Hangover or Withdrawal?
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 4
Hangover or Withdrawal? New to the forum.
I've been doing some research and have been trying to the difference between the two. I've read it can be withdrawal if it last longer than a day. I've decided to quit drinking today after a bender, and even though I don't drink everyday, I did tend to binge drink for usually 2 days and drinking excessively in large quantities, afterward my hangovers will last for 3 days, and the anxiety never goes away, and it starts all over again.
I will usually go 4 days without drinking then 2 days drinking, then usually 2-3 days recovering from bingeing, these days afterward can be horrible(sweats, headache, nausea, have no urge to drink water or eat, restlessness, and I can't get out of bed.), but then some days if I drink just one night of heavy drinking It's usually just for a day.
Does anyone know if I can be physically addicted to alcohol even though I don't drink everyday?
I have not gone more than a week without drinking in about 5 years.
I've been doing some research and have been trying to the difference between the two. I've read it can be withdrawal if it last longer than a day. I've decided to quit drinking today after a bender, and even though I don't drink everyday, I did tend to binge drink for usually 2 days and drinking excessively in large quantities, afterward my hangovers will last for 3 days, and the anxiety never goes away, and it starts all over again.
I will usually go 4 days without drinking then 2 days drinking, then usually 2-3 days recovering from bingeing, these days afterward can be horrible(sweats, headache, nausea, have no urge to drink water or eat, restlessness, and I can't get out of bed.), but then some days if I drink just one night of heavy drinking It's usually just for a day.
Does anyone know if I can be physically addicted to alcohol even though I don't drink everyday?
I have not gone more than a week without drinking in about 5 years.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Pacific Coast
Posts: 785
Hi Mitts, and welcome!
Yes, you can be physically addicted to alcohol even if you don’t drink every day.
Only you can decide if you have a problem with it, but honestly, what you’re going through doesn’t sound like much fun to me.
Here’s an idea: why not try abstaining from alcohol for a set period of time long enough to make a realistic evaluation — say, 30 days.
If you can do this easily, then hey, no problem.
If you find it to be extremely difficult or impossible, well, then you’ll have your answer.
Yes, you can be physically addicted to alcohol even if you don’t drink every day.
Only you can decide if you have a problem with it, but honestly, what you’re going through doesn’t sound like much fun to me.
Here’s an idea: why not try abstaining from alcohol for a set period of time long enough to make a realistic evaluation — say, 30 days.
If you can do this easily, then hey, no problem.
If you find it to be extremely difficult or impossible, well, then you’ll have your answer.
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 27
Hi there,
No medical advice can be posted in the forums, of course, but I can tell you that wheher or not you're physically addicted and having withdrawals or whether or not you're hung over is a technicality compared to the fact that your body is telling you it REALLY dislikes what you're doing to it. Binge drinking is very very bad for you. Some doctors note that binge drinkers actually suffer more damage than daily drinkers because of the back and forth. You are dosing yourself with a large amount of depressant and then your central nervous system has to repair that damage, only to be bombarded again. Your liver, kidney, pancreas, heart and lungs can be affected too, not to mention your esophagus. Alcohol damages every tissue in the body and it takes its toll, i promise.
I've been there before, sweating, shaky, cloudy headed, nauseous, listless, anxious, depressed. It's no way to live. Please make a plan to stop. Keep posting here, a lot of help is available. I'm a pro at drinking but not so much at recovery. I read a lot here and I'm formulating my own plan. Alcohol will keep taking until there is nothing left.
I wish you the best. If you have any health concerns, i really do urge you to see your doctor and be completely honest. Might be a wakeup call. My best friend died 25 days short of his 30th birthday because of vodka binges. It was horrific. Please don't do that to yourself and your family.
Best of luck.
No medical advice can be posted in the forums, of course, but I can tell you that wheher or not you're physically addicted and having withdrawals or whether or not you're hung over is a technicality compared to the fact that your body is telling you it REALLY dislikes what you're doing to it. Binge drinking is very very bad for you. Some doctors note that binge drinkers actually suffer more damage than daily drinkers because of the back and forth. You are dosing yourself with a large amount of depressant and then your central nervous system has to repair that damage, only to be bombarded again. Your liver, kidney, pancreas, heart and lungs can be affected too, not to mention your esophagus. Alcohol damages every tissue in the body and it takes its toll, i promise.
I've been there before, sweating, shaky, cloudy headed, nauseous, listless, anxious, depressed. It's no way to live. Please make a plan to stop. Keep posting here, a lot of help is available. I'm a pro at drinking but not so much at recovery. I read a lot here and I'm formulating my own plan. Alcohol will keep taking until there is nothing left.
I wish you the best. If you have any health concerns, i really do urge you to see your doctor and be completely honest. Might be a wakeup call. My best friend died 25 days short of his 30th birthday because of vodka binges. It was horrific. Please don't do that to yourself and your family.
Best of luck.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 4
Hi Everyone, thanks for your replies.
I definitely realized I'm an alcoholic.
I've been heavily drinking since 14, and realized I was an alcoholic by 17 (I'm 22 now)
I've tried to quit many times, but it's been a struggle.
But today I've decided to quit drinking for good. I know I can't keep going the way I've been going and be able to live like this anymore.
Sorry to hear about your friend @Genesuu, I'm also a vodka binger, and dread going down that path and it seems if I don't stop now it could happen.
I am just worried if I am withdrawing from alcohol that I'll have to deal with the anxiety which to me is the worst part. I could never tell if I'm drinking because I have anxiety, or I have anxiety because I'm drinking. Either way, alcohol isn't helping anything and it's time I give it up.
I'm scared, but hopeful, glad to find the forum.
Wish me luck.
I definitely realized I'm an alcoholic.
I've been heavily drinking since 14, and realized I was an alcoholic by 17 (I'm 22 now)
I've tried to quit many times, but it's been a struggle.
But today I've decided to quit drinking for good. I know I can't keep going the way I've been going and be able to live like this anymore.
Sorry to hear about your friend @Genesuu, I'm also a vodka binger, and dread going down that path and it seems if I don't stop now it could happen.
I am just worried if I am withdrawing from alcohol that I'll have to deal with the anxiety which to me is the worst part. I could never tell if I'm drinking because I have anxiety, or I have anxiety because I'm drinking. Either way, alcohol isn't helping anything and it's time I give it up.
I'm scared, but hopeful, glad to find the forum.
Wish me luck.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Gatineau, QC, CA
Posts: 5,100
Welcome to the family!
Your doctor can guide you and help with potential withdrawal.
Alcohol used to bring me nasty anxiety, specially after a weekend binge. Now that I am sober, I am calm, patient, serene. My finances are better, my health, my job performance.
Good luck!!
Your doctor can guide you and help with potential withdrawal.
Alcohol used to bring me nasty anxiety, specially after a weekend binge. Now that I am sober, I am calm, patient, serene. My finances are better, my health, my job performance.
Good luck!!
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 27
I do wish you luck, and i can tell you 1000% that alcohol and anxiety are best friends. Depression too. Suicidal ideations. You may know what I'm talking about, maybe not, but it's all a process. My friend who died was up to two or three pints of vodka a day. He got that way after binges for years. He turned from the sweetest, smartest man to a shell. I took him to rehab for his first and only time, and his eyes were bright yellow and he kept repeating 'thank you ' and 'I'm sorry ' over and over again. His brain was starting to go, even at 24, 25 and 26. Before i really knew what was going on, the running joke with all of our friends was, OF COURSE HE ISN'T HERE, HE'S ASLEEP AGAIN. He ended up getting in legal trouble which suspendef his license. He lost his job. Depression set in. I left him after 7 years because i couldn't take watching him fade into nobody. I didn't realize fully that i was watching him die.
We got to be friends again a few months before he passed, but i want to warn you that it can go very quickly and unexpectedly. No one knew he was close to death. We had an idea but since he didn't have insurance, doctors didn't take him seriously. When he coded, they walked, didn't rush, but walked in, laughing to each other.
Alcoholics can be a big joke to doctors because they usually assume that the patient is a goner and doesn't care. That's the reality. I hope to achieve sobriety and to help change this in some way in memory of my friend. Please don't be forgotten and laughed at in the meantime.
We got to be friends again a few months before he passed, but i want to warn you that it can go very quickly and unexpectedly. No one knew he was close to death. We had an idea but since he didn't have insurance, doctors didn't take him seriously. When he coded, they walked, didn't rush, but walked in, laughing to each other.
Alcoholics can be a big joke to doctors because they usually assume that the patient is a goner and doesn't care. That's the reality. I hope to achieve sobriety and to help change this in some way in memory of my friend. Please don't be forgotten and laughed at in the meantime.
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,512
Welcome, Mitts!
It's normal to feel some level of anxiety when you stop drinking. Many of us do. The main thing to remember is that it will ease up and you will feel better. You're making a good decision to stop drinking.
It's normal to feel some level of anxiety when you stop drinking. Many of us do. The main thing to remember is that it will ease up and you will feel better. You're making a good decision to stop drinking.
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