chowchow

Hi,

I ran into someone at a doctor's office today. He was from AA. It was fine and we both said hi and that was it.

I used to have really bad night sweats and I would wake up full of anxiety and panic. Now I wake up with dread in the pit of my stomach even though I am not drinking. And that nasty fear and anxiety comes back around 4. I wish I understood that better and I hope it will go away. I heard a person in an AA meeting say she had anxiety for a year after she stopped drinking, It's awful. A year of this?

Plus I am still eating sugar, sugar, sugar and I can't exercise much due to my recent surgery.

I sound like I am whining and I am. I don't like that either.

But what I can say is I am NOT drinking. I do NOT want to get on that roller coaster again as much as I do miss it sometimes.

Hopefully at this point (sober since early January) I should be thankful I am not drinking and leave the rest of the worries behind.

rascalwhiteoak

You're coming up on two months, so congrats on that! As for anxiety, perhaps it's something that needs to be treated independently of alcohol? When I got sober my depression eased up a lot, since I quit drinking a depressant (of course), but anxiety is something I still have to be aware of.

wayforward

Yeah, anxiety seems to be a big one for a lot of people in recovery. How extreme it is seems to vary case by case, so I wouldn't compare the length of time to anybody else. What matters is that you're taking care of it and staying sober.

Congratulations on the continuing sobriety. Keep it up.

Dee74

Hi ChowChow

It really depends if you've had anxiety before I think.

If this is a new thing I think you can be pretty confident it will go away eventually.
I 'd suggest its usually much quicker than a year, but I'm not a Dr.

I was anxious long before I ever picked up a drink, or a joint though.

If it's been a life long thing, or even a chronic thing of several years for you it's probably going to take a little more than just not drinking to deal with it?

D

Rar

Hi ChowChow. I'm almost 2 months as well. I still wake up in the middle of the night. It's not panic, but I get up and read and eat. I've been starving and it seems I eat all day long. I'm rather distressed over my weight gain. Anyway, I try to listen to HALT and feel my craves are largely due to hungry, so I eat, usually sweets (like cereal). I read that it evens out and settles in time, so I'm hoping that's the case. I still have anxiety, though it's not as bad in the mornings as it was when I was drinking. I know anxiety is horrible. I hope you can find a solution to the middle of the night anxiety.