Anxiety & Panic Community

Hey There,
We are still here...No worries. Meds and booze are not a really good idea. Read the posts as they come up, there may be a better way for all of us and we just need the right person to get on and tell us what it is.
Just take a deep breath and know you are not alone.

We are still here...Old or new, there aren't many boards for this and it will not go away!

You are not alone. Whe I first started drinking I did not have this issue, and that could be because I didn't drink as much. Over time I started drinking more and more and added in liquor to my drinking. There were nights when I would drink 10 shots if not more. The next day I woke up with anxiety that would get worse as the day went on. I would feel confused and panicky. I would have derealization where I would feel as if I was in a dream. I would have racing thoughts, shakey, confusion, and feel like I was going to die. It was one giant panic attack all day. For awhile these would go away after a day and I was able to get back into my normal routine until the next weekend. Until one day out of nowhere I was at work and started feeling the panic and derealization coming on. Felt extremely dizzy and out of it. This was in February 2011 and since then I have not been the same. It is now November 2011. I have been to two psychiatrists and we can't seem to figure it out. I have severe depression and anxiety 24/7. They have tried me on several medications and nothing has seemed to work. They take the edge off but that's it. I had to go inpatient due to all of this. I am very scared that I will never feel normal again. I'm only 28 and have a 7 year old son. I've been out of work for 9 months now because I cant work. I haven't drank since March. I think the drinking really screwed up the chemicals in my brain. I was taking prozac for anxiety at the same time I was drinking heavily so I dont know if the alcohol and prozac together did it or what. I'm desparate to feel normal again! Has this ever happened to anyone? Any advice or stories would be great! Thank you

Hi!

i have similar issues as you. My first panic attack was in Feb 2011. I kind of think it was from heavy drinking (even though it happened 2 days later). Then I noticed - panic attack after drinking every time. Since then I also have struggled with anxiety every day for ages until my friend told me - it's patterns of negative thinking. I hope youre not a sceptic and believe in meditation and spirituality. This is what she said - you have to work with positive affirmations (you can google) and keep repeating 1 sentence over and over again (many times, when you remember - for a month) - can be in your head or writing or even loud. Unbelievably my anxiety pretty much reduced to 90% next day. I can even tell you my affirmation if you want later. She said - you will get a headache as your mind is changing from negative thoughts to positive. I was like yea.. right.. but I actually had a head ache for a whole day the next day and I never normally have head aches.
I can prevent a panic attack now, but last w.end I drunk again on Fri and on Sat... Sunday was terrible, I felt panic creeping in, I could kind of stop it, but I had terrible anxiety all day, my affirmation helped a bit, but I probably had way too much to drink for that to work.
And Ive also noticed - a few days after drinking wouldn't be "normal" - increased negative thoughts etc. for like 4 days after. I should go back to healthy lifestyle with positive thoughts. So I believe you can beat it. I definitely would give the affirmation a go (remember it has to be a positive statement and it cant contain words like not or dont).
For now I'm left with social anxiety and to be honest I'm sick of it and I'm ready to fight that, too. I have to change my thoughts again to believing I'm stronger than that.
I feel very lonely with my "anxiety condition/s", because every one I interract with seems so happy and confident, like they don't have any issues. The only place I can talk about it is here, so post back if you have any questions . Btw, I'm 26, I've been having different anxieties from Feb this yr. Good luck! You can do it!

As I have said before, I have been battling this for over 40 years.
BUT GOOD NEWS!!!!!
Recently I began the evening with a bottle of Gatoraide and then had a glass of water between each beer.
The next morning I felt FANTASTIC!
I thought maybe it was the beer (micro brew) so the next weekend I did the same drinking with the gator aid and no water between beers. Still much better, but it took a couple of days to get past the 3:15AM wakeup calls and racing mind.
Now this is not to say we can down some Gator Red and alternate for a case of beer or anything, but if you really want to drink. MODERATION GATOR AIDE WATER= A good day after.
BTW, haven't had the night sweats since I started this.

Hey Sheridan!

That's really interesting you said that about the panic kicking in the next day after your bender - after you have food later on in day. If I drink a lot one night, I would wake up feeling really weak and tired and then as soon as I eat big dinner / lunch (whichever comes first) my panick (or bad thoughts) kicks in pretty much straight away - it's almost like I would feel better if I didn't eat anything and starved lol.
Try positive affirmations - google it. They helped me to solve my panic and anxiety problem and now I'm good, except if I drink way too much, I'd be fighting my thoughts the next day or even 2 to 3 days afterwards. But with my affirmation I can kind of control the full blown panic attack and it results in being a lot less intense, maybe 2 minutes instead of the usual 10 or 20.. I seem to handle 2 to 3 drinks a night. Post some questions, I'm happy to discuss the panic and anxiety as in life I don't meat any people who have problems with anxiety - or they just don't show it. Sometimes I feel like the odd one who has to go through this..

I started experiencing these same symptons that everyone is talking about for the past 3 yrs. It can take me about 3-5 days before i start feeling "normal" again. Ive come to the painful realization that the only way to stop these panic attacks from occuring is to either stop drinking or limit myself to about 4 beers only.

A couple of things that have really helped me out though is 1.meditation and 2. Running or working out. Number 2 is kinda hard to do when you're hung over but this is by far the most effective method i have discovered to immediately decrease the anxiety. I'll usually try to run for about 40 minutes, I really try to go at it too, not half ass it, you really got to sweat. There's been times that after a good run my anxiety diminishes to the point where I'm feeling normal again. Good luck to everyone, hope this helps somebody.

This post helped me A LOT! I never knew so many people feel the same way. I always thought it was just me. I do not drink nearly as much as I used to, but if I have one glass too many of wine or whatever the drink of choice may be, then the next day I am hungover, edgy, feeling stressed out like I had been up for a week and a half studying for a final exam and then the professor didn't show up. I get heart palpitations and excessively loud ringing in my ears that mimics my heartbeat.
I believe setting a limit on alcoholic beverages has to be key here. Hopefully you don't have to deal with this anymore if thats the case.
Good luck and best wishes.
-Heather

ummm don't drink...if you know it makes you crazy why do it?

Hey kylie, i litterally feel like you were writing about me and describing exactly what i am going through right now...i used to go out all the time go on weekly benders of drinking and partying not having a problem but recently even if i drink about a 6er i find myself locked in my room getting tottally destroyed with anxiety same symptoms as you i to have generalized anxiety disorder from deploying to afghanistan but for some reason mine has gotten terrible latley whenever i drink...but i have been doing alot of research lately and just some tools to throw in your tool box look into them or not but one thing is if you dont know how alcohol works already is whenever you drink your brain releases GABA which is used for calming your body down for "fight or flight" situations so when you drink you release GABA giving you that calming relaxed feeling so the next day hungover when you get excited or anxious about something your body has no more GABA to calm you down ...this is how my psychiatrist explained it to me...from what all i have seem to find is you can try taking vitamin b12 which helps with your neurotransmiters in your brain for healthy brain function...and also make sure your diet is up to par when you have out of wack blood sugar levels it can also have symptoms of anxiety so when you drink and depleat your body of b12...GABA...and blood sugar levels it can really up your anxiety....just passing on info ive found if it helps good if not good luck! let me know what your cure is!!

4 YEARS!!! Wow WebMD and Kylie

This discussion has been going on for 4 years. That is intense. You have helped so many people wow......

Thank you all for your contribution...

Its Obvious.. Dont Drink

BTW I have felt the same thing. I stopped drinking it all went away...

Hi Kilie based on self experience, I believe that your hang overs have graduated to high blood pressure episodes at this point as your body is showing signs that it is no longer able to quickly overcome and cope with the alcohol intake (withdraw symptoms). In my uneducated opinion, next episode is stroke. This is why I stopped drinking.

Hi Kylie. I actually discovered this forum (although it may be a bit old?) while googling for answers WHILE having a panic attack due to a heavy night of drinking. Panic attacks and anxiety are the total norm for me as well after drinking, to the point where I have had to come to the realization that the night before is simply not worth the pain of the next day. My anxiety would be SO BAD that I would be the point of non functioning and I am a waitress so I would have to put on a happy face and try to function while Inside I would feel like I was going absolutely INSANE and about to go crazy running out the door. NOT FUN. I cannot think of anything worse in the world than feeling that way. I am currently 4 days alcohol free and I plan to use this forum and all you good people and your experiences as a tool to help keep me and all of us from not having to endure these drinking related panic attacks. As somebody said, living a healthy lifestyle is CERTAINLY better than having to go through this living Hell of dealing with it the next day. Good luck with no more panic attacks Kylie and try to remember the pain before the next drink. God Bless.