Can alcohol cause permanent anxiety even after sobriety?
 

I quit for two months. I had the worst anxiety and some days could not even go outside. I have a therapist and benzos which I do not take. I do not want hooked on anything else.

My anxiety is all physical, panic diagnosed and ptsd by a doctor. I can not enjoy anything in life and relapsed for one day due to the attacks. I figure two months was enough to lessen the panic at least a little but it is unbearable. Did I put myself in a permanent panic state with alcohol abuse? I have tried 5 meds and now lost insurance so I can't see my psych. Thanks.

I can't answer your question fully but I can tell you I still had anxiety 2 months in. Up until maybe 3 or 4 months I would have "unbearable" days. I'm over 5 months sober now and still have some anxiety sometimes, but it keeps lessening with sobriety. Feel free to pm me if you want more details on my experiences with anxiety.

I never had but one or two panic attacks in my 58 years of living before my detox and sobriety. And those few were before 30 and in one week. I learned how it was fear of the fear but that takes time. After 30 years of none and 15 years of heavy drinking and about 5 years of out and out alcoholism I had terrible anxiety and a lot of other physical PAWS for six months! It was terrible! I hung in there and no relapses to two years now. I have been anxiety free for the last year and a half and for good I think. So yes, it does get way better with time and yes it is tough until it does.

But we both know it won't if we keep relapsing and starting the anxiety all over again. Hang in there sober for a year and then you can write this to another in the boat you and I have been in and abandoned. Those feelings are nearly forgotten.

I had debilitating anxiety when I got sober. It took 6 days to get up out of a bed and 10 days to move back home. The first month and a half I could not work and I began taking Prozac and upped it every week or two until I was at 40mg per day. In that time, I also quit drinking everything other than water (which I believe helped tremendously, I cannot recommend this enough). Beginning in March 2012, 11 months in to sobriety, I went from 40 mg to 30 mg. In May I went from 30mg to 20mg. In August I went from 20mg to 10mg. This Friday (at 18 months sober), I am getting off the medication completely. I still have some anxiety, but nothing compared to my first two months of sobriety.

Point being that anxiety takes time to improve but it does improve. I'm not trying to sound high and mighty, but two months is not a long time in terms of recovering from horrible anxiety. It took me 2 months just to get some control over it with medication. It then has taken 16 months of sobriety (and only drinking water that whole time) to get to a point where I feel comfortable enough to get off the medication. Stick with it long term.

I will have six months next week and still have anxiety, but it is a HELLUVA lot better than it was at two months. At one point I thought I would be stuck with this anxiety forever, but looking back I can see definite improvement. I know it is terrible and it sucks, but I just had to let those feelings happen and move on. Hugs to you. It does get better eventually.

I like your post itchy. I have been sober since the beginning of June 2012 after a 34 year addiction and have had horrible anxiety and insomnia. I researched PAWS and discovered with time the anxiety will lesson.

I'm glad that I'm not the only one going through this. Every time I relapsed, my anxiety would kick in and the racing thoughts would take off to the speed of sound. Then, I drank more to stop those problems. My biggest problem was that I was drinking while taking antidepression medicine. Crazy I know but after your mind gets rewired things will begin to normalize themselves.

Quitting for two months is an achievement, just be strong and continue. Anxiety is common and natural to us humans, we cannot avoid it because we have feeling and we think. I know many person like this, and I know it is not an easy situation, all I do is to understand them and hoping that he or she could overcome it.

Right there with ya! I also won't take benzos, but I do take Zoloft... it works wonders for me. Definitely consider SSRIs. Good luck!

I'm 14 years sober. I suffered greatly from anxiety (GAD) during my drinking years and into sobriety as well. I found that while abstaining HELPED, it did not eliminate the anxiety. In fact, in my own case, I think my drinking was primarily a way of self-medicating the GAD. For a while, it worked, but toward the end it made things much worse.

Anyway, I found that I had to think of my anxiety as something separate from my drinking. Abstaining simply does not fix the problem for me, and I've accepted that I will likely need to take meds for the rest of my life.

Huh
 

I never thought about it. I seriously hope not; definitely a good question to take to a doctor. I hope it stops soon sweetie.

"Can alcohol cause permanent anxiety even after sobriety?"

I believe that question is the result of anxiety and asking ourselves that question will cause more anxiety, its a catch 22. Thats how it works, its the worry of worry, the fear of fear.

I have had anxiety my entire life and drank it away for 6 years. It got worse when I quit drinking but now is getting much better due to the lack of alcohol and the fact that I am changing the way I look at situations, diet, exercise, facing my fears and gaining confidence every step I take.

I have yet to read anywhere proof of "permanent" anxiety from alcohol or drug abuse. Its simply not true. Its a LEARNED behavior that can be changed. It takes time and knowledge.

Great feed! I am almost 4 months sober and have been suffering from GAD too. I've had it for a few years and took Cymbalta for a while but was still drinking all the time so I have no idea if it worked. I do however know that my anxiety only got worse toward the end of my drinking and only being drunk helped....but we can all see the problem in that! So now, I have to uncover where the anxiety stems from and that means feeling! I'm now seeing a therapist and started Lexapro 2 weeks ago. I know the mess can take a month or so to help so in the mean time I am learning coping techniques....meditation, deep breathing and talking about it! Good luck and remember....you don't have to drink over it!

I used to have terrible panic attacks when I drank, especially after a heavy period of drinking. After having been sober for some time the anxiety mostly went away, at least the worst of it... But I think that 2 months is not a very long time for your brain to recover... that's just my opinion. I do still have some anxiety though, probably because the anxiety came from me in the first place, the alcohol just made something worse that was already there a bit.

Thanks Onlythetruth for your post. My story is very similar to your, got similar length of sobriety as you and had anxiety for a long time, most of my life.

Started taking meds, and giving myself a hard time about it.

Cheers

I find that exhausting myself with workouts really helps calm me down.
But I don't get full blown Panic attacks anymore since I quit. 2 weeks ago today.

I suffer from a lot of anxiety which increases the more I drink - for example if I have a particularly big night of drinking then I feel more anxious and depressed the next day. What I can't believe is that I have/am doing this to myself. I did not become an alcoholic overnight and I can't believe that I have allowed alcohol to take over my mental and physical health. I'm so mad at myself.

I'm at 8 days and am also experiencing severe anxiety. I'm normally pretty active, but it takes all I've got to go to work and get home right now. First tried to quit cold turkey about a month ago and had a horrible panic attack that sent me to the ER. Then tried tapering and had terrible anxiety and panic the whole month. Finally ended up doing a medical detox. At 8 days, it seems to be improving some, but very slowly. Best of luck to us all. This anxiety is a b***h!

Ug, just reading the title of this thread made me freak! But I feel better after reading replies. One and a half months sober and the social anxiety is KILLING ME right here at Xmas! I was already anxious and my drinking/sobriety has made it so much worse! Doc has me on Xanax and Nerontin. I don't think I could leave the house without it. Abusing pills has never been my problem. I don't abuse it and try to remember to take it and my OCD meds religiously even if I feel okay that day.

I don't know...I accidentally posted to the wrong post...feeling a little anxiety for not paying better attention - a little late for me... Apologies!