Going Out/Drinking Alcohol

[moomingirl88]

At the moment I am taking 20mg Citalopram daily for mild depression/anxiety.

I used to love going out and socialising, getting dressed up and having a few drinks.

The depression/anxiety made me feel like I couldn't do this any more and the anxiety which followed after drinking was unbearable.

Now, having been on Cit for 13 weeks, I still feel the same if not much worse. I feel I need to drink to be social with people - then I end up drinking too much and feeling rotten for days and days afterwards. If I don't drink, I feel I can't have a good time and ruin not only my night but the people I am with as well.

I know this isn't exactly a serious problem, but I wondered if anyone else feels this way, or have any tips on how to be more confident in groups without having to rely on alcohol for confidence?

[Mimzel]

Whenever I drink with friends I also feel like it's a necessity because I might not be as enjoyable otherwise. Like if I don't drink enough I might not be as social or nice to be around.

Feeling awful after drinking too much might also be the aftermath of consuming too much alcohol, combined with anxiety and depression it can really punch you in the face. What I recently tried is getting fewer drinks (I know cutting back is the easy answer) but having a cup of coffee afterwards on the same night so the aftermath doesn't get too intense at least.

Also focus on the things people love about you, especially your friends :) They're with you for a reason, you're awesomer than you think!

[Fishmanpa]

Ultimately, the decision is yours. IMO, based on the aftermath you described and you being here asking, you probably should abstain. What's wrong with drinking non alcoholic beverages when you're out? They do make non alcohol beers and some mixed drinks taste great virgin style.

The challenge many face when trying to cut back or limit themselves is:

"First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you."

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Positive thoughts

[ben johnson]

im actually like you and I find just drinking soft drink or having 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks help as well

[Oosh]

I did this, like everything, to the extreme. A nasty little biproduct can be that you become phobic about being around your friends unless you're drinking.

I could no longer go through the anxiety that followed so quit. I had nightmares about waking up after a night out for years. That post-alcohol anxiety really is horrific.

I still think about drinking for the same reasons now years later but the anxiety stops me.

I think if you're going to be used to something, get used to socialising without it at times that suit you (you don't always have to meet up with your mates at the pub)
Or if you do, try and make it safe and sustainable by having an alcoholic drink limit of about three and have a soft drink in between. Hopefully you can loosen up a bit during the night out but stave off any hangover effects the next day.

[KeeKee]

I can no longer drink alcohol and haven't done so for 3 years due to anxiety :-(
I feel like I have genuinely lost friends because of it. Not that we've argued or anything just lost contact. I can't go out without alcohol as I just stand about not knowing what to do, I loved getting tipsy at one point it was always how I 'come out of my shell'. I don't dance, I don't find many things funny so I no longer go out whatsoever.
I also got worse hangovers when I was on SSRIs than I used to.

[MyNameIsTerry]

When I was relapsing and still at work, and was very naïve about anxiety disorders (no therapy, forums, research, support, etc), a fellow anxiety disorder sufferer gave me what I regard as some of the worst advice I've ever had. She told me to work on my insomnia issues by having a few drinks to see if it helped. I didn't do that because whilst I may have been very naïve about anxiety back then, I had a good idea about how you create a crutch to something and end up as a substance misuser! I stayed away from alcohol to treat a problem.

There are several issues in here. With alcohol it can be tricky because there is no right or wrong, it's very individual...despite what you will find on many forums or "guru" style websites. It may be that you need to stop for now and can start to drink in more moderation, or at least with more self control, once you are in a better recovery position. I did this and I was fine but drinking earlier in my recovery would have been disastrous for me with my symptom focussing issues. Some people seem not to tolerate it again later but I think that is questionable as it anecdotal, and people don't always tell us everything we need to know to decide.

However, to break the pattern up a bit you could set a limit and insert other drinks in between to pace yourself. Maybe drink a non alcoholic one in between even. I'm not saying switch to non alcoholic altogether, changing your life around on a whim isn't a good idea as far as I'm concerned and if you need to start antidepressants, your current life isn't going to be where you will be when in recovery.

The next day anxiety may also change as you start to recover so this is something to be open minded about as it might just be too much now. It also may be the volume of alcohol that is too much with your anxiety at the moment.

Alcohol does interact with Citalopram although it is a Moderate warning. Moderate doesn't mean no-go, it means be careful. But at this early stage you will be more susceptible to side effects, certainly in the first 4-6 weeks and adding alcohol within that window if a bad idea. So, some of your recent experience may be skewed by this.

Another consideration is whether this med is doing anything as you are not feeling anything. It took me 2-3 months to feel any benefit from it. You may need to increase the dosage or switch to something else so a talk with your GP would be a good idea.

But using alcohol as a safety behaviour can lead to addiction so please be careful. Addressing your anxiety through therapy would be a good addition to prevent this going forward and meds don't make people recover, it's the work people do to get there, meds just provide respite or decrease intensity of symptoms/disorder.

[Medran0]

Well, for as much as I know it is highly recommended NOT to drink alcohol while you are on ANY drugs but i can say that you should be especially wary when it comes to DEPRESSION medications and alcohol since both of them can interfere with your brain and do... oh well, I guess only God knows what it can do and other people who went through it. I personally also suffer from Depression plus Anxiety, and I also take drugs (https://drugreviews.org/anxiety-stress-l72), but I never risk drinking alcohol while I'm on them. having this said, since I have started on them - never drank anything at all (not even a beer). I'm trying to be very responsible since depression meds are no joke.

[shirlp]

I don't drink alcohol anymore as I couldn't bear the 2 days none stop anxiety.. I thought none of it was worth it.. .

[unspoken]

I used to drink but don't anymore. I hate how I get asked by everybody why it is that I don't drink. It's like I've told them that I enjoy tap dancing barefoot on a bed of nails. It made me see that as a society we have an unhealthy attitude to alcohol. Drinking too much and ending up in hospital was considered a badge of honour when I was a student.

I found it really hard going out and not drinking at first, with bad anxiety. I discovered that it's really cheap going out and not drinking, but it can get boring and I also get more hungry than other people. I started taking a camera out with me and taking photos of my friends and the places we were in and it kept me entertained while everyone was buying drinks. I stopped off for snacks between bars and sometimes I'd go to the club before the majority of my friends if it played music I like and just enjoy the music.

Now I'm older I don't go to bars much and almost never go to clubs. I found that since being on Sertraline, alcohol doesn't have any enjoyable effects, only unpleasant ones. I try to arrange to meet my friends for daytime activities rather than nights out, and we go to cafes or casual pubs rather than loud bars.

I realised that I didn't need to worry too much on nights out because everyone else is drunk so they won't remember what I say or do, and they'll probably assume I'm drunk too. Once I got over the boredom and resentment of not being able to drink, I learned to enjoy nights out without drinking.

[G.Samsa]

It's reassuring for me to see that other people find it hard to strike this balance.

It's really tricky, as I find that alcohol can be really useful as a way of helping me relax and ease into certain situations but also causes greater anxiety/depression and worse sleep.

I feel like I've got quite an ambivalent relationship with alcohol. I'm at a stage where the idea of doing out to get drunk just doesn't interest me. However, it is also one of the social activities I find most comfortable doing!

Definitely no easy solutions to this one...especially since people tend to get louder and more assertive when they've been drinking.

I completely sympathise with unspoken: it's a shame that wanting to be clear of alcohol has to be such an issue for some people.

[.Poppy.]

I don't really like to drink that much either, but my friends are big drinkers so it can be hard. I try to do other things with them like shopping or hiking, but the bulk of what they do is alcohol related.

My solution has been to just pace myself. We usually 'pregame' before we go to the bars, so I'll mix myself a drink - one that is mostly pop, hardly any alcohol, but they don't know that. At the bars, I'll usually order one drink or maybe two, and just sip on it all night long. Sometimes they notice, but most of the time it's not a big deal.

I still feel kind of crummy the next day because lack of sleep does that to me, but I don't get drunk so I don't have to deal with an awful hangover at least.

[Green Owl]

As a new member this is one of the threads I have found the most helpful, but also leads to other questions.

I am aware that I most likely have issues with alcohol, to put it simply I drink far too much when I do start to drink (I don't drink all the time! Only socially). I know why this is, I spend all day feeling physically tense, brain fog, palpitations etc and when I meet my friends in the pub and have those first couple of drinks, I do start to feel relaxed and comfortable in my own skin, so I crave that feeling more and more... so I drink more and more.

I know this is stupid and I need to change it. Those who have posted above about limiting your drinks and drinking soft drinks in between are absolutely right in my eyes as by allowing myself to go too far I am no longer in control, I don't want to be "drunk" I want to feel relaxed and happy and a couple of drinks is more than enough for that!

But what interests me here are the discussions on hangovers, I currently don't take any meds, but my hangovers are awful and my palpitations are so much worse when hungover. I think I have been in denial of this and told myself I am suffering from a hangover the same as anyone else would.. however reading this thread makes me realize alcohol and anxiety is not something to take lightly and having more control would probably lead to better managed symptoms longer term?

I know that its the alcohol causing the increased palpitations, but I wonder now how much more I may be being effected without realizing the few days after a night of heavy drinking! Its not really worth one night of feeling relaxed and comfortable if the after effects are much worse for days afterward.

I suppose the only way of knowing is cutting down long term and monitoring any changes.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Well, for as much as I know it is highly recommended NOT to drink alcohol while you are on ANY drugs but i can say that you should be especially wary when it comes to DEPRESSION medications and alcohol since both of them can interfere with your brain and do... oh well, I guess only God knows what it can do and other people who went through it. I personally also suffer from Depression plus Anxiety, and I also take drugs (https://drugreviews.org/anxiety-stress-l72), but I never risk drinking alcohol while I'm on them. having this said, since I have started on them - never drank anything at all (not even a beer). I'm trying to be very responsible since depression meds are no joke.

Antidepressants work with areas of the brain e.g. SSRI's down regulate the receptors with long term use and increase re uptake of existing Serotonin through flooding & stimulation.

That's one example. They are not interfering with your brain, simply impacting on an existing process.

It's a responsible thing to do to say you will cut out our restrict alcohol, it's just not always necessary, but personal choice is to be respected.

---------- Post added at 13:20 ---------- Previous post was at 13:09 ----------

Green Owl,

Alcohol causes your Serotonin to be used up much quicker and anxiety disorders and depression are known for showing lower levels of this. It doesn't affect us all but it could be this or a mixture of issues. I'm symptom focused with my GAD and physical sensations that never would have bothered me before have been a trigger for me through my anxiety so the mind can certainly are to a hangover, especially more sensitised you are i.e. the earlier in recovery you are.

So, really if you cause too much Serotonin to be used up in a night out your body will need to create more. But how will it do that to rebalance itself until you've eaten enough L-Tryptophan to give it the precursor? Remember too that this has to be eaten without composition from other amino acids so it's not a question of eating a high protein meal, your body needs carbs which encourage the L-Tryptophan to be used as opposed to carried away with the other amino acids. Eating L-Tryptophan without those amino acids will accomplish the same as eating it with carbs.

So, perhaps part of it is due to this? After all, we get prescribed SSRI's to reduce our use of Serotonin.

Alcohol also causes a bit of dopamine to be used too hence wanting more alcohol to keep that feeling going. Dopamine is part of the reward system and so this maybe why substance misusers keep chasing the high.

[Green Owl]

Thank you MyNameIsTerry

I am going to try cutting down, it wont be easy for me as I am from a family of big drinkers and my social groups are also big drinkers!

[dmc1892]

my biggest problem is even though i hate admitting this etc when i was younger i would go out drink that would be fine , then me and all my mates moved onto the white stuff when out drinking, unbelievably stupid, i firmly believe this brung all my anxiety back and is the reason i am anxious again as i went years without being anxious. all my friends still do it but i avoid it now as i cannot deal with 3-5 days of feeling like nervous wreck and also the health issus it can bring.

embarrassed to admit all that but best to be honest so you can understand why i am this way and how you can fix all this