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-   -   taking xanax instead of drinking (https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/anxiety-disorders/227999-taking-xanax-instead-drinking.html)

CheekyAngel 05-26-2011 04:04 PM

taking xanax instead of drinking
 
Hey, if im going out to mates who are drinking, i drink too, only to relieve the social anxiety, specific phobia and OCD thoughts. But whats your opinion on taking a xanax instead of drinking? Am i just subsituting? Or is it acceptable to do this with my disorders? Im not saying im gona do this but just wanted to get an opinion. See i wouldnt go out to people who were drinking unless i was also, so trying to see what other options i have to help the anxiety...

Freedom1990 05-26-2011 04:25 PM

My 33-year-old AD quit drinking. She just pops Xanax now.

Some things never change, and that is so true with my AD.

I found my social anxiety eased up tremendously through the help of living in recovery and working 12-step programs. :)

nandm 05-26-2011 04:43 PM

I am a recovering alcoholic who also suffers from PTSD, bipolar, and chronic anxiety. Until I was sober over 5 years I did not take any narcotics for my mental health issues as they were only being addressed as hard to treat depression. I can not say that it was easy to stop drinking and go through the anxiety that comes with stopping drinking but also suffering from undiagnosed and untreated mental health issues but what I can say is that because I was not treated with a substitute for my drinking such as xanax or klonopin I was forced to jump head first into AA and learn to apply the Steps to my life daily. Is AA a cure for anxiety, not necessarily but it is a great help. Many people experience anxiety when they quit drinking but that anxiety eases the longer they are sober. When it does not ease that is the time to consider seeking mental health providers.

Today I am sober for over 10 years. I do take klonopin for my chronic mental health issues. I do take it only as prescribed and make sure that my motives for taking it are not to substitute how alcohol made me feel but to deal with a real uncontrolled anxiety issue. I do not take it daily and many times go several days without taking it. I am very careful with it as I know that it could be a problem if I am not careful to check my motives each time I take it. I firmly believe that as long as I am taking it as prescribed and intended I am still sober and clean. If the day comes that I take it for any other reason then I will consider changing my sobriety date.

I do not believe that substituting it for alcohol is a wise choice as ultimately what you are doing is covering up the problem and trading addictions rather then treating the disease. I would recommend that you speak honestly with your doctor and consider a recovery program such as AA. There is a list of them under the alcoholism forum that you might find useful.

I hope this helps answer your question, remember it is only my experience and may not apply to you.

CheekyAngel 05-27-2011 08:20 AM

I know what i need to do and its give up drink to help the anxities for the long run. But its easier said then done as you all know, thats why im loking at what other options i have to still keep some sort of social life with my anxieties.

See stopping drinking wont cause me anxiety, coz i am not physically addicted. I go on heavy binges on the weekends when everyone is heading out. I dont drink during the weeks to medicate the anxiety, only if we were all heading out to town or a party, which is rare during the week.

I hope you didnt take it the worng way but i wouldnt be using xanax to get a buzz. Id purely be using it to allow me to sit there with people. I wouldnt even get a buzz from it coz i wouldnt take the amount required to get a buzz, no way. I have been thru my pescription pill binges a few years back and trust me i do not want to ever go there again.
I would only be able to sit around my really true few best mates and not drink coz my anxiety and specific phobia i can kinda deal with (even tho its still sky-high). But if i was going out to a group of mates who i would not be comfortable with, i simply wouldnt go out and if i did i would regret it cause the anxiety isnt worth sitting there trying to interact
Like if i wasnt to be drinking, i wouldnt go the pub or anything like that coz basically im setting myself up for failure. But if one of my friends was having a few people up in their house for drinks, i wouldnt go coz of the SA, specific phobia and intrusive thoughts. Where as if i took a xanax, id still be highly anxious but having it with me would allow me to say "yeah" to going there and try out not drinking.

The thing is i have been treating my social anxiety & specific phobia for YEARS now and i just cant seem to make any improvment with it. Thats why 1, i have given up drugs and 2, started to consider giving up the booze. But i do feel that if giving up drinking wont help the anxities i face everyday, i think to myself whats the point.

Thanks yous' for sharing your story with me, im just so confused on what to do. If i stop drinking the little social life i have will dissapear coz the anxieties will make me avoid. So it kinda like i need alternative options. And sober is an alternative but right now, sober will make my 'social life' go down the drain.

I have pushed myself to do so so so much to help my situation, but it seems like there is only one other way - sober - but at that, sober will make me miserable. Im not ready, and i dont know if i ever will be.

I dont want to think people are talking to a wall but i know thats the message im sending out. Im Lost!

refrigerator 05-28-2011 10:14 PM

Do you think alcohol is a problem for you? Just wondering because that would affect how I would answer your question

CheekyAngel 05-29-2011 06:38 AM

Emmm, well, thats a difficult question for me to answer...

I think the age i am at now, i wouldnt consider myself to have a drink problem. I do what most people my age do. But as i get older i believe that drink will start to interfere in my life. Coz i cant be pre-drinking going to social events when im older. Right now where i have the big problem is my anxieties, and to go out with a group of people i would drink, but everybody would be too. So then yeah I believe that i may have drink problem regarding medicating the anxieties. If i didnt have anxiety i could answer that question better but coz i do its hard to see past it.

I know thats not really a good answer. Its combined with yeah and no, but thats where i feel i am.

refrigerator 05-29-2011 03:33 PM

My situation sounds very similar to yours.

I developed a pretty bad drinking problem in college, where "you're not an alcoholic, it's just college!". I thought the same thing, that I would eventually "grow up" or something. But in reality it got worse and worse. The difference is that I drank every day, while others were able to limit to the weekends (mostly). So the above saying may have applied to them, but not me since I actually had a problem.

You need to figure out what the underlying cause of your anxiety is. For me, I was always very shy in social situations and found that alcohol eliminated this. I never really thought of it as anxiety in the form of panic, because it wasn't. And now that I don't drink or take meds, it's just something I deal with...and well i'm over it really.

But my really, really bad anxiety started coming after I became alcohol dependent. The withdrawal would lead to heart palpitations, tremors, numbness etc which would lead to "severe anxiety symptoms" as my doctor put it. Then I was prescribed meds (celexa and xanax) and was still drinking a ton. This led to a 2 year long downward spiral, and I still haven't finished college.

So in short, yes you would be substituting...but ask yourself if you really need the xanax? And make sure you are NOT lying to yourself like i did. It could end up costing you thousands of dollars for your habits, and years of your life you won't get back.

If I could take it all back, I would never have started drinking. Then, I never would have heard of celexa or xanax.

refrigerator 05-29-2011 03:36 PM

Basically what I'm saying is that playing with these types of meds and alcohol can be dangerous, and can put you in a bad place...like where I was 5 months ago.

So be careful.

pinkgurl87 05-29-2011 07:44 PM

xanax and drinking work on the same part of the body has a similar effect as drinking. Don't substitute. There can be other meds you can take that are not narcotic which can help with anxiety.

savexourxship 05-29-2011 07:55 PM

One drug for another, is the simple answer.

Froglet 06-07-2011 01:48 PM


Originally Posted by CheekyAngel (Post 2981386)
Hey, if im going out to mates who are drinking, i drink too, only to relieve the social anxiety, specific phobia and OCD thoughts. But whats your opinion on taking a xanax instead of drinking? Am i just subsituting? Or is it acceptable to do this with my disorders? Im not saying im gona do this but just wanted to get an opinion. See i wouldnt go out to people who were drinking unless i was also, so trying to see what other options i have to help the anxiety...

Drugs and alcohol are bad inputs for the body. I can understand xanax as a medication if you needed it to help you, but it seems obvious that alcohol is the opposite. Alcohol impairs your whole body. W/ xanax, the purpose of it, is to relieve anxiety and assist you in a positive way. Over dosing and getting hooked on xanax is not the way to go.

It is not even a substitute unless you consider them both as gateway drugs.

CheekyAngel 06-07-2011 04:19 PM

Im just looking for alternatives for me so i can go out to a group and not drink. I use drink to medicate the anxiety and i know in the long run of this its going to make me end up with more problems and i have enough problems thank you very much!


Originally Posted by pinkgurl87 (Post 2984211)
There can be other meds you can take that are not narcotic which can help with anxiety.

I have been on loooodza different meds and none of then have done me any use. The only one i have found to be benificial for a situation is Xanax.


Originally Posted by Froglet (Post 2993003)
Drugs and alcohol are bad inputs for the body. I can understand xanax as a medication if you needed it to help you, but it seems obvious that alcohol is the opposite. Alcohol impairs your whole body. W/ xanax, the purpose of it, is to relieve anxiety and assist you in a positive way. Over dosing and getting hooked on xanax is not the way to go.

It is not even a substitute unless you consider them both as gateway drugs.

I know what you mean froglet, but i wouldnt be using the xanax to get on a 'buzz', id be using it to get me out and socialize. Id usually pre-drink to do this on the weekends (coz id be witha group) and if i give up drink for a bit then...simply i wont be socializing. Like i cant even go to the shop, when i do i have this high anxiety flowing around in my body and if that is really hard for me to do, there is no way i could go out to a group of people.

About the gateway situation, for me even to go out on the weekends opens the gates. Reason for that is here, where i live, the weekends are a time to messed up. So maybe i shouldnt even go out (more!)...

(reading back over all that, im not sure it makes sence!)

Pigtails 06-08-2011 09:50 AM

I don't know. I have a sleep disorder caused by anxiety, and just anxiety in general, and several therapists have told me that medication is an option but I wanted to try working through it on my own and with therapy first. Well part of that led to me realizing I have a drinking problem and need to stop. So now I am worried about dealing with the anxiety without alcohol (and cocaine) which was like my self-medication.

Here is what I'm doing but I'm no expert, just trying to figure it out. I have gone cold turkey sober (this is my Day 4) and am going ot work at working things out in myself without meds for at least a month. I have to take things one piece at a time due to my anxiety and overwhelming thoughts. So I just say, I'm not going to drink today, and I'm going to do that for at least a month, and see where I am at the end of the month. I can always go on meds if I need to. But right now I don't feel I need to (although honestly I have no idea what "need to" looks like... I have often wondered if I would feel "happy" on meds and have felt crappy on my own... but since stopping drinking I have felt a big mental improvement and I really hope it continues!)

I guess what I'm saying is that if you haven't been prescribed/recommended to take meds then first try to stop drinking because that could be causing or contributing to a lot of the anxiety issues in the first place. I too drank for social anxiety issues but it was a cyclical problem... the only time I wasn't anxious was when I drank, before I got drunk, then I would do stupid things to cause me more anxiety the next day! So I am just stopping the cycle and allowing myself to feel things naturally and it feels good. :-) Sometimes weird and scary but good. If I'm anxious, I just say, okay, I'm feeling anxious, and try to do something productive, like go for a run or clean. If I'm sad or lonely, same thing. And if I'm happy.... I feel really genuinely happy, not fake-happy like when I'm drunk. It's like the feelings are magnified, good and bad, and that's scary but for me I think that in the end it will help with my anxiety because I will be getting to know the real me and accepting her for who she is. :-) I hope I've helped some. Good luck.

Pigtails 06-08-2011 09:52 AM


Originally Posted by CheekyAngel (Post 2993124)
Im just looking for alternatives for me so i can go out to a group and not drink. I use drink to medicate the anxiety and i know in the long run of this its going to make me end up with more problems and i have enough problems thank you very much!



I have been on loooodza different meds and none of then have done me any use. The only one i have found to be benificial for a situation is Xanax.



I know what you mean froglet, but i wouldnt be using the xanax to get on a 'buzz', id be using it to get me out and socialize. Id usually pre-drink to do this on the weekends (coz id be witha group) and if i give up drink for a bit then...simply i wont be socializing. Like i cant even go to the shop, when i do i have this high anxiety flowing around in my body and if that is really hard for me to do, there is no way i could go out to a group of people.

About the gateway situation, for me even to go out on the weekends opens the gates. Reason for that is here, where i live, the weekends are a time to messed up. So maybe i shouldnt even go out (more!)...

(reading back over all that, im not sure it makes sence!)

Hi Cheeky I too have the issue of wanting to go out and not drink but not being able to handle the social anxiety well without drinking. I'm beginning to think the solution at least temporarily is either not to go out, or to only go out with supportive friends I feel comfortable with who know my current situation and will support me. So we could go to dinner and a movie but not to a club. Or if we go to a club they don't pressure me to drink... but I'm not sure I wouldn't feel anxious and/or bored without alcohol at a club. I definitely know I don't want to sit around in a bar doing nothing but drinking anymore. I would rather stay home! Regardless I just do not want to drink so if that takes not going out, fine, time to stay in. :-)

Eddiebuckle 06-08-2011 11:01 AM

It seems to me that going to such lengths to justify xanax, e.g. by saying that it is the lesser evil when you would otherwise pre-drink, should give you pause as to what your motives are. When I was still in treatment I envisioned my sober life as me beign the deisgnated driver, being out with my friends in the old haunts, etc.

It didn't work out that way for me. I did lose touch with some of my friends with whom the primary glue of the relationship was drinking. I now have friends, some of whom drink, but want to spend time with me and are willing to forego drinking to do so. I don't have huge amounts of sober time (18 months on June 21st) but the whole xanax thing screams denial and trouble to me cheeky. If you don't have one, I would suggest you get someone with a lot of sobriety and start talking this out. Sobriety is really hard at first, having someone you can trust and be completely honest with is really helpful. Personally I found that person at an AA meeting but there are other options. Above all else, stick with it - it keeps getting better.

eaglette 06-08-2011 11:36 PM

Reading this question rings a bell for me. I can picture clearly both my XAFiance and current ABF saying to me, "I am not trying to quit ____________", soon followed by, "I think I should be taking ________ for my anxiety. I don't have a problem with it." Both of them were substituting. Both of them ended up abusing the replacement drug before going back to the DOC.

CheekyAngel 06-11-2011 10:37 AM

I drink to medicate the anxiety. If i take xanax im medicating the anxiety, but isnt that what there supposed to do?!

Im 21, iv suffered from anxiety disorders the past 7 years. My anxiety is psychological. Its not anxiety from drink. Drink i know doesnt help the anxiety. I know giving up drinking isnt going to make the anxiety go away, it may help (and thats why i want to help myself) reduce it, but it will never go away. Ive spent the last 7 years of my life in different theripies trying to ease the anxiety, the only thing that does this for me is drink, drugs and benzos. I know they are pretty $hit ways of managing and thats why im giving up drugs, becoming concious of the alcohol abuse, its effect on my anxiety and asking these questions

Also one thing, whats so bad about xanax if it helps me have a life? I dont take it everyday, and i never ever will. I have gone thru my prescription pill binges in the past and im never going back there. Im perscribed them from my doctor. I tell him all that i use it for. He sees no problem with how i take them, one when needed and thats it.

I have come to a conclusion that if i dont want to drink, i wont go out....

But then i have a new problem. If i dont go out for a bit, it will be 10times harder for me to go out. Thats anxiety disorders, its what it does to ya.

nandm 06-11-2011 10:57 AM

I think there is a difference between the early sobriety anxiety and a true chronic anxiety disorder.

I wonder if you just worded your original post in a way where it was misinterpreted to mean that you were substituting one problem for another.

From what I understand regarding your last post the xanax is prescribed for a chronic anxiety disorder. In that case if you are taking it to help relieve your anxiety and taking it as prescribed then that is not a problem.

I do encourage you however to consider that there is an increase in anxiety during early sobriety that happens to nearly everyone even those without a chronic anxiety disorder. I think that is the concern of those that have replied. That you are not treating your chronic anxiety but treating the normal increase in anxiety related to getting sober. That is a legitimate concern as one would not want to trade one addiction for another. But only you and your doctor are qualified to make that determination.

I take klonopin for PTSD which has led to a chronic anxiety disorder. The key for me is that I only take it when my anxiety level is in that overstressed or unmanageable mode. I do not take it for regular or a bit high anxiety level. I only take it as prescribed and check my motives before I take it; am I taking it to run away from a situation, am I using it to treat the everyday anxiety in life, etc.... I think that many people experience a bit of social anxiety and that is normal but when it comes to the point we are avoiding all or most social situations because of the anxiety there is a problem for me that is when I treat my anxiety in social situations.

I do apologize for misunderstanding your initial post. Take care and do be careful with the med as addiction is a serious concern with any of these types of medications and no one wants to trade one addiction for another.

CheekyAngel 06-11-2011 11:39 AM

Yeah your right maybe i could have worded it differently so people knew better to what i was meaning...

But seriously, thank you, i finally feel like someone understands!!! :)

Bicycle 06-11-2011 02:11 PM

I suffer from chronic anxiety/pd as well wiht some other issues. I was put on xanax in college when I was only dealing with anxiety. I can tell you the drug helped me out tremendously. I understand that people get into trouble with xanax when they start trying to use it to attain a certain state of mind - say replacing alcohol with xanax. The satisfying relaxing effects of xanax wear off very quickly. Just be aware that once you are on it it is super hard to get off it. And doctors don't like prescribing it either so you will also have to deal with that.


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