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Drinking alcohol makes Anxiety worse?

40K views 49 replies 40 participants last post by  jeffhughes192 
#1 ·
I was drinking this past weekend. Friday I drank all day. Saturday I also drank but not as much. I
mostly had vodka and rum mixed of course. On Saturday my anxiety level started to get high but it was somewhat manageable. Sunday I came home. I didn't drink but my anxiety was through the roof the whole day. I tried to relax but I couldn't. I slept for a bit and felt a little better when I woke up. I also didn't sleep very much the whole weekend which probably didn't help either.
Thankfully today my anxiety is much much much better. It's been at least a few months since I drank a lot of alcohol in a few days but I didn't realize how much worse it can make your anxiety.

Edit: Looks like I am not the only one. I read that if you drink in moderation your anxiety should be fine. Whereas if you drank to the point where your wasted than your anxiety will be much worse.

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/in ... 951AANDetm
 
#2 ·
Hey mate,
I think like most sufferers of SA i enjoy the inhibition drinking brings but from experience i know the heavier you drink the more your nerves will pay the day after. As I’ve done myself, I think it's best to cut down on drinking until the problem is fixed.
 
#6 ·
I wasn't nervous and didn't need any Xanax at all after my worst drinking experience. A couple years ago I was so pissed off at life and just wanted to sleep, so I chugged half a liter of spiced rum (I stopped at half as the was all that was left in the bottle).

I was smart enough to get myself into bed while I could still stand & walk without falling. I fell asleep as I wanted, but woke up about 4 hours later and was too weak to get out of bed, so I ended up vomiting all over. The next day I felt like crap and just laid around with a barf bucket that was repeatedly needed. I couldn't have consumed any Xanax even if I wanted to as I'd have just barfed it up in a short time. I was dehydrated by the alcohol, but drinking water just gave my gut further ammo to spew like a water cannon.

I didn't feel at all nervous though as I laid on the sofa hoping for death to relieve me of the hangover from hell. Once I recovered in about 36 hours I had to spend a whole day washing everything on my bed as I manged to hit everything in site with vomit.
 
#14 ·
NeedleInTheHay said:
I drink heavy quite a bit and I never notice any difference the next day whether I drank a ton or didn't have a drop of alcohol.
Interesting. I used to drink a lot a few years ago, or at least more regularly. But I never really paid attention to how I felt the next day in terms of anxiety. Now I do pay attention to it which is why I might notice it now. But I also don't drink regularly anymore. Who knows. Everyone's body and tolerance is different. All I know is to me it's not a good feeling the next day.
 
#15 ·
For me it is actually the reverse. I feel like whatever is pushing me down is gone, probably because i'm not thinking too much and just going for whatever my instincts are telling me. People have even complimented on how funny i am or happy i am. However, this just makes me feel bad because when i don't drink i'm that nervous person.
 
#18 ·
bbarn said:
For me it is actually the reverse. I feel like whatever is pushing me down is gone, probably because i'm not thinking too much and just going for whatever my instincts are telling me. People have even complimented on how funny i am or happy i am. However, this just makes me feel bad because when i don't drink i'm that nervous person.
Totally, same here. The more I drink the better people seem to like me (unless I'm past the point where I'm starting to be annoying), although I don't drink that often. But it makes me feel bad 'cause I want to be that person more of the time but I know drinking all the time won't help my cause and will create another problem altogether.

Still it's fun while it lasts, has never made me anxious at all.
 
#21 ·
Alcohol definitely never made my anxiety worse, probably why I drink so much. As for the next morning, I never noticed a difference unless I'd done something stupid the night before. Drinking heavily multiple days in a row takes a toll mentally and physically though.
 
#23 ·
Alcohol didn't make mine worse, it made it much better. Unfortunately, when I discovered this, I began to drink everyday, and the amounts I was drinking just kept increasing and increasing until I started getting in trouble with the Navy (I got a general discharge for alcohol rehabilitation failure) and civilian police. I've been sober for almost 6 months now, and its hard cause I really want to experience the freedom from SA that alcohol gave me again, but there has to be another way that doesn't kill my body =/
 
#25 ·
oh I just remembered something (because I was drinking last night):

alcohol makes me look like **** to myself when I look in the mirror. I really don't understand this. I don't look at other people and think they look bad. maybe I see myself less biasedly. or maybe I actually look different when I drink?? I was at a show last night with some people and I had like 4 drinks and when I went to the bathroom the effect happened which half ruined my night.

anyone else have this problem?
 
#26 ·
first time i was heavily intoxicated i noticed immediately that i was much less self conscious of myself, particularly my appearance...like i could stare in the mirror at myself carelessly for minutes. when i'm sober i can barely look at a reflection of myself.

it was interesting though, it was like experiencing what it would be like to not have SA.

alchohol definitely makes me feel like i could say anything to anyone and not give a **** about what they thought, which is kind of dangerous if you think about it.
 
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