SoberDave1

3-4 days after I quit drinking (8 years of drinking 4-6 beers or more nearly every day), A HORRIBLE panic attack ended me up in the ER. The week following included horrible anxiety and panic, no appetite and almost no sleep. I lost 10 pounds very quickly. Now 8 weeks later I have most of my appetite back but every day is constant anxiety. It's so horrible I sometime can't Go to work. I take Klonopin to ward off the panic attacks. Does this sound normal or did I just develope panic/anxiety disorder out of the blue? Anyone else with a similar story?

FLCamper

I've seen lots of similar stories.
My anxiety all but disappeared after I quit drinking - not immediately, but a few months.
If you take Klonopin, your Dr. must be aware. Did you just start taking it?

ardy

hi Guys .. panic attacks.. I have a big one this minute.. Friday Nov 4 at work.. and we have had a huge I am F&&&&&&ing Huge snafoooo.... big job that had to be redone. last night .. complete in 2 hours... off to client... they never got it.. for two types of address were used to do the ups label.. city and who it was to go to correct.. companyname and street addres not..... they did have our phone number on label to call and say help help help.. but like how the labels got screwed.. the del never happened.. why cause someone bigger then me had to be in control. kids and beans this is how little people are fired.. F I R E D.......I am in knots.. for I am the smallest of the food chain and they will need to scream at someone.. yep.. Attacks ... if I were drinking I would go home and sing myself to sleep with a Captain.. and my blanket..... sorry ... do they happen out of the blue Sweetheart we are the people that this term Panic Attack was developed for......

SoberDave1

I've been taking it for about six weeks as needed. Dr prescribed. For a while I was able to go a day or two without taking one but lately I've needed to take one or two everyday. I don't want to have to rely on them though. It just seems like my body cannot handle the slightest amount of stress. I'm hardly ever calm. Anxiety seems to build for no reason. Cravings for alcohol actually aren't that strong. The anxiety is killing me though.

Anna

Dave, you are not alone with your generalized anxiety. You can learn to deal with this without using medication. There are some very simple things like 'Belly Breaths', meditating and exercising. I have always struggled with anxiety and it affected my daily life, so I have read a lot about it and these books will help you to calm your thoughts:

Amen, Daniel Change Your Brain, Change Your Life

Bassett, Lucinda From Panic to Power

Burns, David MD When Panic Attacks

Chodron, Pema The Places That Scare You

Doidge, Norman MD The Brain That Changes Itself

Dyer, Wayne The Power of Intention and Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life

Orsilla, Ken Mindful way Through Anxiety

SoberDave1

Thank you for the book suggestions. I will def grab a couple. Was your anxiety related to alcohol withdrawal?

MidnightRider

Hey Dave - Hang in there it will get better..
Maybe a nice walk in the park or woods to clear the mind.
Exercise sure !
Hope you have a great rest of day.

SoberDave1

Thank you. I def need to get out of my head. I have started jogging and walking more. It helps. I just do not feel like myself anymore. It's hard to have fun and enjoy the things I used to do. The constant anxiety makes my chest burn and heart pound. I'm also always nervous for no reason. Can this really happen to someone who drank 4-6 beers almost every day, probably more on the weekends for 9 years? I guess I always assumed post acute withdrawal only happened to heavy heavy life long drinkers.

ScottFromWI

A couple of things Dave: ( GAD suffererer here too ).

1. Your anxiety may be related to your drinking or not, it can happen even to people who never drink. In my case I believe that my drinking was an attempt to cover up my anxiety and made it worse, but there's really no way of proving it one way or the other. Anxiety is a separate and distinct problem that needs to be treated as such. I'd keep seeing your doctor or a therapist, meds are only part of the solution.

2. Post-acute withdrawal ( PAWS ) is not a diagnose condition, but a collection of symptoms a lot of people have weeks or even months after they initially withdraw. ( Hence the post-acute designation ). So it's not something that can be treated in itself, but you can treat the sympoms - like anxiety, or depression etc.

It can and does absolutely get better though, but it takes time and effort on our parts just like sobriety does.

tekink

I am not a health professional but I'll assume 9 years is plenty of time to develop PAWS.

It's basically like this, you've introduced a new chemical to your body (alcohol) on a regular basis. The alcohol changes all kinds of things like your digestive system and the way your brain chemistry works. Slowly overtime your body adapts to function properly (as properly as it can anyway) with that daily supply of alcohol.

When you suddenly take the alcohol away your body's systems are still behaving the way they had to when the alcohol was there. Over time your body will again adjust itself to the new normal.

While your body is adjusting to the new normal it's basically in a chemical imbalance as you've taken a chemical it's adjusted to away.

People mention dopamine changes, this takes time for your body to adjust to.

Acute withdrawal is that initial phase that can be dangerous and deadly to some folks. Post Acute is a blanket statement applies to anything that lingers on after this phase.

As an aside I'm not typically the kind of person to get butterflies in my stomach out of the blue but after 2 weeks sober I started having them every day. Now at 7 weeks they are only popping up here and there on some days. I still have other things going on like being edgy and irritable, depressed at times, and feeling like there's a fog over my brain making it hard to focus or be motivated to do anything.

SoberDave1

I hope so :/ this is so discouraging. I was happy and normal one day and then crazy panic attack the next day and haven't felt the same since. It's been 8 weeks and I'm miserable every day. I might see a new psychologist. He is too old school and thinks deep breathing is a cure all.

SoberDave1

Congrats on 7 weeks! If you don't mind me asking. How much and how often were you drinking. A lack of dopamine would be a good way to describe how I feel and I guess that might be what is going on.

tekink

I've been a daily drinker for over 20 years and I've worked in bars since I was 21. I'm in my mid 40s. in my 20s I drank heavily, in my 30s I only drank 1-3 beers a day but due to an injury I was taking heavy narcotics for 8 years and alcohol put me to sleep, I drank less because I'd be asleep.

PAWS from opiate withdrawal turned my drinking up quite a bit where I'd drink a 6 pack of 7-8% beer and 1/2 a bottle of wine at least every day. That's just what I would purchase. I was bartending at that time and would work lunches so I'd have a couple shots around 11:00 AM and continue to drink through out the day then go home and tie one on. That lasted 3 1/2 years before my dr. warned me to quit.

I decided to quit drinking a year and a half after my doctor told me I was killing my liver.

MissPerfumado

I started feeling anxious about 6 weeks into sobriety in particular work situations. I ignored the feelings as they weren't impairing my ability to perform. I also didn't recognise them, really, because I'd not suffered that type of anxiety before. I was used to "withdrawal" anxiety but not this.

About 6 months in, I moved into an entirely new work environment which raised my general anxiety levels, and then I had a few more specific instances of feeling quite serious anxiety... heart racing, hyperventilation etc. Not serious enough for ER but serious enough to get very concerned. I learned about the breathing exercises, and they have helped me immensely. I also regulate with exercise (like it's a medicine!) and cut down on coffee before I have an important work event that would generate anxiety.

I think it's a good idea to get a second opinion if you feel your current psych doctor is not treating it adequately. My main message to you here is that the "anxiety out of the blue after getting sober" is something that happened to me. In my case, it is manageable without medication,

All the best, Dave.

SoberDave1

Thanks everyone! I gotta just keep plugging away one day at a time. I'm off to Barnes and noble now to find a self help book. I need something to occupy my mind.

SoberDave1

Had another horrible panic attack today. It's been almost 8 weeks since I quit drinking. It's almost like the anxiety is worse now. I woke up tonight after falling asleep for 30 min with nervous shaking. When will this end?? I can't keep taking benzos forever

shockozulu

Anxiety here, but it's due to a neurological disease. It didn't get worse when I quit drinking, but I was feeling it more since the alcohol was masking my symptoms. I didn't get better until I started looking outside the box. This included, for me, a anxiety alert service dog and taking less medication when my symptoms first started instead of having to take more once the anxiety was full blown. As I add more tools in my bo, I need my meds less often. Biofeedback can do wonders for many, I wasn't a candidate due to my disease. Some visualisations and apps which focusing on relaxing do help as well.

FLCamper

8 weeks is fabulous!
One of your posts mentions weaning yourself of the Rx then anxiety getting worse.
Obviously, talk to your Dr, but, I've taken benzos before and could really feel the anxiety rise when I stopped them. Maybe you need to just take the prescripbed dose for a few weeks. Let sobriety get really comfortable, then tackle the Rx if that's what you want to do.

SoberDave1

I was prescribed .5 mg klonopins twice daily as needed little over a month ago (60 pills total). Technically I should be out of pills by now but I have a little less than half left. However, I find myself needing them more often than I did when I was first prescribed. I've been taking half the prescribed amount of an already low dose of Klonopin. I can't imagine that I'm becoming dependent on them. I am miserable every day. I have to figure something else out.

Berrybean

Have you looked at the info on PAWS? Lots of tips on this info page re things that can help. https://digital-dharma.net/post-acut...r-immediately/

What does your sobriety / recovery plan look like? Reading self help books only help as much as we're willing to take the action they suggest, like any recovery program.

Have you considered AA or similar? Working the 12-step program with a sponsor did me much more good than going to a counsellor did, personally.

Wishing you all the best for your recovery. BB