Anxiety and depression for days after binge drinking

this is the place ive been looking to. im also a hard drinker and usually passes out and there would be some memories flash backs after i recover from it by the next day and im really worried about it. what would they say about me, what have i done. i really want to quit alcohol. but everytime i do alcohol finds me. Maybe you are right to stand for a choice and live with it even it takes away the fun but also takes away the anxiety i would feel after passing out from a drink session.

So happy I found this thread.  I've been battling hypochondriasis, anxiety (with substantial physical symptoms), and depression for the past six months, and I'm slowly realizing that alcohol (and weed) is not helping, and perhaps the cause. Now a senior in college (22), I spent a large portion of my junior year binge drinking several times a week.  I finally stopped doing so during my summer employment, when I started smoking and drinking again I sunk into a state of panic, mostly caused by physical symptoms.  I just went on ski trip (two nights of drinking), and am in a complete state.  Can't control thoughts, am hypersensitive, and am pretty hopeless - can't get any school work done.  Just to be clear, alcohol won't leave you in a permanent state of panic will it? Once again, glad I found this.  Thanks to the original poster. Stu

Nearly everybody experiences a little bit of post anxiety after drinking, thats called a hangover.

Its also referred to as "the drinkers remorse" the feelings of guilt and self loathing following a binge. Ive always suffered from this because I know that I am not a responsible drinker, which means I have a higher than normal tendency to do or say something stupid. Im coming off a two dayer right now. I woke up hungover as hell yesterday morning and instead of bearing a few hours of normal pain, I started drinking tequila and was drunk again by 10am. Ridiculous. Clearly I am one of those guys who shouldnt be drinking any alcohol!

And to provide some advice for those of you who have decided once again to abstain from the booze: during your detox incorporate FRESH juice into your daily diet. Go buy a juicer for 30 bucks and just go nuts on some fruit and veggies. This has always helped me rebound from a vicious bender. Good luck!

Hi im 29 years old and like most people my age like to go out and party. I used to be fine after a weekend of partying but only recently i have started feeling severely depressed and have moments of sheer panic and anxiety. I have probably been drinking most weekends since i turned 18 and have also spent the best part of 3 years travelling and partying pretty hard around the world. I sometimes think that these feelings are a way of our body telling us enough is enough and we need to quit.  I used to only get these feelings of depression and anxiety for 1-2 days max after a hard night of partying but now they seem to last until the following weekend. I feel down 80% of the time and feel like im never going to feel like my old self again. Im planning on travelling to thailand in a few months and instead of looking forward to it and being excited im worried that im going to feel down after partying when im there. I recently went 3 weekends in a row without drinking and i must admit my anxiety and depression did ease, although i didn't feel 100% i felt better. Im really trying to avoid going down the road of taking anti depressants but if i carry on feeling as down as i do it might be the only way. Im going to give up the drink for a while now and see how it effects my moods. Its good to know that im not the only one who goes through this. Although i do worry that maybe its not the binge drinking at all and that maybe i just have a mental problem, but the fact that i feel much worse after a drinking session does suggest that it may be the main cause of these feelings. Anyway i shall keep you posted on how being dry makes me feel  

Hey everybody, I wanted to share my experience with you all being that I really owe many thanks and much gratitude to those that have posted their stories before me.  I too loved the drink.. I'd commonly binge on Sundays all day as well as Friday and Saturday nights after work... it made me feel great and I would even tell my girlfriend that I loved the way I felt when I drank and wish I could feel that way all the time.  That should have been the first warning, but I didn't think much past it.  My entire relationship and other past relationships have circled around partying, and getting drunk, going out and just having a good time.  I suppose my depression and anxiety didn't really manifest itself until I became single and was still doing this, and beforehand the negative side effects manifested in mood swings and impatience with life. Eventually, the aftereffect of the morning depression- feeling like I was the worst person on the planet and the consuming guilt of behaving the way I did- uncontrolled drinking and risks with driving- were too much to bear..  The feelings of guilt and depression would consume me the entire day, sometimes several.  Drinking the next day would often be a solution but it would catch up eventually and it could take a few more days for my mind and body to "clear up". I sought out help one morning after awakening and found this thread.  It was really encouraging and eye-opening to read about so many accounts of others who had gone through the same feelings I had.  After reading, I told myself that it is not worth it to feel the way that I feel after a night of binging.  It seemed others had it ever worse than myself and I also didn't want to temp fate into a even more destructive path. Granted, I have tried in the past to tell myself, oh I'll just have two or three drinks at the bar- but that would never happen and I'd end up having 7 or 8 and spend 100's of dollars doing so also buying for others.  But this morning was somehow different, and I felt that it really was important to eliminate alcohol completely from my life- reading about everyone elses' experiences spoke to me in a way that said, "this stuff is going to destroy you- look how it has destroyed others."   I thought that I might need some support doing so- perhaps an AA meeting, but instead I opted for my own firm commitment.   I am back here for the first time since that night, and have not had a drink since then.  I have gone through thanksgiving and christmas parties, new year's eve, been to a bar, various other "drinking" parties, and a new first date and not a drop consumed. I realize this thread isn't about announcing your sobriety, but I came here seeking help and I think I received the best kind possible.   I'm not sure if the outcome would have been the same otherwise, or if I would have stopped either way, but I think the fact that I am back here speaking of my story says I do owe it to everyone here, and for that I wholeheartedly thank you.  I did say a prayer for those that asked for it and I hope that those seeking help and that are hurting from this vice are able to pull themselves out of despair and live a more fulfilled life without drinking.   Learning how to function and be "fun" without drinking is a challenge in the beginning, and I found that it's because I relied upon it so heavily in order to function in social circumstances beforehand.  But months later, and committing myself to doing it, has made it much much easier as time goes on.  All of you seeking help, look inside yourselves and know that you are absolutely not alone in this world, that there are ways to stop feeling this way, and it doesn't have to be like this.   I wish you all the best I can give from the bottom of my heart.

Congratulations to you Phoenix! It took courage to do what you have done and I and I'm sure many others will thank you for taking the time to come back and update this site. I've been playing with the "devil" this past weekend and suffered a full blown panic ridden past two days. I am coming to realize that just because I don't drink every day, does not mean that I'm not an alcoholic. I cannot stop at one or two drinks. I must have enough to make me black out or I'm not happy. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that I definitely have a problem. The past two days has made me think that I need to talk to someone, anyone who has suffered from alcohol induced anxiety. This site has helped get me through the past two days. I also confided in my mother what was going on (I'm 44 BTW).  She was sympathetic but I'm not sure she realizes the scope of this. It's one of the most horrible things that has ever happened to me. Hopefully, I can find the strength to give up booze for good.

I am just coming off a binge and have the severe anxiety as well.  I've been to the ER 5 or 6 times after drinking because I thought I was dying too.  It's a crap ton of adrenaline I guess that goes through the body, causing pain all over and the passing out sensation which gave me the idea I was having a heart attack.  I have these feelings all day for a few days after binging and it's the worst thing I've ever felt.  I don't want to stop getting wasted with friends but I have to.  It sucks that we get sh*t on by this problem and other older people don't.  I'm only 29 and binge drinking makes me feel like death.  I don't know how the older people can do it for 30-40 years or more and not be affected by it.  Time for me to stop, though, because I'm sick of worrying that I'm having a heart attack or some crap.

This is a great thread with a lot of excellent comments.   One commenter above stated "It's called a hangover" kind of dismissively. Well, no Sherlock Holmes, a hangover is typically a day or 2 at most where one feels out of sorts, has a headache etc from drinking done the previously night. This thread is about feeling terrible, and experiencing severe anxiety and depression for many days going on a week after drinking, which is not what one typically considers a hangover. Got it? About time.   I think the poster above who said that when we see people in the bar all happy we are only seeing a tiny part of the alcohol experience is dead on. You are seeing people get their fix at a minimum coming out of withdrawal. You don't see the puking later, the miserable attitude and poor quality decisions, judgement and work done by these people negatively affecting everything around them. You don't see the hell alcohol creates. And that is exactly what alcohol does. It creates suffering.   There is nothing good about alcohol. It's best qualities, which is to act as a social lubricant and "beneficial" effects on the heart, are a scam and a half. Alcohol prevents one from learning quality social skills and being present in the moment accepting themselves. The health claims of moderate and even less than moderate drinking are falling apart by the hour as more studies come out linking small amounts of alcohol, which is a potent class one carcinogen, to all sorts of increased cancer risk. Just the other day a study was released which showed that when older folks added tiny amounts of alcohol to their diet, their risks of dementia when up significantly. This when up more the more alcohol consumed.   Many people like to distinguish binge drinking type of alcoholism from regular daily binge drinking alcoholism, even questioning if one day a week of heavy drinking is an alcohol problem or alcoholism, especially with it being so common. Few people know that binge drinking is actually the most dangerous and unhealthy form of alcoholism/drinking there is. What I mean, very directly, is that drinking 10 drinks one day a week is worse in many ways than drinking 10 drinks everyday. This may not seem logical. If a little is bad, then a lot if worse. For one, binge drinking is strongly associated with accidents and crime. The reason this is the case is the same reason why the binge pattern of drinking is so bad for health, especially for the brain. The reason has to do with adaptation. If you drink heavily regularly, a very unhealthy thing to do, your body makes certain adaptations. For one, you do get more acclimated to the drunk state and usually will fit it into a routine which will likely make accidents less likely. Binging is often unplanned, and will usually create an intense high and euphoria, causing you to drink much more than you are adapted to, and you will be more subject to the effects then someone doing it daily. Blackouts are very common with binge drinking. As well, episodic binge drinking damages the brain quicker than daily heavy (binge) drinking. This is because when you stop drinking, the brain releases high amounts of glutamate which destroy brain cells through excitotoxicity. It is actually when you quit drinking initially when some damage is done. This stops and repair begins as long as one stays away. The binge pattern is essentially starting and stopping drinking, so your brain is always getting damaged and never healing. The heavy daily binge drinker, commonly referred to as an alcoholic, is not experiencing this in the same way because he is not stopping and not getting these very high releases of glutamate. This alone makes binge drinking a very unhealthy pattern of drinking.   From wiki:   "Binge drinking has the propensity to result in brain damage faster as well as more severely than chronic 'non stop' drinking (alcoholism), due to the neurotoxic effects of the repeated rebound withdrawal effects. The tolerance that occurs during chronic ('non-stop') drinking delays alcohol-related brain damage compared to binge drinking which induces immediate and repeated insults to the brain. The neurotoxic insults to the brain are due to very large amounts of glutamate being released on a repeated basis which over-stimulates the brain after each binge finishes, resulting in excitotoxicity.[8] The developing adolescent brain is thought to be particularly susceptible to the neurotoxic effects of binge drinking, with some evidence of brain damage occurring from drinking more than 4 or 5 drinks once or twice per month.[9]"     So, from toxic effects from drinking less than moderate to moderate amounts in the form of various cancers and dementia risk and the risk of developing alcohol abuse problems (many people start out as "moderate drinkers"), to binge drinking and its extreme health destructive effects to full on daily binging and its miserable existence, the only sensible thing to do is put a lot of effort in eliminating it from the diet, especially if you have the (common) once a week heavy drinking pattern.      

I have read through nearly all of the posts on here and... I believe that an important distinction needs to be made between people who suffer from alcoholism and those of us who have absolutely no addiction, problem, history, anything negative associated with alcohol whatsover except for this one little hangover problem... I am not an alcoholic, it does not run in my family, I do not have anxiety, I do not have depression. I drink alcohol about once every month. Yes sometimes I do drink quite a bit because usually I am drinking because I am going clubbing with friends, but I am drinking no less than any other party-goer around me at 2:00 AM in a packed bar of over 300 people... Yet...I wake up the next morning with an onset of mild to moderate depression, the next day subtle anxiety hits and I become jittery and worried for the next 2-3 days, then depression sets in again and I become apathetic until about 6 days later when I feel normal again. This happens regardless of how long I go without ever taking one sip of alcohol. PLEASE don`t misunderstand some of these posts and think that you have "the fear" or any other severe alcohol withdrawal symptom. PLEASE don`t think that this is the first sign of you falling into an alcoholic downward spiral. PLEASE don`t think that this is some kind extremely negative side effect that would limit you from drinking outright for the rest of your life. The reason for why this happens to us non alcoholics is not entirely known. I visited a few very highly accredited medical doctors and one phycologist about this issue (in the U.S, and overseas as well) and have been told that the reasons can be numerous. It is most likely psychological rather than any kind of vitamin deficiency or dehydration. The brain is incredibly difficult to understand, people react differently to different substances. I found that the best remedy is to learn to control your own brain. You can take the easy way and pop an anti-anxiety pill after a hangover which should work perfectly fine with little side effects as long as you control your doses. Or if you prefer the natural way you can try meditation (sounds silly, but trust me its proven), consulting a psychiatrist, eating healthier / exercise helps your brain psychically as well as gives you a nice "placebo" psychological boost. THERE IS NOTHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH YOU ! : )

I have read through nearly all of the posts on here and... I believe that an important distinction needs to be made between people who suffer from alcoholism and those of us who have absolutely no addiction, problem, history, anything negative associated with alcohol whatsover except for this one little hangover problem... I am not an alcoholic, it does not run in my family, I do not have anxiety, I do not have depression. I drink alcohol about once every month. Yes sometimes I do drink quite a bit because usually I am drinking because I am going clubbing with friends, but I am drinking no less than any other party-goer around me at 2:00 AM in a packed bar of over 300 people... Yet...I wake up the next morning with an onset of mild to moderate depression, the next day subtle anxiety hits and I become jittery and worried for the next 2-3 days, then depression sets in again and I become apathetic until about 6 days later when I feel normal again. This happens regardless of how long I go without ever taking one sip of alcohol. PLEASE don`t misunderstand some of these posts and think that you have "the fear" or any other severe alcohol withdrawal symptom. PLEASE don`t think that this is the first sign of you falling into an alcoholic downward spiral.                                                              PLEASE don`t think that this is some kind extremely negative side effect that would limit you from drinking outright for the rest of your life. The reason for why this happens to us non alcoholics is not entirely known. I visited a few very highly accredited medical doctors and one phycologist about this issue (in the U.S, and overseas as well) and have been told that the reasons can be numerous. It is most likely psychological rather than any kind of vitamin deficiency or dehydration. The brain is incredibly difficult to understand, people react differently to different substances. I found that the best remedy is to learn to control your own brain. You can take the easy way and pop an anti-anxiety pill after a hangover which should work perfectly fine with little side effects as long as you control your doses. Or if you prefer the natural way you can try meditation (sounds silly, but trust me its proven), consulting a psychiatrist, eating healthier / exercise helps your brain psychically as well as gives you a nice "placebo" psychological boost. THERE IS NOTHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH YOU ! : )

What happens is excessive alcohol consumption over an extended period of time results in your serotonin levels being messed up which results in Anxiety, same goes for the GABA receptors in your brain. Not to mention that alcohol robs you of B vitamins and also dehydrates you. All of this wreaks havoc on your brain.

Hello everyone.  I have been struggling with this since my early twenties.  I am now 28 and as most people have mentioned, it is getting worse.  I get extremely depressed after a night out drinking.  I usually only go out drinking once a month or even once every two months. I try not to go out much because of the way that I know I will feel for the next 2-3 days after drinking.  Though I don't drink often, I do feel that my drinking is a dangerous problem and very unhealthy for me.  In every other walk of life, I am a health nut.  I own a juicer and am always drinking green juice, lots of exercise, no soda, i limit sugar, i even drink alkaline water from a Kangen water machine!  I am all about health except for this one area of my life.  And, the craziest part is that I hate getting drunk!  I hate the way that I act when I'm drunk and the way I feel in the days following.  Don't get me wrong, I love to drink.....but there is a big difference between catching a buzz and drinking to the point of "black out drunk."  Every single time I do it, I have extreme regret.  And i never go into the night with the intension of getting wasted.  I go into the night telling myself that I will practice moderation and self control....but as soon as I get out into the social thick of it and there are shots being poured and everyone is drinking, laughing, and having a great time....I just get caught up and end up getting wasted 9 times out of 10.   In fact, this just happened last night.  Yesterday was the big St. Patty's Day celebration.  I was out at 11 am and did not get home til after midnight.  I got wasted, obviously.  I got separated from my friends.  I went with some guy (that I don't even know) to his apartment so that I could go smoke weed with him!  So careless and stupid!!!!  I lost my iPhone and left the bar without my coat.....this is a Chicago winter I'm talking about, it is not the kind of weather you go romping around without a coat on.  I just really scared myself last night.  Not only because I'm upset that I lost an expensive phone with all my info and lost pictures because I don't back up regularly, but I'm just freaked out by the fact that when I black out like that I am putting myself in real danger.  I'm a single girl in a big city and I'm not unfortunate looking, so getting black out drunk in a busy bar makes me an extremely easy target for those looking to take advantage of drunk girls.  And there is a big number of people that go to bars to prey on drunk girls.  My behavior could end up getting me raped or killed, or who knows what else.  I have been taken advantage of when drunk on more than one occasion.  I put myself in stupid situations and I don't act like myself when I'm drunk.....nearly every big regret I have in life has stemmed from alcohol related decisions.  You would think that by 28 years old, I would learn my lesson, but I keep putting myself in these situations time after time.  I over do it and get wasted and black out and put myself into dangerous situations.  Then the next day I am overwhelmed by paranoia, anxiety, and severe depression.  I don't want to get out of bed, yet I cannot sleep and usually wake up really early.  I often will shut my phone off so I don't have to talk to anyone.  I get extremely worried that I did something wrong or made myself look a fool or that I might have offended someone in some way.  I basically feel like I want to just crawl into a hole and die.  I don't want to see anyone I ran into while I was out....aside from the apology phone calls i make to my friends....who don't even understand what I'm apologizing for.  They don't feel the same regret, paranoia, and guilt as I do when I drink too much.  I don't feel this way if I didn't drink to the point of being too drunk, or if I didn't go out and just had some drinks with friends at home.  It's really just when I go out and get wasted that I have the anxiety and depression, but it's been steadily getting worse, so I don't want it to keep escalating.   I hate being drunk, and who really wants to be around a drunk chick??  I'm a cocktail server, so I know all about what it's like dealing with annoying wasted people, yet I keep falling into the same category.  I have felt for years that no one understands and I don't have anyone to talk to.  I talk to my mom about it and she is very loving and supportive, but she just doesn't understand why I keep doing the same thing over and over again when I know that I will feel this way afterwards.  Really, I don't know either.  I can't explain it, except that I like the social aspect of drinking, and I like the stage where I'm good and buzzed, but not wasted.  I always tell myself that I will stop before I'm too drunk, but by the time I am feeling buzzed I have already impaired my judgement and it's too late.  Plus once I get to a certain level of intoxication, all I want to do is take shots with people.....even though thats the worst thing I could possibly do!  Once I start the shots, it's all downhill.  Usually I will seem fine one minute and the next I'm out of control wasted.   I'm tired of this pattern and I'm just frustrated and depressed.  I know that this needs to stop, but if I haven't been able to stop before now, how will this time be any different?  I don't want to be this person anymore!  I hate myself when I do this and I feel like a waste of life.  I feel like no one likes me and that I'm just a stupid mess who gets too drunk and acts like an idiot.  I'm just ready to change this part of my life.  In fact, this is the first time I have ever looked this condition up online.  I had no idea that there were this many people out there suffering from the same thing!  Though it is sad...it is relieving at the same time, because now I don't feel so alone and I don't feel that I am crazy.  There's comfort in knowing that there are many others who share the same thoughts and feelings as I do.   I just don't know if I can completely stop drinking.  I love to drink, i just don't like getting wasted. This is so hard.  Even as I'm typing this right now, I keep replaying last night over in my head.  I keep trying to remember what I did and said and who saw me being obnoxious.  I feel even worse because of the money I wasted; having to replace the iPhone, the lost jacket, and to top it off, I have over a hundred dollars in charges on my debit card from the last bar I was at.  I have no idea how I spent that much.  There's no way I drank that much, so I feel like I was probably buying drinks and shots for people or that other people's drinks ended up on my tab....obviously if i wasn't wasted I could have monitored my tab and would never have signed for drinks I didn't order.  Grrrr!  I'm so ashamed of myself and disappointed that I am still making the same mistake over and over again.....on top of that the anxiety, depression, and paranoia are overwhelming.  I know this was a long post....I don't even know if I expect anyone to even read the whole thing.  I guess it just feels good to get it off of my chest.  Good luck to all of you!!  I will remember all the stories I read on here and be sure to keep you all in my prayers.  Take care. xoxo

The reason for this is already known. It has to do with individuality. Everyone is different. The depression/anxiety connection likely has to do with neurotransmitter levels in the brain. Like serotonin and dopamine. Alcohol amplifies these, in some people more than others. It is part of the pleasure that one gets when one drinks. So what happens when the drinking is done and the high is over? The neurotransmitter levels which were boosted now drop and swing in the other direction and take time to climb back up to normal. To reach balance. How affected the system is and how long it takes to recover is an individual matter. I think many of these people posting saying they don't have a problem with alcohol (and then mentioning how they will drink heavily or get drunk from time to time in a binge pattern) are completely in denial. First of all, if alcohol is making you feel awful for days after drinking, the solution is very easy. Stop drinking it! That many people don't want to or can't indicates a problem. I mean obviously. You don't need alcohol. It causes cancer and leads to accidents and addiction. It depletes vitamins. There is nothing in it you need. It's not like something like milk if you were allergic where you might have to figure out alternative calcium sources. Though one could argue that alcohol is a stress reliever initially (and then causes terrible stress for days after) and that one may need to work on relieving stress in other ways. The last thing you want to do is mess with anti-anxiety pills. Especially benzos which have potent addictive properties - these should only be used under the care of a doctor. As for alcohol, I think if a person truly drinks moderately (never binges) and is aware of the cancer/dementia risk and does not suffer a hangover from this moderate amount (3 drinks tops) then that is at least somewhat rational. Personally, I think alcohol needs to be treated like cigarettes. Prohibition doesn't work so that is out but eliminating most advertising and jacking up the price probably would help curtail some of the abuse and romantic notions of it.