lisa29

Hi all! I am attempting to get sober and I really think that I can do it. Drinking is no longer fun for me anymore and I've had it with pushing through my day, feeling like crap, and counting down the hours until I can drink myself better. On most nights, I would drink about a pint of liquor--sometimes more, sometimes I'd throw in a beer or two or a few glasses of wine. Basically, I drank to get drunk for about 3 years now.

My question is, I have read that people have anxiety both due to drinking and due to withdrawal. Since my drinking has become a problem, I have noticed that I have become afraid of many things...bridges, airplanes, overpasses, I've become claustrophobic.... It started as an anxiety and now has become full blown panic. It's crippling really.

Now that I am on day 3 of quitting alcohol. The first night not drinking, I had the worst panic all night. I could fall asleep for an hour, wake up in the sweats with my heart racing. I was obsessing about death and panicking about crazy things. It was horrible. I actually slept pretty well last night, and much less anxiety today. Soo...did anyone out there have this type of irrational panic after giving up alcohol. I didn't really realize until now how alcohol has affected me mentally...

flamingredhair

I never suffered from anxiety until my drinking was at its worst. Had the first of several panic attacks in October. At the time I didn't attribute them to drinking but by the time I detoxed in November I was pretty sure they were connected. After detox, they disappeared.

I still have moments of anxiety but they are manageable now and not full blown freak outs.

And I can related to your unrational fears too but they are also easier to manage when alcohol isn't in the mix.

If you find these things unbearable while you are trying to become sober please don't hesitate to mention them to your doctor.

DayTrader

I had them for quite a while.....many months actually. For me, they didn't just go away...it took more than just time. I had to do a fair amount of stuff before they started easing up.

Unbelievably to me, it came right back though and it came back with a frickin' vengence. I went through a particularly nasty patch in sobriety. It wasn't constant/every day......but there was about a year and a half chunk of time that was more full of misery, depression, anxiety, self hatred and so on than I could recall ever experiencing before. It eventually came to an end but that's a long story.....it didn't stop because I found some new tool or finally fixed something inside myself - it just stopped, on a dime, one morning.......and I'll probably NEVER forget that day.

seanmichael

I'm in the exact same position as you. Been drinking just like that for 4 years i'm on day 6, i find myself veryy irrationally being afraid of things (like being on the bus and thinking its going to flip over when we turn). Since i'm in the same position i cant exactly offer great advice, my theory is that the tranquil effects of alcohol allowed my body to not have to learn the appropriate responses to any minor stress so it goes into panic mode at every little thing. So i believe that as long as i stay sober it will force my body to have to deal with it and learn an appropriate reaction. Sort of like taking training wheels off of a bike.

lisa29

Thank you for the replies. Again, the panic is better but I feel like I'm turning into a hypochondriac lately... I guess I have just been taking everything for granted and it all has finally hit me. I have been mistreating my body for too long now. Every ache or bump I have I get all paranoid for the last few days. I guess I'm just coming out of the haze and starting to feel stuff again... Is this normal?

FBL

I had severe panic attacks towards the end of my drinking career. My doctor put me on meds and after about 6 weeks I was able to get off them as all of my anxiety disappeared and hasn't been back since (2.5 years now). Things should get better the longer you stay sober.

Itchy

Boy did I know that feeling! I never had any panic attacks or anxiety before or while drinking. But during the first few weeks of withdrawal I had some minor physical issues that I blew out of proportion and did have two major panic attacks. I was under my Doc's care, my GP, and made an emergency appointment and he told me not to worry. So when something else different hit and I had one I did some deep breathing and I was fine. Saw the doc to be sure.

Having said all that, we drew blood every month and charted my withdrawal and PAWS progress and I was fine.

So see your Doc and let him or her know what you used to drink honestly and that you are concerned about being too jumpy about minor physical issues. Could he or she get a baseline and check your blood and any other things they might think necessary for a person quitting alcohol abuse.

So short version? See your Doctor, and if you haven't already, tell your Doc everything not the public version of your story.

I made it with my Doctor's help. See your's!

Congrats on a great decision and for finding SR, I have a year now because of this place, my docs, and AA for my first three months. Now I am pretty much just here and my Doc is back to normal checkups etc.

scruple

I find this in particular really interesting. I don't have any advice for you (sorry!) as I'm not recovered. But when you say that the drinking has made your anxiety much worse, it really chimes with me. I never thought about it in that way till now. I always saw my drinking as a way to cope with my anxiety, but now that I think about it, I didn't really suffer from anxiety befroe I started drinking (just mild, social shyness). Now I have the fears you describe: terror of flying (which I often have to do), of car travel on hilly roads (also I could never learn to drive, as I'm scared of that too), of things to do with my job (teaching, lecturing, attending conferences), and then of really unhelpful and unlikely things like my fiance dying in a planecrash / car crash / of cancer, whatever. I never had these thoughts before alcohol. So it seems alcohol caused them, while simultaneously presenting itself as the solution. Thanks for that insight; it's something to think about. And good luck with taking the steps towards recovery.

Anna

I had anxiety all my life and occasional panic attacks. When I was drinking, both the anxiety and panic attacks increased tremendously. After stopping, I still have anxiety and occasional panic attacks, but I am so much more equipped to handle it now.

You're still in early recovery, so hang in there. If it continues, maybe you would want to talk to your dr about it. There are lots of good books on dealing with anxiety in a natural way. It doesn't go away, but there are tools you can use.

jocata

I haven't had a full blown anxiety attack but I have to be one of the most irritable people in the world, right now. Cranky would be an understatement. Exercise and a good diet help me.

I guess it just takes alot of time too.

God bless.

Dee74

some really great advice here
welcome to SR lisa - and scruple

D

lisa29

Scruple, I'm glad my post could lend some insight to your anxiety as well. For me, it only got worse the more I drank. Well, actually it would go away while I was drinking, and then return the next morning. Anxiety was super bad on days that I was hungover and was already having heart palpitations and the sweats. It was only getting worse, it was crippling, and I can't live like that anymore. If I am 29 and it is this bad, pretty soon I will be confined to my house! But you are right. There is definitely a link there. Alcohol works against mental health that's for sure!

Itchy: Thanks for sharing your experience. I guess it just hits you at once, "Holy Crap! What have I been doing to my body!" I am hoping that the anxiety that I am facing now will fade away once I completely withdrawal. I have made an appt. for some blood work so I can get my clean bill of health and chill out. Also, I have contacted a psychiatrist as well. I have always had bouts of depression. Alcohol worked wonders in making me feel happy when I started drinking 10 or so years ago. I would get that euphoric feeling. I haven't had that in years--now alcohol just creates problems.

Bikeguy

I started suffering from anxiety attacks the last couple years of my drinking. My solution at that time was to drink to relieve the anxiety, well we all know how well that works. I was finally to the point that I was in constant withdrawal which for me included crippling anxiety, that was my end point.

I won't sugar coat it, for me I fought anxiety attacks for well over 6 months after I quit. I'm just under a year now and can pretty much say I'm panic/anxiety attack free. Do I still have rough days, of course, but I can handle them. There was no magic pill or treatment that helped me get over the anxiety besides: time, patience and learning how to live without alcohol.

Hang in there, it does get better and remember you have the choice to never have to go through it again.

Itchy

Now you're cooking with gas Lisa! Instead of your alcohol.

You will make it with that kind of support professionally, and with the peer support you will find here from all over the world. I did.

sugarbear1

Our minds are easily swayed....I told the group we had two cakes for our celebration, yellow cake with chocolate chip and white chocolate chip. Two loaf pans... When I got to the cakes for a slice someone said, "We're not sure which we like better...."
I said, "What? They're both the same, I just didn't get one large pan to put it in so I made two loaf cakes!"
Have positive expectations, if any, so your recovery and transition is known to be the healthiest thing you can do!

Inca

I've always been kind of an anxious person but the anxiety was horrible while I was drinking and even worse the day after when I was working and recovering from the night before. Since I drank everyday and was always hungover, I never really made the connection that the drinking was causing the anxiety. It was a constant state of mind for me. Now that I've stopped, the first week or so I was still pretty anxious but now it has greatly subsided and I'm hoping it will get better by the day.

I think it's a matter of being patient and riding it out, but I definately understand what you're going through. It's rather unbearable at times, especially in the beginning.

HenryKrinkle

Hi Lisa. It sounds like we are in the same boat. Just know you are not alone. Obviously I wouldn't wish what I am feeling on anyone else, but to find others that are feeling the same thing really helps me to make sense out of the situation.

Hevyn

Hi lisa - add me to the list of those who've suffered severe anxiety. Also, irrational fears. I was always a nervous & self-conscious person - my drinking made things so much worse over the years. I was jittery, unsettled, and paced around for a few weeks when I first quit. Then it became less & less. Now, I'm hardly ever bothered with those feelings.

Imagine - we actually thought alcohol was calming us and helping us cope.

Ilovemysonjj

Hi! I am on day 8 from removing alcohol and cigarettes from my life. I was SOOOOO irritable and had a knot of anxiety on Friday and Saturday night. Today has been better.
Still had some moments in the last week when I woke out of a dead sleep sure that our house was on fire, even smelled the smoke! Last night I woke up sure my son had been in a car accident. Needless to say, negative on both counts. I think our brains come out of the stupor and some neurons kick in that were previously dulled by the alcohol.
Good luck, I know you are making the right choice in choosing life over lush

Jitterbugg

I had crazy anxiety the day after a binge. Its what kept me drinking every day. I couldn't bear the racing thoughts and sense of impending doom. Whenever I tried to sober up, I was on the verge of panic-attack for three days.....brutal. I would read this site for hours to calm down.