Alcohol impact on anxiety

[anxietyrecovery]

Just wanted to see peoples experiences with alcohol with anxiety. I am a no med GAD sufferer.

I find I am anxious at first when out then I relax after a couple of drinks. However since I have anxiety the day after hangovers are awful and my anxiety goes through the roof.

Last night I struggled to sleep as my anxiety was so bad in bed and I have been sleeping ok. Your experiences would be gratefully received.

[crazyhayz]

I cannot drink coz as soon as i get to that 'tipsy' stage, i have panic attack and huge anxious feelings. My vision goes blurry and i feel totally detached from my body. Horrible feeling, so i gave up alcohol altogether.

[GlasgowGuy]

This is just my personal story.

I found when I started feeling bad around 8 years ago I started drinking more and more to chill out and block out the feelings. Had a drink in the house one night and next thing is i wake up in my bed next morning. No recollection of putting myself to bed. I thought 'whoa' this needs to stop and seek help with my anxiety/stress. Thought I'd stop drinking for a couple of months before going to the Doc so we could rule it out as I knew the prob was there before drinking heavy. Well that was almost seven years ago I stopped drinking. Am I now anxiety/panic/depression free? No. Do I think it would be worse for ME if I was still taking a drink? Yes.

That's just my story on me and my view of alcohol and how it affects me.

Hope been some kinda use.

[Dahlia]

I rarely drink and when I do I feel terrible afterwards. Alcohol affects your blood sugar level - and low blood sugar levels can make you feel anxious, shaky, sick, sweaty etc - which may be why the hangover is so bad anxiety-wise the next day.

[PPJAYE]

Hi

I have in the past relied on alcohol as a kind of social crutch. However, since getting poorly with depression/anxiety this year I have found that alcohol makes me more anxious so am now avoiding it ! Kind of hoping that once I get over this I will still be able to enjoy a drink now and then but at the moment I'm staying away

P x

[tones27tga]

Hi there, I find drinking alcohol and having a cigarette (the two go hand in hand for me) can bring on palpitations which brings on anxiety.

Palpitations for me are worse at certain times of the month so at these times I avoid alcohol but during the good time of the month I enjoy a drink with friends.

[Sit2Know]

Alcohol binds to the GABA neurotransmitter in the same area as benzodiazepine tranquilizers. Even in small doses it unregulates the receptors so that 12 to 72 hours later it requires more GABA to quiet the upregulation.....too little GABA and you get panic, anxiety and all the fun stuff. People with anxiety disorders have been theorized to have too little GABA.....another FYI is that caffeine blocks GABA from binding so you can have really big anxiety........and stress destroys GABA!!!

Plus alcohol really pisses off the all the neurons and neurotransmitters. You brain has no pain sensors so the only way is can say ouch is to cause many strange and painful symptoms...like anxiety and panic...and the effect can be delayed days after drinking.

If you want to know what your brain thinks about swimming in alcohol wait until you have a really big cut and pour rubbing alcohol on the cut.

Lastly alcohol is a lipid (fat) solvent.....your brain is 85% fat and every nerve sheath in your body is covered in lipid compounds.....when the nerve sheaths break down you get MS, Alzheimer's and other neurological disorders of neuronal misfiring.

James

[Anxious_gal]

apparently it's considered binge drinking if you have more than four drinks.
I haven't drank in months but when I did drink I found up to 3 drinks was ok for me, because after 3 drinks I would find my self wanting more drinks to keep my Buzz going!
after one night of drinking years ago , I spend hours suffering from the worst panic and anxiety!
so i think one or two drinks is ok for a night out.

[Emz]

I get this too. I loved drinking and was drinking far too much (a litre of vodka at a time) but I didn't want to stop because I enjoyed drinking so much. Since quitting 12 days ago I've felt the best I have in a long time. I've even had 3 anxiety free days!

Last night in the middle of the night I heard a window smash and we thought it was in the house. It wasn't, it was next doors upstairs window. Usually it takes a lot less than this to set me off. I was a bit scared for 10 minutes but no panic attack and no anxiety symptoms.

This morning I woke up to more smashing and found a fireman smashing another one of next doors windows. This didn't cause a panic attack either. Send my husband out to ask what had gone on. Turned out the roof has collapsed. Usually I'd be like omgg omgggg the roof is going to fall in and I'm going to dieeeeee. But no, nothing. Quitting alcohol has been the best thing I've EVER done.

[Desprate Dan]

Well done Emz on quitting alcohol, i use to drink alot on a weekend in my mid to late teens, but for days later i would feel out of sorts, nervous on edge feeling, which i now know as anxiety. So for me alcohol mad my anxiety worse, it was okay whilst drinking the alcohol relaxed me but once it started ware off i became nervous and shakey..