Discouraged
 

Well the good news is I have remained sober. Was in the emergency room April 6 on day 3 with super high blood pressure. Scared me. Nonetheless thought I would drink on April 29. I was an idiot. Thought I would be right back in the emergency room 3 weeks after the first withdrawal. How could I be so stupid! Well since then, not a drop-so that is the good news. The bad news is I don't feel well. In fact I have told myself many times, I felt better drinking. I think I may be suffering from PAWS. I say this stands for "protracted alcohol withdrawal" but I have seen other desciptions. I go through shakey breathless symptoms periodically. Also my heart seems to pound or skip beats sometimes. I was given anti anxiety drugs that I take periodically but keep to a minimum. I don't know whether this is on going anxiety or other health issues. Sometimes like when busy at work I feel totally fine. I feel worse at home alone. Geez...I just want to feel better. Any ideas?

Welcome back Lucy, glad you're here!

It is going to take some months until you are able to regulate again. The alcohol caused damage, it takes time to repair your nervous system.

Meditation and exercise are the best tools I've found for this. I drank a lot of calming teas in the first six months. One cup of caffeinated drink like coffee was all I could handle a day. Healthy food and eight hours of sleep was a necessity for me, too.

It took me nearly a year until my anxiety disappeared. Hang in there.

Good for you for working on your sobriety.

I think it takes time to feel better and to get used to what feeling normal is all about. I assume you've talked to your dr about this since you have medication. I hope you feel better soon.

It appears from several posts on this forum that anxiety and its physical symptoms is common after becoming sober. And it can continue for quite sometime. I would like to hear about what others have done to overcome this.

I told my Dr exactly what was going on with me & took it from there

In my own experience...it just took time for it calm down. I just past 6 months sober and (Thankfully) my anxiety has pretty much leveled out.

That being said...You just need to tackle each day as a individual day. Or hour..Or minute...Whatever it takes.

I found hobbies helped too as a distraction during the unpleasant urges to drink (Which have also gone away for the most part)..Music helped for awhile. As did breaking out my old school video games. Replaying the original Legend of Zelda was a blast...Really felt like a kid again.

Diet...Was important too.

And well... Get involved in the recovery groups that are out there.

I wish you well. Manage the day in front of you. That's all any of us can do really.

In my experience it takes time- but it does happen.

I poisoned myself for years- my body and mind took a beating over a long time

things take time to heal

Hi BecomingSober :)

are you taking the anti anxiety meds as directed or are you taking them sparingly as you think you need them?

I understand the caution, but I think we also should have faith and trust in our Drs :)

D

Staying real busy helps me to reduce my anxiety. I spend a lot of time at the gym too, but others walk or jog a lot. I know one guy that hikes a lot. Others do a lot of bike riding. Whatever works for you. Besides, staying busy is a good way to distract you from the anxiety. My anxiety always seems worse when I'm just sitting around. John

This!