I can relate to your story, A few weeks ago I drank a whole bottle of red wine. I am an anxiety sufferer. I experienced exactly the same symptoms as you. It started another bout of anxiety. It is so not worth it.
We are both male and the same age funnily enough!
hi there, i know exactly how you feel. i myself tend to go way over board on alcohol sometimes. at the time it calms me down. but for days after i feel terrible and had to have time of work sometimes. I should know better I'm also nearly 34, however I'm female and us ladies cant take it as well as men.
Try just having a couple i know that's hard when you start. But depression and anxiety mixed with alcohol really wont help your state of mind.
i try to keep any drinking to a friday night, for recovery, but I agree that a few drinks is ok, even a bottle of red drunk over say 6-8 hours with water should be ok ish,
but if I try to do what i used to do when i was young, eg. drink about 100 units in a night , then anxiety and insomnia will prevail afterwards !
I actually feel ok now, went to bed at 8pm last night still feeling anxious, but don't recall falling asleep, so i must have been very very tired.
NO NO NO A bottle of red drunk over 6-8 hours could be lethal and drinking 100 units a night is suicidal.
I do not feel that this is an appropriate topic for people suffering with anxiety,
I disagree with you, completely! Not an appropriate topic for anxiety? Many people that suffer from this illness use drugs and alcohol to escape their mental torture. It's absolutely a worthy topic. No, it's not at all the best way to deal with it, buts it's certainly worth a discussion because it's a fact!
hi there i had to comment on this, somebody mentioned about having one bottle of wine during the evening being lethal. which is slightly over the top. and 1979 ukmale did mention the 100 unit episode was in his younger days which is Irrelevant as that was the past, he was giving an example.
And this topic is appropriate as we should feel free on here to talk about our personal experiences, and how we could slightly wind down with some wine of an evening to relax ourselves if we are suffering with anxiety.
Myself i have a couple at the weekend to relax after a hard week at work. its all about knowing your limits. Hope you all have a good day.
• in reply to
Silly me have to add this.
Didn't read all questions here properly..It wasn't appropriate to mention that this topic isn't appropriate to talk about. Hope that makes sense, it does to me lol.
After all we are here to help ourselves and others. And it was a topic someone wanted advice on, like we all do from time to time. Its why we use this site.
Great post! I have turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism for anxiety. In the long run, it never works out. I can only sympathize with you and know that you are not alone in this. Many of us do to get a few hours of relief. However, alcohol is very addicting for those that find peace while drinking.
However, my very worst anxiety is compounded 100 times the next day after drinking too much. We need to find solutions to cope with anxiety- healthy ones- please know we haven't gone crazy or died, we never will. It will always pass even when it feels like it won't. You have to ride it out so it becomes less powerful. Love and peace. I'm right here with you. I have dealt with panic attacks so often, I know when I'm in one and have to let it ride. I find hope in knowing, it has never killed me and I always returned to normal.
Well i always liked a drink when i was much younger but now i drink very moderately because i find that i wake up with bad thoughts going round and round in my head and anxiety kicks in so to me it's really not worth it ........
Binging is no good for anxiety. You might be fine and hungover but come a few days later, it can hit you hard. Your mood may just drop off the face of the earth for 24 hours or so. When I get it, I just tell myself it is only a temporary effect of the alcohol from the weekend and will go away, but its pretty bad when it happens. Effects seem worse the older i get (38). So I'm doing my best to cut it down to once every 6 weeks or 2 months, quite difficult as my friends are all drinkers and like to party. Try and drink a glass of water in between each drink helps a little.
I have given up having a drink during the week too. i personally think coffee can be as bad for anxiety too, but struggling to cut down from my daily dose of Nespresso!
A good debate over alcohol. I stayed away from drinking after feeling very down and acting strangely with friends on wine. I love a good drink though, and soon went back to drinking, extremely anxious that in social situations I may react badly and upset people. I found this wasn't the case with a good circle of friends.
Now I will be mindful of drinking, especially alone. But alcohol helps to relax me, and does help with my anxiety. I just have to make sure I control it, and if I feel a bit crap the next day, its my fault for drinking more than I should have. As long as I don't dwell on it, I think alcohol in moderation is not damaging. And can be very good if it means mingling in a social situation. I've experimented with different drinks, and find that spirits are better for me than wine. Cider is probably what gets me down the most.
Great thread. Unfortunately alcohol is a big issue for some people tackling mental health issues, especially anxiety disorders. People self-medicate with alcohol because you can very quickly (and cheaply) change your emotional state, so there's a very seductive feeling of empowerment and control. Only temporary though, a couple of hours later and all the anxiety is back, along with the guilt, and depression (alcohol is a depressive). Not a good outcome but if we feel extremely anxious it's all too easy to reach out for a 'quick fix' without considering the longer term.
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