Alcohol anxiety

[mufc1982]

I have to drink a couple of beers before i even go to the pub to calm my anxiety down but once i start i drink pints really fast and its nothing to do with my anxiety then because by then the beers have took it away.i wouldnt be able to reduce the amounts i drink i know that i should just stop all together but its scary thinking about a life without the only thing that takes my anxiety away.i know there are things that should be more important but everything goes out the window and i get tunnelvision and its so selfish.i feel like crap

[Phuzella]

Don't go to the pub

[MyNameIsTerry]

You need some help for the reasons the anxiety is there, which can be part of addressing the binge drinking, since it's all come from that traumatic event that caused your brain injury.

If the anxiety wasn't there, how would you feel about drinking? Could you have stronger self control and be moderate?

If you are part of a hard drinking crowd though, you are going to have to address that too at some point. If they won't respect your moderation, you may have to cut some ties. I did this many years ago with friends who use cocaine on nights out.

[Mojo61]

Only take £20 with you next time. You're not going to get 20 pints with that.

---------- Post added at 10:22 ---------- Previous post was at 10:06 ----------

You'll still be standing, too.

---------- Post added at 10:28 ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 ----------

A little over 22 months sober now. Ironically, I didn't follow my own advice (here) by slowly reducing consumption, I just stopped. I don't know exactly why I just stopped. I suppose it was a number of reasons that all co-occurred. Embarrassment/shame, drinking is an expensive pastime, the drudgery of being a slave to alcohol, the secrecy, and the last concern was probably the most important, that I shouldn't be drinking with the medication I take. I think the drudgery and secrecy sealed the deal.

Well done on being sober for 22 months Justinian, that is a fantastic achievement!

Like you I just stopped one day - September 17th 2007 to be precise - so I have been alcohol free for almost 9 years now. Best day's work I ever did x

[mufc1982]

Its alls weve ever done since being young teenagers but my girlfriend had our first child this year and i need to grow up and get some resonsibiity.it sounds like it should be so simple but its just not happening.its drinking that started my anxiety off in the first place i got hit while i was drunk and fractured my skull on the kerb and the brain injury has left me with this crippling anxiety.none of my mates know how i suffer its not like i can just man up and suck it up its pure hell

[Justinian]

Well done on being sober for 22 months Justinian, that is a fantastic achievement!

Like you I just stopped one day - September 17th 2007 to be precise - so I have been alcohol free for almost 9 years now. Best day's work I ever did x

Good for you, too! :-)

I think (it'll be in an old diary or calendar to confirm) mine was 22 October 2014. It was certainly late October 2014. I might check later.

Since then I have declined any invitation to drink. Weddings, funerals, anniversaries, Christmas, birthdays, parties (like I go to parties...) all involve no booze for me.

But then, like you (I presume), I was never an alcoholic. I was a binge drinker. I could reluctantly go without alcohol for a day or two or occasionally a week, but I didn't need it to get rid of withdrawal symptoms because I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms.

Strangely, I very rarely had a 'typical' hangover. I was just thirsty in the morning.

Easily solved.

---------- Post added at 16:10 ---------- Previous post was at 15:54 ----------

By "drudgery" and "obsession" I mean that as a binge drinker and person who self-medicated with alcohol, my whole life revolved around booze. Even as I was drinking one pint or a large whisky, I was thinking (more like worrying) about how much I had left. i.e. I was thinking about my next drinks. Then each day would include monitoring how much alcohol I had left in the house and when and where I was going to buy more. Every single day and even on days that I didn't drink anything, I still thought/worried about drinking and I still bought alcohol so I'd have it ready for next time. This obsession became mind-numbingly tedious and expensive and if that wasn't bad enough on its own then I regularly embarrassed or humiliated myself when I was drunk. The tolerance to alcohol that I had created also played a large part in my decision to stop - I needed to drink a lot in the end to get any positive feeling. Two pints of Carlsberg Special Brew (two 500ml cans, which is near enough, and which I think is 9 units?) hardly did anything. That was just for starters. I often had that before morning group therapy sessions and I was horrified at the little effect it had on me. I was still anxious. At 10am I'd buy it at a newsagent's near the therapy place and soon enough he refused to serve me!

[cz75robert]

I've been where you're at. I'm still there to some extent. Not 20, or even 10, but I still have a few to relieve stress when things get bad. Lately it's been every day, but only 1-3 beers a day.
Best advice I can give is to try to remember, "Drink the 1st one, sip the 2nd one, refuse the 3rd one." But like others have said, trying to stay sober is a good goal, and something I need to strive for myself.

[Wjason]

I had a similar problem and know deep down in my heart help isnt at the bottom of the glass... I know its very hard to see that and it helps me in some respect but it also does allot of damage to me and makes me make allot of mistakes...