HA and alcohol

[enigmatique]

I was just wondering how people find alcohol interacts with their HA. Personally I don't drink when I'm having anxiety problems as it just makes me worse, but when I'm well I drink a little, and enjoy it.

[Lawton86]

Alchol really cures my anxiety. It makes me really brave and kinda not botherd about anything if that makes sense. So probably makes me more stupid. BUT i do relax sooo much with alchol! the next day is the killer tho. Anxiety has me crawling up the walls.

We all know anxiety cant harm us, and for 95% of people ive spoke too alchol really calms their anxiety for the night. aslong as you dont turn alcholic and just use it as a sedative when u really want to do things, special occasions etc etc and u dont get soo drunk u make an ass of yaself...i cant see their being any harm in wanting to enjoy a night-out with friends.

[enigmatique]

I'm completely the opposite - I had bout half a glass of wine last night and was climbing the walls with anxiety, first time I've ever wondered if I was actually going mad :wacko:

[nomorepanic]

I disagree Lawton - alcoholism comes about by those with anxiety that use it to get out and can't do things without it!

Bad idea to drink just so you can do things.

[enigmatique]

One of my friends had vaginismus and her oh-so-helpful GP told her to have a couple of glasses of wine before trying to have sex and she'd be fine :doh: took her a fair bit of counselling to overcome THAT problem.

[Lawton86]

yeh, my previous post didnt quite come across as what i meant. By doing things etc etc, i eman really speacial occasions like family wedding or seeing friends u havnt seen for a long time, like once every 2 months or somthing . If 2 glasses of wine make you feel brave enough to do it then why stay inside and not do it in them circumstances.

Also half a glass of wine may lift my anxiety levels too. but 3 glasses of wine and im relaxed and feel like i can enjoy a good night and be funny and not worry about that twitch i just felt or did my heart just miss a beat etc etc.

[enigmatique]

I've never been a big drinker - I'm only tiny and it goes straight to my head! - so for me 3 glasses of wine is a big night out! No way I could drink that just to 'chill out'.

[Lawton86]

hehe, think ive just got used to alchol abit too much. Probs bit of a binge drinking 22 year old before this anxiety problem kicked in. i can happily drink a bottle of wine to myself b4 i even head out on the night to start drinking.

But boy is my heart racing the next day!

[tamo]

hi, Talking from experience ,using alcohol to feel normal led to me becoming a full blown alcoholic .i wont go into detail but my advice to you is to be careful with alcohol if using it to feel normal . Everyone is very different though ,what is ok for one might be the start of a nightmare for another .

Good luck

[mummyto4]

I have used alcohol to help my HA on a night time. Its a quick fix though and doesn't help in the long run, in fact I felt worse as I have put weight on and feel bad about myself as well as the HA so I stopped and keep alcohol strictly to fri and sat nights only

[SocialTool]

I cannot drink alcohol at all. I don't like anything that makes me feel "out of control". If I do have a glass of wine and i get a little buzzed, i actually get anxious.

[always-ill]

This is an iteresting poll. I wasnt sure whether it meant do you feel better or worse whilst on alcohol, or the day after but I took it as the former and voted that I felt better. A drink in the evening really calms me down and enough will make me feel the most healthy and happiest I have ever felt :-) But afterwards, for up to two days after, my HA and depression goes through the roof. I am not an addict, I only drink 2 or maybe 3 times a week and reguarly have a rest from it altogether for a few weeks to clean my system, funnily enough, these are the times when I am at my best, but I would hate to cut out alcohol altogether and miss out on those real happy times!

[enigmatique]

I hadn't thought about a difference between response to alcohol immediately vs next day because when I drink my anxiety shoots up immediately, so it didn't occur to me.