How does Alcohol affect you and anxiety, Discuss?

Hi Everyone.

Its been a while since i have posted on here, my anxiety has decreased dramatically since my last very bad episode when it was out of control!

I have GAD and Health Anxiety but am managing to not do the checking thing which actually really works!! I have the odd spell of feeling anxious but no full blown panic for a good few months. I hope other people are doing OK?

 

I do have a topic i would like to discuss. I have always liked to relax with a glass of wine etc but started to realise a few years ago that if i drink enough to get drunk i would get soo anxious and panicky that i couldnt drink that much any more.

I changed to drinking less but more regular....... would have a glass of wine most nights and really enjoyed that.

Since I was really bad last year I have not really had anything as feel anxious after a few sips!! I actually really miss having a casual drink in an evening after long day at work. I have no desire to get drunk or drink too much but miss feeling like i have the choice.

 

 I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this or has views on it? 

 

Jaxxy x

Jazzy29

Great to here from you and good news that you are managing your anxiety better. In regards to your question I feel it is down to the person to decide on weather they should have a drink or not and if you feel you can go out and just have a few social drinks then that's fine. I also have GAD and have problems with alcohol abuse and find that I drink a lot when out to help reduce my anxiety which in the long run makes my anxiety a lot worse and gives me very bad paranoia the day after so I have given up alcohol again and at the end of my second week with out a drink and have found it hard but feel that this will help improve my mental state and also my health as I take a strong medication and should not mix alcohol with it. I can relate to you when you say you miss having a casual drink and I wish I could go out and just have a couple of drinks but I cant so feel I need to stop and get used to being in social situations with out drinking which will be hard.

I hope things continue to improve for you Jazzy and keep posting to let us know how you are doing.

Take Care

Ben

hi jazzy,
I completely identify with you. I used to drink to the point of being sick and suicidally depressed for up to 3 weeks after a binge. Then i thought i could do it occasionally in controlled environments but i still got anxious the next day. I now what it's like. Now i don;t drink at all, i miss it but what's the alternative, I am going to start forcing myself out again tho as i know i'ii get overr it.

I used to drink...loved beer and just relaxing, talking and listening to good music. I did this every weekend for many years. It was a great way to soothe my nerves and end the week. Then something happened...I began to have horrific anxiety/panic attacks the day after drinking. My husband wondered if I had become allergic to it..don't know if that's possible. I ended up in the ER feeling like I was having a heart attack with severe pain in my back and between my breasts. I felt like I couldn't breathe. A wide awake nightmare! I quit drinking a year and ten months ago. I don't miss it...if I even consider a drink I remember the horror of what I went through and I don't even want to look at a beer! I still have anxiety...not as bad...I still have breathing issues..not as bad. I am able to cope with it without running to the ER now. I hope I can continue to be able to cope. I know it was the alcohol that was hurting me...I don't know why it suddenly happened and I don't want to do it again to see if it would happen again.
Joni

I unlike some of you don't miss drinking.

I never enjoyed it. To me it tasted horrible and just could not understand the big "deal" about drinking. So because of that I'm a very light weight. I could handle a half a beer and start to feel out of sorts. When that started kicking in and I felt like I was losing self control I stopped drinking. Never have missed it nor have a desire to buy anything alcohol related. My anxiety is worse when I did drink. Much much worse. And I hated it.

I've seen to many people do the random occasional drinking and turn into full time drunks. 2 brothers and a really good friend along with my grandpa. My friend and grandpa are both pasted on. My grandpa I met but I was a baby and do not remember. My friend killed someone while driving drunk. Served his time in prison living in pain for what he had done. Was released and passed away not long after. He just could not handle what he had done. He gave everything he had to the family he destroyed.

I hope people think twice before drinking. Even a beer can kill someone.

Take Care
Cary-Ann

Jazzy,

I just wanted to tell you that my personal opinion with my healthy husband is he developed an allergy to it. And I agree 100% with Maz, it is a depressant and many of us do not need any help in that department:)

Hugs
Gail*Nanners*

WOW! This really opened my mind a bit, and I'm so glad I read it. I suffer today at age 31 (almost 32) from severe anxiety, and bouts with panic attacks that will come in waves for approximately 3 days every time I now drink a moderate to large amount Perhaps I needed to finally read this thread to stop "investigating" that once and for all and quit..

As a person who has grappled with excess drinking since about age 19, (a lot of this being hard liquor, then beer, then malted beverages, gross) I think that i progressively developed an allergy to alcohol as a result of abusing it over the years. This allergy, as described in some groups, is considered a more cognitive issue, but after reading the posts above, I am 100 percent sure that it is as much a bodily issue as a mental issue. Meaning, some people REALLY DO become allergic to alcohol, not just in the sense of "craving" it as is more of a psychological suggestion, but in a totally physical way, which creates such a painful spike in chemicals, that it becomes difficult to control.

It reminded me of the first time I broke out in hives out at a bar drinking during my 21st birthday. It reminded me of how easily vodka could make me pass out and hit my head on something after not that much of it. Not to mention the awful stomach pain i'd get whenever I drank cheap beer.

I also discovered this past year, that I have acquired a new allergy (or set of them) and I wonder if it is related to my excess drinking, of if the original allergy which i developed CAUSED my alcohol allergy, or if they both developed together. SO interesting.

I found out this year that after never being this way before, I am suddenly allergic to Apples, Pears, Plums, Peaches, Cherries, and similar fruits, which I found out are related to the rose family. I wonder if there is a connection here.

I have been aware of my alcohol situation for years now, and have been trying to understand it more thoroughly rather than feeling helpless about it. So in this case, perhaps I'm giving myself proof finally to say that yes I can be sure that I am allergic to it, and yes, the effects of drinking are a major cause of my extreme panic attacks, and maybe this is a body thing too. Not just a mental thing that people say I should be able to turn on and off. Anyone else had a similar experience?

It's a great question I think. I think people often drink because they are anxious and want to get away from things.
I know I am guilty of the occasional situation like that. It is a matter of whether it then hooks you and then you need that to relax. At that point it becomes a bigger problem.

I respect your not wanting to drink and wish you the best of luck.

I used to relax with several beers on a saturday night...come sunday morning I would suffer the most severe panic/anxiety attacks that often took me to the ER. I haven't had a beer nor any type of alcohol in five years and I can safely say I will never drink again. I'm convinced that I am allergic to alcohol or some ingredient in the beer. I will never trade how I feel now to how I felt when I drank. It's just not worth it. I still have what I call low-level anxiety but it isn't even remotely what it used to be after drinking. I don't miss drinking at all.