Hi there, I hope some of you can help calm my fears here!
Basically, two years ago I suffered pretty bad anxiety after a lads holiday where I drank alot. This was put down to two things - the fact I had had a really stressful year and then the alcohol sending me over the edge causing panic disorder. I was given Citalopram 10mg and within a few weeks I was already starting to feel better. A month or so on I was feeling back to myself and wasn't drinking atall really as recommended. Slowly I started to drink a bit but never did anything ridiculous, it was always limited to at most twice a week. A year ago I stopped taking the medication and have felt fine since, apart from one or two times where i've felt a bit dodgy after some prolonged drinking but that went away within a day or two.
However, last week I drank heavily 3 times in the space of 6 days and then on Sunday I started feeling very anxious. I stopped drinking, went home, and expected it to subside the next day (as it had done before), but now its Wednesday evening and its just got worse really. I just have this constant anxiety stomach churning and the racing and disturbing thoughts. At times its pretty damn bad I can tell you. It feels as bad as it did the first time I had it.
So, my first question, is it likely that this will subside on its own? Has anyone ever suffered anxiety for days after drinking or is it usually just the day after? I really, really want it to - and I've made a promise to myself to never drink like that again (and I know i'll keep to that) as I really don't wanna go through this again. How long should I leave it before its definitely not going to go away on its own?
Secondly, i'm slightly worried that the first time I took Citalopram I only got better because of the placebo effect (ie I thought 'this makes you better', so it did), so knowing that i'm worried if I go back on (REALLY don't want to) then it won't work this time. It worked amazingly first time. Am I being totally illogical here?
I hope someone can answer this!