esinger

Social anxiety and anxiety in general along with depression, was one of my main excuses for staying intoxicated. Having a career where I took orders from 4 or 5 people and gave orders to 35 didn't help matters for an introverted person such as myself. I was always spinning out of control.
I was given valium from my doctor when I told him I wanted to stop drinking. Then I found I liked them more when I washed them down with vodka (NOT GOOD). After all that crashed and a round of rehab, they had me on Celexa then Prozac or vise versa. The stuff just made me feel off. I gave all that up and decided to just deal with being me. I really had never given myself the opportunity to know who that was before. Been trying to work on building my life and career around my strengths and accepting my weaknesses. This would not be possible in the altered state I spent most of my life in. I still have some anxiety but have learned that it is usually unfounded and I ride it out.
I'm not condemning meds for those that may need them. I was just taking them to avoid facing myself. Mixing them with booze is a recipe for disaster.

ilovedogs666

I also suffer from social anxiety and I did not even know it until I got sober. I was shocked to find out I had social anxiety haha.. I found out I was self-medicating with alcohol. Its hard and does not get better overnight, and I find that I avoid a lot of people, places and things because of fear... I am afraid of talking to new people, being in new environments, making eye contact.. Now that Im sober I find it much easier to just avoid certain situations.. However, we cannot grow and get better until we slowly step out of our comfort zone. Simply living sober one day at a time and facing life without mind altering substances are great learning experiences. It gets better.. My anxiety is still there, but much less compared to when I was drinking.

Dime

I recently had a neighbor who is an alcohol bang on my door because she was having extreme anxiety and needed a drink. Her son had her car and she begged me to drive her to the liquor store so she could get relief from her anxiety. She was a nervous wreck. She was sober for six months and was a completely relaxed person who was very pleasant. She has been back out for about six months and is a nervous wreck once again.

I experienced the same thing when I drank. I would get a buzz for a short time when I drank but as soon as the alcohol started to wear off I was a nervous wreck. The amount of anxiety was always way greater then the short good feeling when I drank. Now that i don't drink I am very relaxed as compared to before.

Benzos and booze are extremely dangerous. Anti-depressants never worked for me while I was still drinking.

I found the only answer for me was complete abstinence.

Please keep posting and let us know how your doing.

SickOfIt79

Well I am on day 3 of complete sobriety and feeling pretty good. I stopped taking the benzo's, they weren't doing anything for me but making me more tired. The anti-depressants also make me tired but I am feeling better already. I have no craving, I think mainly because of the drowsiness as well as a positive attitude.

Berrybean

AA and the 12 steps has really helped be learn to live with my (natural )introvert state and change my thinking so that extroverts, and the rest of the world , aren't so threatening to me. I only went there for help to stop drinking, but the journey really has helped on so many other unexpected ways.

Like many others, I vaguely remembered being introvert at school. But had been self medicating for so long that I'd forgotten or didn't realise that I was still that way.

SickOfIt79

I appreciate the kind words and advice. I believe that there are things outside of medication that can help greatly. There are various levels of social anxiety and mine has always been extreme. There is a lot of research showing that genetics has a large part to do with it.


Anyways, I'm on Day 4 of complete sobriety after taking two days of weening off alcohol and I feel good.

I wrote down the pro's and con's of alcohol while at work.

Pro: Feel good for a couple hours
Be social with others (still can do this without alcohol)

Cons: Expensive
- Probably spent $300 a month at liquor store + money out per month
-Worked less/less productive - meaning less pay/raisess

Eczema Breakouts/Red Skin

Heavy dandruff that showed up on clothes

Dressed sloppily

Not a good role model for my kid/spent less quality time

Cooked less often/less healhty

Liver/health problems/hard time breathing (I think I'm actually allergic)

Overweight

Anxiety/paranoia

hpdw

Very helpul thread . I was a very shy boy and it stayed with me all my life .When I discovered alcohol I was amazed at how different I felt socially ,unfortunately I was an alcoholic many years before I even heard the term but did't know it . Had my first panic attack at 18 then discovered Ativan in the70s that's when the cycle of booze benzos took hold and went on like that for years . In by late 40s tried CBT therapy twice in 2 years I think it helped for a spell but soon forgot what I was taught ( my fault ,not blaming the therapy ) . In MY experience medication long term never worked including a host of SSRIs .
Hope you find some useful answers here I know I do however saying all that ive been back out rolling in the mud for 5-6 days and now into day 2 sober .
Good luck friend