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Thought I would try a post here as well

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Anxiety & Panic Disorders
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Posted 6/3/2011 2:28 PM (GMT 0)
I have OCD and Aniety that drives me into depression. I wake up all sweaty and have to wipe my brow in the morning. It all stems from my drinking and I feel I may have done something I do not remember and it drives me insane that I may have cheated on my wife. I have entered a substance abuse program yesterday that hopefully gets me on the right track. My worry is always about contracting HIV when I blackout and do not remember. This last episode, I may have blacked out on a business trip and then I wonder if I slept with someone. Then I start looking for symptoms of HIV. I cam down with a cold so I start to worry, then I go and get tested at 3 weeks negative. Then I develop a single HIVE and diarrhea, then I start to worry and the anxiety kicks in. I spoke to my wife about my panic and she got upset with me last night and is not talking to me as she believes that I must have done something if I am so worried about it. I am lost with no one to support me, trying to quit drinking, panic attacks, OCD' and depression.
Posted 6/3/2011 2:56 PM (GMT 0)
Hi

Welcome to the anxiety forum. I can relate to what you put in your post as i also have OCD and anxiety and they do give me depression as a result. Alchol will make your anxiety and depression worse as well as damageing your health, I have had addiction problems and when I used to drink a lot I used to get severe paranoa the next day as I could not remember anything of the night before and that used to scare me.

I am glad to read you are addressing these issues and that is a big step so well done on that. Try not to google symptoms which I know is hard but anxiety/stress can mimic a whole lot of other symptoms and the mind is powerful and you can start to convince yourself that you have these symptoms. If you are worried about anything re your health go and see your doctor. They will be able to give you some advise concerning any medications which may help you for the symptoms of ocd and anxiety.

I can recommend CBT which is a talk therapy and works very well in helping you to deal with anxiety and ocd. It does this by giving you copeing techniques which can be difficult to learn but once you get the hang of it you can get your anxiety to a more managable level.

Keep posting here and you will get lots of support I also find replying to other peoples post very rewarding and helpful. I am sure some other members will be along soon take care my friend

Hibee
Posted 6/3/2011 5:50 PM (GMT 0)
Hi RD and welcome to the A/P forum! I am glad to see that you are posting with us as well as the depression boards, as many people suffer cross-over symptoms of both disorders.

All of what Hibee posted to you was spot-on. All I can add is that when you go into your program, you will most likely also have some form of therapy included in the curriculum, so be sure and disclose your A/D issues. In this way you will be covering all of the things that go into the problem at hand. They are all connected, and I think that you would want to work on them as a whole through your treatment!

I commend you for seeking help, and wish you the best in your recovery. Please feel free to post with us anytime!

Take care,
Scaredy Cat
Posted 6/5/2011 1:34 PM (GMT 0)
I believe alcohol is pure poison and especially to anxiety sufferers. It always feels good at the moment and then the next day anxiety is 100 times worse. Alcohol also causes depression. Glad you are getting help. Speaking from experience if you can commit yourself to letting the alcohol go, you will feel alot better and better able to deal with anxiety/depression/ocd. Then no more waking up wondering what kind of damage you have done to yourself and the ones you love the night before. I know it is hard but if you really want to stop, you can. Nothing is impossible. Just look at it this way, what you have been doing - the way you have been living up to this point - it is not working. So logically you need to change your whole lifestyle. Cleaning up the diet, no junk food, caffeine, very little sugar, no processed food, no restaurant food, etc., will make your body feel so much better and hopefully the mind as well. There is alot of good info. at DoctorYourself.com regarding alcohol use and recommendations on vitamins/amino acids that help boost your immune system and decreases your desire to drink.

Making a lot of changes at once is frustrating and domed to fail, try making small ones each and everyday. Pretty soon, taking good care of yourself will be your number one priority and you will feel much better.

You are going to be OK, I truly believe because realizing you have a problem is the biggest step, the next one is doing something about it and sticking with it. Beating yourself up and self doubt are useless. Being happy or being miserable is your choice, how miserable do you want to be?

Good luck, sending healing vibes your way!
Posted 6/5/2011 11:24 PM (GMT 0)
Hello and welcome to HealingWell,

An alcohol induced blackout occurs when a person drinks so much alcohol that his or her long term memory is impaired. Blackouts are not to be confused with "passing out", which is when a person becomes so intoxicated by alcohol that he or she simply loses consciousness. Most blackouts are caused by the rapid ingestion of a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time. In other words, someone who quickly downs several shots of alcohol within an hour is more likely to experience a blackout than someone who slowly drinks alcohol over a longer period of time. This is true even if the person who drinks more slowly ends up ingesting more alcohol and becomes more intoxicated.

Blackouts are dangerous for many reasons. For one thing, people who are experiencing a blackout are still conscious. Alcohol use tends to lower a person's inhibitions and impair judgment, which may cause them to engage in high risk activities like drunk driving, sexual promiscuity, fighting, or committing crimes. These high risk activities may lead to any combination of serious injuries, chronic diseases, legal problems, or death. Moreover, a person who is experiencing a blackout may not have any control over their impulses.

The only way to completely avoid alcoholic blackouts is not to drink alcohol.

I think you are right to be worried about your black outs so please do seek medical help. 

You may want to look at these web link:

http://addictionrecoverybasics.com/2008/08/25/alcoho l-blackout-types-of-blackouts-how-they-work-and-cons equences/

Be well and know we care.  Stick with us.

Kindly,

Kitt

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