this 140 to 150/80. Is that common too?

danejah01

Thanks, all.

Liegh - My GP stated that she treats a lot of alcohol patients. She's been super awesome and kind through all of this. Taking a lot of time to sit and talk with me when I go in.

Also - My BP has been high through all of this 140 to 150/80. Is that common too?

sugarbear1

Home

Dee74

have you been anxious before Dane - like before the drinking started in earnest?

D

Sasha4

I suffer from anxiety and I think it can come from nowhere to be honest.
I think it can often strike us when we least expect it.
I think its easier to try and learn how to deal with it, rather than search for where it came from.

I have been having horrendous anxiety and I will be 3 years drink free if feb 2015.
Only today I was thinking I could not contemplate adding alcohol to how I feel now, that would make everything so much worse.
Its taken me a while to get that thought process though!

leviathan

following cessation, my anxiety improved vastly over time. i still deal with it occasionally. i self medicated with alc./benzos/pain meds and thc. -amplifying the anxiety in the process.

when i got intervened on for being all "Nurse Jackie", i told the rehab folks that the foundation of my self-medication was the drinking. during rehab, i decided to drop everything else too, even my beloved benzo script (which they were fine with).

9+ months later, my non-impaired strategies are becoming more automatic. if i find myself getting overwhelmed, or simply anxious for no apparent reason, i first get my space as quiet as possible. if at work, this may require a bathroom break. then i ask myself -am i in pain? am i hungry? am i tired? is this from over-stimulation? etc.

then problem solving mode:-remove stress (if possible) or remove self from stress.
- turn the g.d. television down!
-eat if necessary.
-time out, if necessary.
-walk?
-breathing?
-mindfulness exercise?

near the end of my day, i allow for some creature comforts that I truly enjoy. hot tea, hot bath, favorite music, reading, etc.

ive also found that exercise in any form that gets my heart rate up for a while impacts the anxiety/depression scale in a positively general way. it also helps me sleep.

i really dont mind dealing with this kind of maintenance. it is NOWHERE NEAR as difficult as attempting to fine-tune my chemistry every day. HA!

danejah01

Thanks for the advice.

Dee, I've never had anxiety issues before. In truth my symptoms are more physical than emotional. The panic attacks came out of nowhere, but I'm taking steps to address the emotional. I may just not realize the emotional aspects of what I'm dealing with yet. I did get anxious when all of this start because I had no idea what was happening, but that's really all I could recognize.

All in all everything seems to be getting better, and I know this will take time.

LBrain

one thing to take away is that drinking NEVER makes things better.

Keep up the good work.