Quitting With anxiety Disorder
 

It is so hard. I wake up shaking with nerves and freaking. How can I survive a day? Help! My son deserves better. I never get drunk. I just drink to kill the nerves. But I have to stop. How do I survive a day of this horrid fear and pain? I suffer, pace, and freak out. No med has worked, I have tried. Help, I want to stop.

Get in touch with a dr and be very honest about whats going on.

If it helps, I was in the same shape 2 weeks ago and feel better today than I've felt in many years.

All the best....

Bruce thank you so much! I need this support. You have given me hope....lease tell me about your journey?

You got to see your doctor about your anxiety. Self meding yourself will only make it worst even if you don't get drunk on the booze. Most likely they will give you medication for your anxiety.

I have tried a dozen medications. The benzos do not work on me at all, sadly. Valium, etc. nothing. Help! I am so scared to face a day! And the insomnia.... Help! Ambien, etc does nothing. God help me!

Hi,

Anxiety is tough to deal with, but you can manage it. There are lots of good books out there on the topic of how to manage anxiety. The "Mind Over Mood Workbook' is a really good one.

Thank you Anna! I will keep trying. Tomorrow will be day one... Hold my hand!

Hi, I know very well how much anxiety alcohol can cause. When I stop drinking (there is a phrase highlighting a problem...), I have a lot of anxiety, insomnia, and downright paranoia.

It sounds like you probably have underlying anxiety problems, and I completely agree that you should go see your doctor. I am just some random guy on the internet. Your doctor is a professional and capable of offering real help and not just support.

Speaking about myself I can only say that alcohol makes things worse. As for insomnia, somehow I have managed to accept staying in bed not sleeping instead of freaking out about it. Eventually, I will drift off if only for a bit (it gets better the longer I stay sober). But I will still be better off the next day than if I used alcohol to try to sleep.

I hope you are well and wish you all the best!

Thank you, new friend! Your support means the world to me. It sure is hard, but you give me hope.

Hi Sober

I have problems with anxiety and insomnia too. Please go back to your Doctor and tell him exactly how you feel and how the only thing that is calming you is alcohol.

Alcohol does actually make insomnia worse, it does for me anyway, I go to bed exhausted then lie there wide awake for hours, or I crash out and wake up at stupid o clock and can't get back to sleep. Then I'm sweating and my legs are restless and my feet are too hot.

I'm on day 4 and I know that I will sleep much better in a couple of weeks without the poison. I know, because I've done it before. This time I'm doing if for good.

You can do this, you can do anything if you really want to.

Big hugs

G
xxxxx

Thank you Grace, your message ,eans the world. I sure can relate!

I should have put this in my previous post -- don't mean to "spam" :)

Regarding insomnia, this is what I do:

• I enjoy the quietness of the night.
• I enjoy the dark.
• Living in northern climes, I enjoy my big fluffy duvet that I can wrap myself up in.
• Most importantly, when trying to fall asleep I start trying to "see" whatever images that go on in my mind, without trying to control them! This is a meditation technique I learnt many years ago. The more "accepting" I am of whatever image that come up (and some can be weird), the sooner I tend to fall asleep.

Hope it helps.

Hi Sober,
I know the crushing anxiety you feel. I became a daily drinker because I couldn't stand the next day panic, so it was a matter of postponing the inevitable suffering. A few shots here, a beer there...just enough to hold off those terrible thoughts. Eventually, I would end up with no money to buy booze so I was forced to just spend a day or two holed up inside until I was normal. Of course, now I realize that I was going through alcohol withdrawals that were potentially dangerous. The physical symptoms were bad, but it was the psychological ones that I really couldn't handle.

You have to break the cycle eventually and it won't be easy, but the pain is temporary. Seek some medical advice and get sober!

Thanks you, both. I know I need to break the cycle! Good advice. Good ideas.

I woke up on Aug 8th with a gut full of fear, anxiety, panic attacks, shaking and my thoughts running in 10 directions at once....most of them were about stuff that I could not control.

I feel great today.

The first few days were not fun but SO worth it.

I didn't drink, I went to a meeting, I got online to this forum and a couple others....that's about it. I've been continuing that every day.
It doesn't make intellectual sense......but it works.

The only thing I should have done differently is that I should have consulted a doctor....detox, I found out later, can be dangerous.

All the best....

Thanks Bruce! I can do it....

I have depression and anxiety. I can tell you that alcohol only made my mental problems worse and rebound like you wouldn't believe.

I struggle with finding a good doctor in my area, but if you can, try to get a doctor that has experience with anxiety and possible medications for it. I have an appointment in two weeks for a new doctor and I'm hoping this will be the last time I have to search for a knowledgable doc. I just want my mood to be on a nice somewhat even pace -- the past 1 1/2 years have been a struggle because of my lack of a good doc, but I have been able to stay sober. Staying sane is a whole different ball game I'm dealing with now ;)

I'm not trying to give you medical advice, but in your situation, professional medical advice would be a plus.

My Dr. has told me that drinking actually makes anxiety worse, not right away but the next day. They call it rebound anxiety. Then you feel like you need another drink, it's a vicious cycle.

That could very well be true for me!

Hello:
The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous enabled me to get and stay sober for quite a while now.
They also address those pesky "defects and shortcomings" in our character that prompted many of us to drink in the first place.

You've been here since January, you must have heard your story told countless times.

I wish you the best.

Bob R

When I first showed up here someone told me something along the lines of "trying to stop anxiety with alcohol is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline." They couldn't have been more correct. Chances are you'll find that the booze is just making the anxiety worse in the long run.

I tapered down over a few days and then white knuckled it. I did a lot of physical activity to deal with the anxiety and kept a good friend close by just in case **** hit the fan. It was scary and I honestly thought I was crazy for a few days or weeks. Keep posting on here, find a meeting, and see a doctor. You may want to ask about a detox to get you through the first week or so. That's when most people experience the worst of the anxiety.

I wish my son would get online so he can see that he's not alone. He has been self-medicating for anxiety for a long time and he's only 20. Had six months sober and recently relapsed. He's now four days clean, but is now homeless and without a car, because he decided to use again to deal with stress. He wants me to get his car out of impound, but I just can't. He may end up in jail over this, because they found residue in a baggie, but at this point, I think it's probably the safest place for him. It's just heartbreaking. God bless you all, and please, see your doctor. Some in my son's NA group told him he shouldn't use anything at all, and the anxiety and paranoia are just too much. He can't function in the world at all without meds because of the anxiety. Everything you talked about, plus manic symptoms and extreme irritability that can erupt in rage. Thinks everyone is talking about him and mocking him.

The above post nails it... :ring

Good morning Soberformyson

Hope you are well and keeping up the good fight.

I actually got some sleep last night, maybe too much, as I look like a puffy eyed squirrel this morning.

Stay strong and have a good day. We are all here for you, day and night.

Big hugs

Gxxx

Are you going to a normal medical doctor or a psychiatrist? You should consider speaking to a psychologist on a regular basis. I have anxiety issues and in 3 more months I should know if I have a diagnoses (leaning toward bipolar).

MOST IMPORTANT- are you working in a program of recovery? I'm in Alcoholics Anonymous and it's saving my life.

I've been learning a little bit about meditation and it helps me to soothe. You kinda have to experiment: I found walking, swimming is great too, swinging in a hammock, as well as journaling, screaming into a pillow, cleaning house when I'm mad, taking a long hot bath, calling other recovering alcoholics in the AA program and calling on my sponsor. I am considering a hobby now, I think gardening would be great-but I may not be able to do it here-but I want something that I can enjoy for just myself.

Thanks all... Really appreciate it!

Hi SoberForMySon. I too have anxiety as well as an anxiety-induced sleep disorder (adult night terrors).

I try to remember that I am not in control of anything but my own actions and reactions, so, I try to keep things simple and focus on what I'm doing, and also what I'm thinking, and leave the rest up to the powers that be. (I'm not religious but to me the powers that be are fate, chaos, etc... whatever you want to call it... the great unknown force that controls everything and isn't us.)

I learned this in AA and even though I'm not going to meetings or anything right now I would recommend it because it helped me see that my anxiety stemmed from wanting to be in control of everything when I'm not. It helped me to see that some very big things were not in my control but other very big things were in my control, so why not work on improving the things that are in my control (my own life).

I don't have all the answers but I know that my anxiety is worse when/after I drink and that right there is a great reason to not drink. I think that slowly but surely things will get better if we don't drink and if we take action to work on ourselves. It might help to spend some private time in the morning journaling, thinking, praying, or meditating, to get your thoughts in order and release all that mental energy, and then try to spend the rest of the day in conscious action, and then have a little more quiet time to yourself at night, be patient and loving with yourself and be positive about the things that you did well, and forgiving to yourself about the things that you can do better tomorrow.

Best wishes, I think you can do this. :)

Hi, SoberForMySon. You sound a lot like me. My problem is Bipolar Type II (with a helping of psychosis in there, lucky me! lol) I was diagnosed before I ever became a drinker. My life had already been miserable for many years. Upon discovering alcohol, I delighted in the positivity it seemed to bring my life. Of course, alcoholism is progressive, and as the years went by, I saw that what I originally identified as positivity was only an illusion. Worse yet, I now not only had to deal with my bipolar, but alcoholism as well. Luckily for me, I am older and somehow, by the grace of God, wiser now in dealing with the bipolar then I was in my teens and early 20s. Getting a handle on the alcoholism is helping me feel better in all aspects of my life, including my mental health. I have no more guilt, less anger, more peace in my life - you see? I can't lose. I'm throwing myself headfirst into a plan of recovery. I have never wanted anything this badly in my life. For me, that's the point where I had to be in order to get this to work for myself.