Mental Health Anxiety and Alcohol

[Mendo_K]

Ive done a bit of reading on the issue online but I thought I need to put this in here, apologies if its not in the right section. I was seeing if this was normal or am I completely strange, or if anyone else gets this. I am 22

Basically after a single night of drinking booze the next day or 2 is pretty much chaos and id wished death a few times rather than endure it. Basically it starts with shortness of breath, barely being able to breathe and getting that jumping forward in shock when not being able to get any breath, the next 12 hours are basically me concentrating on my breathing and trying not too pass out. My head feels like its violently shaking inside itself,,,

Amid this I am sweating profusely and can feel palpitations in my heart, I get the feeling of terror or something very bads about to happen, this continues on and off.. I cant concentrate on anything, when it gets bad ive also had hallucinations that what I am seeing speeds up really fast for a few seconds as the terror increases and get extremely restless and i have convinced myself i was going completely fucking crazy before and burst into tears as it was that bad (aye im a softie). I have passed out once before also at work, but its basically a feeling that I am about to die and this goes on for almost all day.

Its really hard to describe it, ive tried to a few doctors and I have been fobbed off saying I had some thing that regular fit kids get when they are very active? Didnt even push them on it, I did some research and it sounds like anxiety so I started buying diazepam online and diazepam completley stops this all for me, so that pretty much confirms it is anxiety? The thing is it returns a few hours after the diazepam has worn off and when I run out the only thing that I can get that stops it is more alcohol so it continues.

Its started happening though just randomly in crowded places etc so i think need to revisit a doctor, they really dont want to prescribe me benzos though I can tell and I dont know what to tell them to sound like im not just drug hunting. A lot of these people, my mother is there manager 8( so I dont know if its influencing there decision. Its got to a stage where though its happening so often and frequently now it needs sorting, otherwise im going no where.

tl;dr and all that just wondering if anyone gets such bad symptoms similar to this? I think I know what triggered it a few years ago.

 

[deficiT]

Alcohol is notorious for increasing symptoms of anxiety and depression, especially when abused. I have gone through alcohol withdrawal, and I have dealt with some of the symptoms you describe. But, I will say, that the side effects you are describing sound extreme. How much do you drink?

Benzos really will help in the short term, but, like alcohol, in the long term, they will only make your anxiety worse. Benzos are a tough script to get as well, especially if you have a history of alcohol/drug abuse.

My advice is to visit a doctor or psychiatrist, and be honest with them about your situatuon. Hopefully they can help you out. And of course, if you really want to stop all of these alcohol related anxiety side effects, please cut back or stop drinking alcohol completely.

 

[Mendo_K]

please cut back or stop drinking alcohol completely.

Yeah i understand the answer is basically staring me in the face but id rather try a cure first. Thats why my doctor didnt think it was alcohol withdrawals because it is so apparent after just 1 day/night, the most extreme times happen often are after day 2 or 3 but to be happening after just 1 day I too thought was odd. It can really depend probally about a litre of vodka and a few beers but sometimes its bad after say only 8 pints of beer, which I wouldnt say was a large amount over several hours.

 

[deficiT]

Yeah it seems like your symptoms are a little extreme, unless you're a daily extremely heavy drinker. So I don't know what to tell you, other than when you do drink, try and drink a less. Especially the vodka. It's one thing to have a few pints of beer over several hours, but when you drink a liter of vodka, you should expect to feel like shit. Definitely try and drink less, and see what the doctor says.

Im no doctor, but as someone around your age that deals with anxiety on the daily, I can assure you that, the more you drink, the worse your anxiety rebound will be the next day or two, physically and mentally. Everyone's different, but this is how alcohol affects me. Good luck with everything.

 

[Mysterie]

thats a lot of alcohol to have in 1 night

using benzos to combat anxiety from using alcohol is going to fk you long term if you get a benzo habit

i have a good time drunk only when im already feeling really happy and confident before i start drinking

 

[T. Calderone]

^ I think it's tolerance built up because what seems like an extreme amount of alcohol to one person can be another person's typical day. Alcohol is masking the anxiety symptoms so naturally when you stop using, it returns even worse. Benzos will put you into the same dilemma. They will stave off the anxiety attacks but as you've seen, when they wear off you're back where you started.

It bothers me that doctors have fobbed it off like that and perhaps it does have something to do with your mother already giving them her opinion. It doesn't sound like alcohol withdrawals to me either. The sweating and pounding heart are symptoms of anxiety, passing out from this must have scared you greatly! Like shroom said, make an appointment with a psychiatrist and you will need to be honest. Tell him/her all that you've told us here and you will feel so much better. There are other medications and therapies you can try because you have to get to the very root of all this anxiety. Please don't be scared to ask for help.

 

[Mendo_K]

passing out from this must have scared you greatly! Like shroom said, make an appointment with a psychiatrist and you will need to be honest. Tell him/her all that you've told us here and you will feel so much better. There are other medications and therapies you can try because you have to get to the very root of all this anxiety. Please don't be scared to ask for help.

Thanks, I think it was the point where I knew it needed to get sorted out, because feeling like your about to die, and then passing out surpassed it. Sometimes its often made 10x worse though by stimulants or even weed. No sleep and even caffeine can trigger it, weed brings on similar panic attacks. I will see if they recommend a psychiatrist or not on the NHS, basically just going to have to explain everything, put it off for far too long.

Look up ways to deal with general anxiety and relaxing breathing techniques etc. These will actually help a bit and its a start. If your mum works at your doctors you should probably think about changing docs where u can start afresh and honestly.

What do u think started it a few years ago?...too private then don't say.

Good luck..........btw When I was your age I was drinking about the same amount as were- not recommended at all but not that crazy.

Yeah thanks I have tried this in the past, sometimes though its just so severe I cant even think but when its mild I have tried to combat it. It could just be born into my genes though, was just a period of a few weeks where I was fearing for my life (could just been over thinking it) but didnt sleep for 4+days at a time etc just thinking about it.. (I went to the doc with the symptons for the first time shortly after.. but didnt have the balls to say "yes" when he asked if id have a traumatic event recently and then never said anything since), I was on edge at every noise ended up moving out for a while. Then again could be the amount of drugs I did when I was15-17, though none of my friends are like this.

Anyway ty for the advice ill take it on board, benzos are just the miracle cure 8) and taking the easy root seems right at the minute, though know its not going to go away, so will seek new advice from a new docs I think. enough of me chunnering away I think for the time being. cheers

 

[ebola?]

Please tell us more about your patterns of usage. With regular usage at high doses, people can really get sensitized to the anxiogenic effects of the hangover, as it comes to resemble withdrawal-proper more and more closely.

ebola

 

[Mendo_K]

Please tell us more about your patterns of usage. With regular usage at high doses, people can really get sensitized to the anxiogenic effects of the hangover, as it comes to resemble withdrawal-proper more and more closely.

ebola

@Bob thanks again, much needed push to get it sorted really.


@ebola patterns of usage? I would say friday and saturday always usually , and then maybe once or twice within the week but not always, can fall on any day really, thats why I think its not really a high usage, sometimes it can be only once in a week but still occur quite badly. I think its the perfect storm sometimes though, its at its worse when I am working the next day and dealing with customers, thats when the worst of the symptoms come out because there are often several people looking/directly talking to me and I can barely even look at them, sometimes have to walk off and sit in a room on my own and the symptoms become less severe. Not sure if that was of any use at all, thanks

 

[ebola?]

How much do you typically drink per session?

ebola