valentik

hi my name is emil and i am on day one of quiting drinking. I started drinking alot about 4 yrs ago when i was in the army. The dipression drove me to drink and even when i was out i couldnt stop. Drinking has affected every aspect of my life in a negative way. Relationships, career opportunities, friends and family. I am quiting because i want to enjoy life without it. How long does it take till you feel normal again after quiting, i am actually worried about quiting. I used to be in great shape i could run 5 miles and not be winded and i had a nice build from lifting. Now im winded running up stairs and have a not so nice beer gut. I am going to try and use exercise to help take my mind off of it. The thing that worries me the most are the panic attacks when i quit drinking. Any advice on how to get rid of them. I get a tense feeling in the left of my neck it will go into my arm and my hand tingles. I start to panic because i think of a heart attack all the time. This drives me crazy. I dont have health insurance so i cant go to the doctor. Any advice on this at all, or anyone no what im going through. Thanks and i am very happy to be on this site i have read through alot of the forum and see that everyone is very helpfull and respectfull. I hope you are all the step and the push i need to improve my life.

Dee74

Hi Emil

I found it best to take it day by day - it takes what it takes y'know?

some people find they return to 'normal' relatively quickly...others find it takes very much longer.

If you're concerned about your health and suffering panic attacks why not see a Dr?

Your well being is important - but if you really can't afford out of pocket there are a growing number of free or low cost clinics around - you may find one near you.

Free/Low-Cost/Sliding-Scale Clinics

Welcome to SR - there's a ton of support here
D

ulverston

hi emil.
i find that exercise is of GREAT benefit when quitting /i threw myself into a punishing routine when i quit and i honestly believe it shortened my recovery time .
sweating is great for the body and to replenish it with good nutrious food is what was needed for me to make a full recovery...also im sure you know the endorphins kicked in to make my depression go away .
after my body was healed my psche was next ,
and GOD was there to help mend me /i cant stress enough the importance of reconnecting with your higher power.
its a difficult thing to turn your life around.. but know that millions of people have done it ,and so can you

PurpleCat

Because you are a vet, you might want to check with the VA or the DAV to see if there are any resources out there to help you.

Anna

Hi and Welcome,

I'm glad you found us. I also had panic attacks, still do sometimes and yes, I get the tingling feelings in my hand and arm, and a lot of other awful symptoms. It's very likely the panic attacks will diminish as you recover and maybe they will go away. There are things you can do to help. It sounds too simple, but taking 3 deep breaths really helps. When in panic mode, your breathing is shallow and things increases the anxiety. Three deep breaths will help to begin to calm you.

OCDDan

oh I know what you mean about the panic attacks, i used to get them mostly on Mondays around 2pm from withdrawing from certain things i did over the weekend, for me, everything gets real bright like the lights have been turned up to ten times normal and rapid heart. The only non-doctor thing i could do that did actually work was to walk outside and keep walking, but then if you passout you could be trouble. they are very scary, limit the coffee too. For the most part, the panic attacks turned out to start in my head, usually, I could talk myself down from a panic attack, just thought to myself, "this is BS, I'm fine" the only attack that took me to the hospital was the first one, when I didn't know what was going on. good luck! (excellent idea to get sober).

ppaasshh

ahhh the panic attacks...I totally forgot about those!!! ...I've had a few, the first ones always the scariest but eventually they do subside. Nonetheless you should go get checked...some of the other members have given some pretty good advice & resources if you don't have the $$ to pay for an MD. I'm in a similar situation, marriage is on the rocks...and while a therapist may help - we simply don't have the dough to pay a therapist 125$/h to get help...anyways the last thing you want to do is self medicate - find someone to talk to, what helped me in the early days was 12 step group...walked in through the doors and was immediately welcomed by people who felt the same way. Almost like this site, but you could actually shake hands, and see the smiles on peoples faces, hear stories, share fellowship, etc. Its actually pretty amazing. This will help you feel 'normal' again, takes a while but eventually it happens. There will always be those times when you feel 'off' and as long as you are prepared you will recognize these and deal with them accordingly. I would seriously consider attending meetings again, but being out of the house and away from my wife a few days a week would put even more stress on our marriage than there already is...I wish you all the best.

Itchy

Welcome to the forums!
I had the panic attacks too in the first month or two of sobriety and never had them before. You are right in that you need to see a doc and be sure you make it all the way safely. I am glad you are a vet because I am too. And I got sober by using the VA hospital here for an in house 7 day safe and free detox. They also had a 28 day live in rehab following that. Their program was excellent, and as good as any private health care here, better than some. There is no excuse for a vet not to take advantage of the services we earned. It is not welfare. In the U.S. if you learned to read, thank a teacher. If you learned to read English thank a vet.

You have a complete VA system in Pittsburgh and if you go to this web page at the top of the list you will see they have detox there like here. If it were not for the VA I would not be here, more than a year later, sober. Click on this link:
Medical Programs and Services - VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System

Get started on that life you dream of now and make it real. The docs are there waiting on you!
:day6

valentik

Nice, thanks for the input. It does help me to just read these. I have been doing a lot of walking back and forth. Luckily the initial hang over is passing a little. I am going to try and get some sleep tonight. I have started looking into the va benifits. While i was leaving there were some friends i knew doing some of the detox programs. Sadly at the time i was still in the soulless dummy mode. I thought it was dumb and i control the the alcohol. Man i was wrong. I was not normally the type of man to ask for help, but its really funny just how much all your words put me at ease. I would love to play a bigger part on this site. When i wake up tomorrow i plan to take a better look at this site. Thanks again and happy holidays.

OCDDan

if you're going to see the Doc, valium works great, I've been using it since 1999, one of it's uses is for alcohol withdrawl, just makes me tired now tho.

oh yea, everyone is different, i think if i went to an aa meeting, i'd be more prone to an attack (for the first few days anyways)

James1983

I have experienced the same type of feeling you describe the past few times I have detoxed from alcohol. I had pretty bad anxiety, so I assumed that was the cause; however I learned (through a trip to the ER) that I had DANGEROUSLY high blood pressure about 36 hours into my detox. I was prescribed Ativan for both the withdrawal symptoms and the blood pressure. Since you don't have insurance, they will treat you and bill you later. I've found (and I'm sure this isn't the case EVERYWHERE) that, if you can prove that you are poor, many hospitals have financial assistance programs which can wipe our your bill.

Good luck with your sobriety. It's day 1 again for me too.

Itchy

So Emil,
What did you decide to do today?