has anyone turned to drinking in the past to relieve anxiety?

lynne sindler · Post by **lynne sindler** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:09 am

Before I say too much, I was wondering if others out there have had problems with alcohol to cope with anxiety, but then led to alcoholisim,because of the continuous use to keep covering up their problem with anxiety. Now without drinking do you notice the increase of anxiety,panic,and worry because you have nothing strong enough to cover it up anymore??
if anyone responds, I would like to talk more if anyone has something similar to this. Thank you.

MelMbrsl75 · Post by **MelMbrsl75** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:03 am

Hi Lynne, I have not personally, but my father did until he became sober and has now been sober for over 20 years. It is very dangerous because you always come back down after the "high".. I will pray for you <3

Staying Positive · Post by **Staying Positive** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:08 am

Anxiety is thick in my family. Mom, Dad, brother and myself have it now my other sister has just started with some anxiety- anyway before I knew what I had I drank a lot. I would binge more so than drink every single day but when ever anything would get to me in the least, I would grab a 12 pack. Of course I didn't know what was wrong with me back then. I sobered up before I had kids, tried to get healthy and all that, lead a different lifestyle for the better and that's when my stress levels and anxiety started to go up. It took a while before my first real panic attack came but now having gone through the program, I realize what I was doing back then. My Momis a recovered alcoholic and she doesn't talk about all her anxiety, she's happy taking a pill and not dealing with the real issues, but I can see that she also drank for her anxiety, because as soon as she sobered up, out came the anxiety and then she went on medication. My brother was a severe alcoholic but has been sober for 2 years now but his anxiety is through the roof. I've never really talked about it with him because my mother treats him like a delicate flower or something and doesn't want to drive him back to drinking or anything and she wants him to go on meds even though there are different ways to deal with anxiety. I have plans on possibly talking with him, or slipping him Lucinda's from panic to power or something along those lines. He's been great since he's quit drinking, so I guess I myself am a little nervous about tampering with his fragile state. I don't know if it helped at all, but I wanted to share my experiences with alcohol- best wishes.

Tallboy · Post by **Tallboy** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:24 am

Hi Lynne,

I have had my issues with alcohol in my past. I quit drinking just over a year ago and have been going to A.A.

When I first quit drinking, I was still on Paxil and everything was o.k. After about 2 months or so i figured I could give up the alcohol so now I should give up the Paxil.

I was fine for about 4 months and then whammo !!! All my anxiety, panic attacks, depression...(you name it) came back to me worse than ever before. I honestly thought that I was going crazy !!!!

I was desperate and thinking that I would eventually have to live with ssri's for the rest of my life.

I ended up going back on the Paxil and discovering this program and can honestly tell you that for about 3 or 4 weeks now am doing great. Whether it is the program or the Paxil or the combination....I really don't know at this point 100%.

I have not gone back to drinking throughout this whole ordeal. When I signed up for this program the guy doing the seminar said not to go off any medication immediately after starting this program. He said to gradually reduce down to the lowest dosage and stay there for about a year and then and only then discontinue the meds.

To show you how stupid I was before, I was mixing alcohol and ssri's and wondering why I would occasionally get anxiety !!!!

Now, I can honestly say that I have lost my desire for drinking because I realized that alcohol brought me more trouble than it was worth as far as excitement or dealing with anxiety.

This program as well as the A.A. program are seriously helping me learn to live happily in the present moment. I have been working very hard at replacing negative thinking with positive thinking and/or actions. So far....so good.

BeatAnxiety07 · Post by **BeatAnxiety07** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:58 pm

Originally posted by lynne sindler:
Before I say too much, I was wondering if others out there have had problems with alcohol to cope with anxiety, but then led to alcoholisim,because of the continuous use to keep covering up their problem with anxiety. Now without drinking do you notice the increase of anxiety,panic,and worry because you have nothing strong enough to cover it up anymore??
if anyone responds, I would like to talk more if anyone has something similar to this. Thank you.

They actually used to use alcohol to treat anxiety back when psychology & psychiatry weren't even around yet. Alcohol can be a very good anti-panic tool if you are having a very hard time dealing with it on your own.

However, you must be very careful not to develop an addiction to alcohol. The big problem with this is that the withdrawal symptoms of alcohol actually include intense anxiety, panic, delirium etc. You just need to be careful. The FDA has stated that women are able to have 1-2 drinks a day without the risk of major health problems and men are able to have 2-3 drinks a day without the risk of major health problems.

I tend to be a social drinker on the weekends. I see no problem with going out with friends, or even drinking alone, once a week to get drunk. Everyone in this world has some sort of niche, either they smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, drink excessive amounts of coffee or energy drinks, eat-excessively, watch too much tv or play too many video games, engage in risky sexual activities, take anti-depressants or benzo's, etc... It really just comes down to self control and will power.

Despite popular belief, the majority of people over come addiction on their own. You just have to be careful and observant of your behaviour. If you are drinking 2 or more drinks a day and engage in other niches then you should slow down and consider quiting for awhile until you feel you can manage your drinking more responsibly.

DkCosmo · Post by **DkCosmo** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:36 pm

Lynne,
I feel like I'm probably in the same place as you right now with the drinking. I imagine that if I stopped drinking maybe my overall anxiety level would decrease significantly. But I drink heavily at least 3 nights a week and whenever it's acceptable in social situations, which is most of the time outside of work. Drinking is what helps me feel normal in those situations, and I can't imagine quiting cold turkey and still being able to interact in a normal way. I haven't tried many medications, but maybe it's worth a try if it could cut back on the amount of alcohol we consume.
One of my problems is that I'd have to cut ties with many of my friends or back out of social gatherings to cut out my drinking. I don't have the will power to refuse drinks when it's been such a big part of my social life for the past 8 years.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

lynne sindler · Post by **lynne sindler** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:36 pm

thank you for the input. I try my hardest to stay away from alcohol, because I know I only use for one purpose and it's the wrong way to try to make myself feel better. I also use it to keep myself from thinking and dealing with personal family things. And having to change is so hard and scary!! It's weird how so much anxiety can build up and then just explode. It is also hard because I'm trying to take care of myself by working on my anxiety,meds, not drinking,and an eating disorder and marriage stuff. But realizing that if I do drink over time it starts to hide my anxiety and eventually it hits me 10 times harder. It seems overwhelming,but from the post I read it really encourages me to hang in there and not give up.

still.breathing · Post by **still.breathing** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 4:04 am

hi I don't know where to start except that I used to self medicate and drink to releave the anxiety and allthough at the time I thought I was helping myself, now that I look back it probebly made it worse. I do take anxiety meds now which i read in your last post you do as well and although they give you the ok to drink on the meds I take they increase the effect of the alchohol.... I've been sitting here thinking about how or if to respond to your question but if my exsperiance will help even one person not be were I am at this moment then i feel like it was worth putting it out in the open. Last week I was having a really bad couple of days and allthough my anxiety meds work well if there's exstream stress, the anxiety overcomes the meds. I went to the bar with my two roomates one doesn't drink so after eating he took of and the other one (going through a devorce) and I had way way to much to drink to the point of blacking out, I'll try 2 shorten up the story as much as possibly; but my roommate got into a fight in the bar and took off without me we had also been taking some shots with a group of guys at the bar who said they would just drop me off on there way home.... Things are pretty in and out after that but I woke up naked in a hotel by myself in a town I didn't know, I'll let you fill in the rest.. I'm thankfull to be in as good of shape as I am right now and hope this story helps you out even in a small way!! I wish you the best with your strugle!! Much Love!!

raymond57 · Post by **raymond57** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:46 am

i too have had a big problem with drinking, went for a time that i did not drink, but can trace a lot of bad decisions in my life to drinking. I drink to get the buzz and to have to stop having so many thoughts running around in my head. my brand new car is in the shop right now because of my knucklehead moves. I still drink almost every nite, but i am noticing some thought processes involved that are causing me to think about why i am drinking and maybe just to work through the anxiety and embrace the moment. i am starting to see some subtle changes in how i internalize stuff, maybe this will help explain why i resort to drink and find a healthy response. good luck to all