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Realized something tonight about withdrawal.

Old 07-21-2016, 07:30 PM
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Realized something tonight about withdrawal.

I realized that my anxiety and negative feelings are at their worse at night around 8pm all the way till I pass out. Well when I use to drink I only ever started drinking right when the sun went down. Is it possible that my body got use to this routine and now when the internal clock hits at night and there is no booze my mind goes into over drive increasing my already present anxiety depression etc? I never drank during the day except for maybe a couple times out of the year for special events at the beach etc. my drinking started purely at night almost every other night for years. Is this theory true? Or am I just a idiot with extreme anxiety? I also realized that these may actually be withdrawals because the day I stopped (no intentions for stopping for good just a couple days went by) my whole body was "itchy" all over for no apparent reason which is also a sign of withdrawal and then a couple days later I was in full blown panic, riddin with anxiety, dread and fear. So maybe I was wrong after all. Anyways, anyone ever though about that?
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Old 07-21-2016, 07:42 PM
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Yeah if you read around a little you'll see a lot of folks have their 'withching hours' when they use to drink...and this can be a difficult time for a while.

Why not try and change your routine a little - if you're normally sat in front of the TV at this time, for example, why not try doing something else?

D
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Old 07-21-2016, 07:46 PM
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I certainly think that can be the case. For me, anxiety and panic became my worst withdrawal symptoms. I always started drinking once I was home from work until I passed out. I basically drank whenever I didn't have to work on the weekends by noon as well. Eventually after yrs and years of this I noticed that my anxiety started to get get worse earlier and earlier everyday. It got to the point where I could barely get through my work day and out of the liquor store fast enough. This also is the main reason I felt I had no choice but to try to put it down. I still have anxiety, however it much more mild and something that when I think back to my teenage years, I probably always had. But the years of drinking made it crippling and it truly was my worst withdrawal symptom. It's no longer crippling me per say, just nagging a little at 11 months sober. Wishing you the best tonight.
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Old 07-21-2016, 09:42 PM
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In my early sobriety, my anxiety peaked every night at 11:30pm on the dot. It was eerie. But after I realized that it started to calm down because I'd get super anxious and just say, "Oh, must be 11:30," look at the clock and see that it was, and start putting myself to bed with a book and talking myself through it. Once the pattern was obvious it made it less powerful. I hope the same starts to happen for you.
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Old 07-21-2016, 09:49 PM
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Originally Posted by fantail View Post
In my early sobriety, my anxiety peaked every night at 11:30pm on the dot. It was eerie. But after I realized that it started to calm down because I'd get super anxious and just say, "Oh, must be 11:30," look at the clock and see that it was, and start putting myself to bed with a book and talking myself through it. Once the pattern was obvious it made it less powerful. I hope the same starts to happen for you.
I just feel like this withdrawal stuff kind of came out of no where, is that also possible? My drinking habits were to go out and drink every other day to every two days (a lot of course 5-8 beers several crown cokes) over the course of several years. And I stopped drinking last Monday and felt the effects Thursday.. Is it odd? I usually would skip a day or two or three and be fine? Why all a sudden did it all hit me? Is it possible the body just crossed the line that one week? When I explained to my therapist my symptoms he brought up some serious mental conditions that scared the **** out of me and caused a anxiety attack instantly but everything I'm feeling is due to my excessive drinking as far as I have read. He also was unaware of my heavy drinking till today. I just don't see how withdrawal can happen all a sudden and hasn't in the past? Anyone know why that is or how it happens?
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Old 07-22-2016, 07:28 AM
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I can only offer my perspective, but I think us drinkers pass "the rubicon" and when we do there is no turning back. We are fine for years, then all of sudden, there is no hangover....only withdrawal and anxiety and panic. And once we reach that point, there is no turning back. That was my experience. I did not get hungover towards the end, only mild withdrawals (I was a weekend binger). It's kind of depressing because if I'm ever to binge again, I know what I'm in for. It actually motivates me not to drink because I hate it so bad.
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Old 07-22-2016, 08:40 AM
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Originally Posted by FLA View Post
I just feel like this withdrawal stuff kind of came out of no where, is that also possible? My drinking habits were to go out and drink every other day to every two days (a lot of course 5-8 beers several crown cokes) over the course of several years. And I stopped drinking last Monday and felt the effects Thursday.. Is it odd? I usually would skip a day or two or three and be fine? Why all a sudden did it all hit me? Is it possible the body just crossed the line that one week? When I explained to my therapist my symptoms he brought up some serious mental conditions that scared the **** out of me and caused a anxiety attack instantly but everything I'm feeling is due to my excessive drinking as far as I have read. He also was unaware of my heavy drinking till today. I just don't see how withdrawal can happen all a sudden and hasn't in the past? Anyone know why that is or how it happens?
In my experience, the withdrawal symptoms suddenly came from nowhere. I had initial withdrawals, felt fine for about a month and boom the worst anxiety and panic ever hit me. I went to my doctor who explained I was in withdrawal and could be for up to 2 years, thankfully she was familiar because of a family members experience. On the other hand, I am finding many doctors including psychiatrists are not very knowledgeable about protracted withdrawals therefore they tend to lean more toward serious mental illnesses which isn't always the case. Since you are newly sober, I will say this, don't be discouraged, just know it takes awhile for the brain to heal and it does get better.
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Old 07-22-2016, 09:07 AM
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Withdrawal has to start sometime if we continue to drink or use drugs. I used to try to think back and pin point when withdrawal started but really all I can think of is I used to not have withdrawals and then boom there they were.

When I was newly sober there would be certain times in the day when everything would intensify because I had a very set schedule when I would use. The longer you stay sober, the more those certain times will not be part of your routine and it will stop. You need to break the cycle/routine. Once you days consistently don't involve drinking or using then your body won't automatically try to signal to you that it is time to drink/use. The best thing you can do in my opinion is keep yourself busy. Clean, exercise, find new hobbies, cook, create a sober support system of people you can call or plan sober activities with, coloring helped me get out of my head, journaling so you can read back to how hard it was and how bad it got when you are having a weak moment, counseling is always a huge tool, and finding a doctor that specializes in addiction can be a huge tool since they can give you medicine where needed to help with certain feelings, side affects, or thoughts.

Keep your chin up, you can do this! I promise it does get easier, you just need to continue to move forward, make healthy decisions, and put the work into your recovery.
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Old 07-22-2016, 09:32 AM
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There were a couple of years i was starting to go into withdrawal around 5pm. At the time i did not know that was what it was because I would be getting a drink into myself as fast as possible. It just reached a point where there was no denying that withdraw was what it was. That realization hit me like a ton of bricks(but still did nothing about it.

When I finally quit from 5pm till I slept was ever increasing anxiety.
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