Health Anxiety & Alcohol ????

[biggy007]

Hiya guys,

Do any of you find that your health anxiety is REALLY bad the day after a good night out???

I've been a sufferer of health anxiety for around 3 years now, I think im slowly starting to be able to control it, but find that my anxiety is awful after a night out drinking alcohol.

It gets so bad that I avoid drinking alcohol as much as I can and even often miss out on going to friends social events because I know that there will be alot of alcohol being consumed.

However last night I went out for a friends 30th birthday and drank a fair bit of Vodka and Champagne, I really enjoyed the night but today my Health Anxiety is terrible I have a constant ache down my left arm and every now and again get a pain in my chest and now automatically think that im having a heart attack despite having numerous ECG's in the past that are all normal.

Does anyone else find that their anxiety is bad after a night of considerable drinking????

[viremarthius]

Oh yes...I know what you mean...brutal. Everything is amplified by a million. Just do it in moderation and let yourself know that the following day will be tough. Just try and talk yourself into being prepared for the crappy feeling the next day.

[Cococj]

Even before I had full blown panic attacks and anxiety I had this when I drank heavily, either in one night or over several nights, it wasn't present at all unless I'd drank a lot but when I did I knew I'd feel anxious, hyper-sensitive and restless for a day or two following.

The interesting thing for me is that when my anxiety come more to the surface in general I found that instead of just being anxious for a few days afterwards, I'd develop physical symptoms along with it, then they'd fade and I'd be back to normal.

Nowadays I rarely if ever drink anyway, this has changed my attitude to alcohol so I don't drink anything like as heavily as I used to, in that at least I consider it a blessing. However before I stopped I did notice that the "recovery" time from drinking increased as my day to day anxiety got worse. To the point that when I finally took the decision to stop entirely, drinking would start me off on an anxious phase which would take weeks or longer to control.

Although I think while your anxiety is on the more acute side some, myself included, would advise you to quit for a while until you sort yourself out, that's not always practical. Instead, I'd perhaps suggest you do something that for non-anxiety sufferers would be considered normal, and thinking back to when I did this it does help: if after a heavy night of drinking you feel anxious, have a few drinks the following day, not too many and not enough to get drunk, it may help to relax you and stop a full blown anxious phase coming on. It also serves to mitigate some of the feelings of "withdrawal" you might have from the alcohol with a lessened dose. Aka "hair of the dog..."

[celia davies]

yes i defp think this i went out last nite an now im havin a major panic attack my life jst seems such a mess im so fed up of thinkin things am wrong with me i hate my self i feel like a freak why do i always think im dyin

[**twinkle**]

Definately!!
I actually had my first panic attack after a alcohol fueled weekend.
Now i dont drink nearly as much, and have completely avoided drinks which contain sugar and caffince. Vodka redbulls are a big no no, as are alcho pop and most shots.
But i also think that its lack of sleep.