Anxiety and depression for days after binge drinking

What you are experiencing is pretty normal, I used to go through the same symptoms after drinking 10 - 12 beers. Alcohol, tobacco and coffee do affect the nervous system entirely. It's ok if you drink a glass of wine every day, red wine is recommended. However try to avoid CO2 drinks and that includes beer. If you're on medications you should totally avoid alcohol and cigarettes,they only make your anxiety worse and give more frequent panic attacks.

Really glad I found this site, I really feel better just reading and knowing I am not alone!! I am not the only one being affected by this and what I am going through is real and I need to take action. :cry: I binge drink, act like an ass, call all kinds of people on the phone that I would normally never call or say and do things I would never sober say or do... Then Pass out..... Wake up very early in the morning like 3 or 4 am after sleeping most of the alcohol off and BAM! I am up and tripping off everything I must have said and done, panic stricken, guilt ridden, and fearing that I am the worst person on earth for drinking again. Then after that my fear becomes even worse when my brain will not stop the sick process of highlighting every worry I can think of and all my current problems. There is no going back to sleep now.....I pretty much have a shit day of being really down on myself and anxious all day, not being able to focus on anything or feel positive at all. I want to eat like a pig all day to pamper myself and do what ever it takes that I would not normally do to make my self feel better. The next day I feel a little better but depressed, anxious still.... takes about 4 days to clear the smoke of a binge and I say I will never do it again its just not worth it. month or two later sometimes even less and I forget the horrible process I will have to endure and drink again. :x But when I do not drink, turn it down, walk away, its hard... But later I am so glad I did, so proud of my choice and I feel the opposite of how I would feel if I drink. The longer I don't drink the better I feel everyday. The anxiety leaves, I feel comfortable in my own skin, my mental thoughts are healthy and i am a really fun and positive person......I feel great about myself and my whole outlook on life is wonderful... So for me, the choice is to stop. Right here and right now. I know I will need support and understanding from the people around me and in my life. I just have to be selfish and learn a new way to make things work for me. I am important to me... I cannot have alcohol in my house, I don't go out anyway... I have told my husband and I will tell my friends of my choice and ask that they respect me... If they don't then they cant be a part of my life. I want to be healthy, happy and free, when I drink I am not free... I feel like a prisoner to alcohol and have to serve a horrible sentence every time a drink. :? If your like me and you want to quit and you say your going to everytime and do it again. If you feel guilt over it, or anything bad, then is it really something you want to keep doing to yourself?? I dont, you can do it but dont try to do it alone and don't be ashamed that you want to take care of you... You just tell people that when you drink you have an allergic reaction after and you get really sick and its not worth it to you. If they are your real friends or family then they will understand. :) Wish me luck or say a prayer... I will be praying for all of you now that I know I am not alone here..... :D

I too was glad to find this post and see this is a semi "common" condition. I used to have bad anxiety and took Lexapro, which did nothing but cause me to lose my sex drive. I would commonly drink to help my anxiety. I eventually calmed down with the drinking and my anxiety was still present, but not as bad as it had been. Now I drink 1-2 nights on the weekend, but I usually drink pretty heavily on those nights, and come the first non drinking day, usually Sunday, I have horrible anxiety, it drives me crazy. Come Monday my anxiety is usually ok, but I still have trouble sleeping usually for the rest of the week. If I only go out and have a few beers everything is fine the next day, it only happens when I go out and get really hammered. I'm thinking about going to the doctor and getting anxiety medication again and cutting drinking out of my life completely except for maybe on an occasion. I don't want to sound like I'm in denial or anything, but I don't HAVE to drink, I just do it on the weekends because, like some have mentioned, it's the thing to do after a long week at work and you want to go out and get tanked with your buddies. It just sucks I have to deal with this stuff because I want to go out and have a good time with my buddies on the weekends, but it sounds like quitting overall is the best option.

I had the same deal for a long time and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I would go out and get hammered and then the next day I would have severe anxiety and feel like I was completely insane. I couldn't sleep, I was incredibly anti-social and often puked for hours. Two days later is when the depression always hit me the worst. I became suicidal and thought to myself poor me, why am I not normal, bla bla bla. I lost jobs because of it. People thought I was really reserved at times which made me emotionally detached from everyone. I have suffered from depression for years and have been good after upping my zoloft to 100mgs. I have tried almost all anti-depressants and this one seems to work the best. The only one I haven't tried is wellbutrin. Anyway, I hadn't had a drink in over 2 months and then two nights ago I had 5 beers which made me tipsy but I was cool. Wasn't hungover the next day, no anxiety, just a little sluggish. Today, being the second day, I felt overwhelming depression and slight anxiety. This has been a pattern for me and something in my instantly says that you should drink to make this feeling go away. I have never been an alcoholic although it runs in my family very dominantly. Therefore I have come to the conclusion that some people are made to tolerate alcohol and some others aren't, its as simple as that. Since they don't know exactly how to control the effects of anti-depressants, researchers also don't know exactly how alcohol effects a non-concrete process of "anti-depression". So, the simplest answer is, listen to what your gut tells you. If it gives you anxiety the next day or depression, simply don't drink. I don't take ativan or anything, I substitute that stuff with hard work and exercise. I am not knocking it because I took kolonopins at one time and it made me zombied out like sort of in a perpetual state of melancholy. Also I gained wait cause I just "chilled" all the time. Didn't really feel alive. Anyway, I think people who get these feeling are highly likely to become alcoholics because of what our body and minds tell us to do after even a small binge. I know for myself, even a glass of wine will be felt two days later. Yes, one can view it negatively as an inconvience or an abnormality but you have to come to terms with it. When I go out, I get a beer just to avoid any " why don't you drink, bla bla bla, annoying, bla bla bla" and sip on it all night. Usually when my friends get hammered they keep forgetting throughout the night so that definitely gets annoying so I just try to socialize with a lot of people to avoid this. I also noticed that high levels of sugar effect my mood as well which is a major ingredient in alcohol. Therefore you truly have to look at is as a blessing or a warning sign to prevent the possible road you are likely to follow if you continue to go down this path. Another thing I have noticed is that the people I hang out with who don't really drink are so much more genuine and happier than people who think they are happy by going out and getting crunk. Its like they don't even realize how much better they could feel. Anyway, I know what people are going through, I have been there and the only solution is take it as a blessing, when you have anxiety exercise, meditate or distract yourself till it goes away and try to get on the right antidepressant that will enable you to enjoy life for what it can be. The beginning months are tough when making this transition, but if you get through it, its totally worth it. Life changing.....and above all, don't forget about your spirit because it is the one thing that you will carry from this life to the next! God bless and good luck.

I drank since I was a teenager. In my early twenties I quit for a couple years but started back up again. I'm not addicted, I just like unwinding. When I was about 27 I began getting panic attacks. It wasn't related to alcohol, it was stress. Often we drink because we're stressed. I'm not saying that drinking is OK, but when I was 29 I quit drinking cold turkey. I stayed away from alcohol for 3 1/2 years. During those 3 1/2 years I had some of the worst anxiety of my life. I was constantly going to doctors who would run tests, only to tell me that I was healthy. I was put on Xanax which I found helps if it's taken regularly. I take one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening at the same time each day. I do have to say that in the evenings I'll drink 3-8 beers, or 6 shots and 3 beers, etc. Usually the next day around lunch time I begin to get heavy anxiety which I feel is related to dehydration and lack of quality (REM) sleep. Panic attacks are horrible and I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. One thing that used to help me was something called Square Breathing. Breathe in for 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, hold for 4... repeat. Also I recommend drinking allot of water while you drink alcohol. A tall glass between every three drinks and I don't have anxiety the next day and actually feel good. I hope this post can help someone. I'm not going to give up my drinks, I enjoy them and I don't drink and drive. I only drink in the privacy of my own home. Other ways of relieving anxiety is to not be nice to someone if their giving you anxiety. Tell them how you feel, rude or not. Also pace-ing back and forth helps anxiety tremendously by releasing nervous energy. Drinking or not drinking I am going to have anxiety problems. My mom and aunts all suffered from panic attacks and they never drank. Xanex has helped me.

Hi, I am 32. I am probably drink dependant alcoholic. I drink wine in the evening. i get so anxious and have doen progressively throughout my life( which in turn makes me swing from bouts of depression to feelings Of" I am doing okay). I get anxious about leaving the house, about having the house tidy a, about shopping, I get anxious about so many things that I loose the thread of what I am saying. Always have done. Realised this when re reading a statement I had written and that no one can undertsand my gobbillydee guck ( for kindness) as it makes no sense , as I forget what I am trying to say. ( Oh dear - dont know if I make anysese-do I? I use drink as a way to relax and help me sleep at night. However, and this is the big BUT!!!!!!., ...I can no longer do it!!!! I can barely hold a part time job , i am so tired , I feel sick all the time, Though the idea of not having that source of reprieve I( I guess you caould call it that0 is killing me. I am constatntly crying, There seems no end to any of it. I say this as I cant handle the slightest of problems. I feel like someone is trying to choke me...is someone trying to choke me??????? I feel grey, lifeless, no energy. ( mind you I have a cold) I dont normally get colds. I also and always have never eaten that much, though sometimes I eat like a horse a, wolf, a rhino, a very large qrangotang, and other times I eat like wellll, ( anyway...Ill not go there) I always put this down to vanity and the likes, but now I am realising how it is all linked to my thinking.. When I get worried and upset about things.......I either eat like a maniac ( which I thihnk I am byt the way) and or just cant Get that lumpy thing in my throat and just cry. I cant stop crying and its not like crying seems to help. In fact I cry so much that people just ignore it. Cry and cry and cry and it is a pointless waist of energy thats just going to give me wrinkles. Ouch ......foot is sore and my kidneys are really bad today ...walking like I am 72 not 32....Oh my god another 40 years of life ...oh the bear thought of it makes me...thaen I feel guilty for that thinking anfd round nad round my stupid crazy thoughts go and I am now thinking I wonder whne to go to the shop to get the booze so I can relax and get cosey....mind you dont really want a drink. If I buy it in I get anxiuos that I will drink the entire bottle. when I open it I sweayt and get really upset coz I want the whole bloody bottle...but know deep down that its killing me. Then I get all crabby and agitated and then I think well what is the point , what is the point anyway? I mean some people they look after themselcve. keep fit, do regular exercise eat properly. all of it and STill die young. I was just having this conversation with my mum the other day about things There are so many people that were in my year at scholl that are dead to horrible diseases and or who have commited suicide by drinking jumiping or hanging themselves. i sometimes cry about them too ads I sometimes still see it that I am still learning and looking at this ( paraagraphs wopuldnt go a miss) I still have loads of time to think about what to do with my life and I never siad or let that nasty bastard , I never spoke about it I never wanted to talk for fear of what I might of had to go through or for upsetting my mum and dad ,and / or the rest so I dont ewant to talk about any of it I never will no matter how hard I try . it doesnt come out the way OI feel about it anywway, I cant explain. But I guess I feeel stollen but I am going to burgAL MYSELF BACK i AM i AM I AM , i NEED A DRINK. Tea and honey!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, if anyone wants to talk please do I xcould really do with a good friend that I could talk to and that would listemn and that does not know who I am. Or igf there has ever been anyone who has done what I have done. \ i also am a mother . I love my children and cant go on living my life as I do . I want to better myself for my childrens sake instead of being this incredible selfish cow.!!! Okay, I am now goint to tisdy make Sorry for my waffle, i just wanted to type. I have stopped taking my medication or whatever as If I do drink I feel incredibly guilty and also , Ive been so unfocused and dreamy ion it that I couldnt do my jjob and thats only shop work, Then there is the facts that I got paranoid and it makes my boobs bigger and I cant stand tht coz I want them off!!!!!!okay .......cant believe me. Whemn I was a student I got called Red the muppet ( huh) Must admit I feel like a muppet now. Must go

The idea of not being able to have a drink is really worrying me now. I just read some posts here , and realise that most of us are taken over by our own fears, its fear that makes us drink, then that gets heightened by the booze ...then panic panic panic ( ia m sorry but iI am feeling really anxious panicy and cant breathe wll at all at the mo). I was trying to think when I had my first panic attack. I was at school ...and nothing had happened ...I was too little to drink....I remeber what I was wearing and that I wanted to colapse, so I hyperventilated in the scholl corridor and ran to the rest room ...But i dont know what set it off or why it happened. Then when I was 16, my older sister had left home and I was doing evening art clsses and highers etc......didnt feel llike I fitted in at the scholl I was at....everybody either thought I was a snob due tot he big posh house, or I thought they snobby or too much of a snob intellectual and so on ....I dont know I guess I build barriers ...or something. Anyway, I found drink....mind you I had prior to this drank , loads aand ended up being takien to hospital because I was so sick and blah blah blah. Anyway, yeah so I found this stuff, which made me more confident , talk like I was happy, it made me feel damn good and I could talk and talk to anyone and everyone seemd like good people. I didnt worry if they liked me I didnt hold back, I was just how I wanted to be. I could laugh, couldnt cry and darent cry...or I dont know.... I guess I was just happier drinking. Anyway, cant believe I am still typimng here, I guess reading through these I feel less alone. Yet this is the problem for me, Even when I was a teen ager living with my mu m I felt UNIMPORTANT, thick, isolated and useless. There, thats I guess why it started...I dont blaim anyone else for my drinking though. Drinking is my own devise. My own healing, my very own failing and it is doing nothing for me.t god, I want a drink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Same with me, i used to drink alot, alot and whenever i get trashed i do a little coke. I have cut down to drinking like every other weekend, but when i do i get crazy ass anxiety. I feel like im gonna die or like im having a heart attack. I get chest pains and my arms went numb one time. Every time i go to the hospital they tell me my heart is fine and im just having a stress related panic attack. Im glad im not the only one, i feel a little better talking to all of you. It sucks, my friends drink more than i do and do a lot more coke and they are fine the next day. I feel like a little bitch sometimes. I have anxiety right now, i kinda partied last night after the superbowl.

I have anxiety to at the mo, but okay, I know what it is and I reckon thats the start to the road to recovery. If you can identify why and when ( not that I can all the time) it helps and so on. I am really tired though. not been able to sleep and having honest to god, the worst nightmares ever, Like beeing chased around places that I know well by strangers and meat cleevers. And being left on my own to be chased by threatining strangers. My head is thumping and cant shake this. I know Ill want a drink tonight to make me sleep, but its such a vicious ccycle.I want sleep! Take care everyone.

Like others have said on this string...I'm glad I found this and know that I'm not alone. I've only noticed the anxiety in the morning after a binge recently...but it's getting stronger every time it seems. Right now I feel so anxious...I'm worrying about everything and anything. I'm feeling very paranoid too...for instance, I know that I didn't do anything dumb or what not last night but I am still worrying if anyone noticed I was drunk, etc. And then I worry about worrying. I'm stressed out at work and I keep having nightmares about it...and I have work this afternoon and I feel like I can't do anything. I feel numb as some people have said. I feel like I can't get up...can't do anything. I feel scared as all hell but I'm not scared about anything. I keep having thoughts about just not going into work (which I'm not going to do) but I keep feeling like I have to call out because I can't handle going in. My chest feels like it is going to explode. Thoughts racing through my head...it's just crazy. Today I woke up after only 4 hrs of sleep and couldn't fall back asleep...it took me awhile but I kinda got a couple more hours. I'm just worried that this is going to get worse as time goes on...I guess I should stop drinking but it seems scary. I quit smoking after doing that for 6 years...I always say I'll just have a drink or two and then I just keep going from there. I don't know. I've started to feel lifeless as well as someone said. I'm not motivated to get anything done because I feel so depressed. I don't want to show my face at work because I feel this way. Argh!

Hi, I feel the same way a lot of you do. I got really drunk the other night with a few friends that came home for spring break. I blacked out for part of the night, made my best friend come pick me up, made her buy me cigarettes (I never smoke), and then ended up making my guy friend come sit with me. Also I called my ex boyfriend, a very bad idea. So the day after, I had to get up at 7 a.m. to work, then had to work on a project for school. I have been feeling anxious and worrying about what I said/did while I was completely wasted. I know that I can't really be held responsible for the things I did/said but I still feel guilty for some reason. I know these feelings will go away soon, as I have done this before. I feel as though I start drinking to relieve stress, but it ends up causing me more stress in the end. By reading all these posts, I do feel a lot better though, just knowing I am not the only one who feels this way.

One thing I have found out is that I take Neurontin(prescription) for seizures and it has helped enourmously with alcohol withdrawal and the couple weeks of crap that follow a binge. Non addictive unlike benzos which are extremley addictive given to alcohol withdrawal subjects (that withdrawal was horrid; had to stay at a friends to keep me calm.) Valerian root and melatonin are fantastic as they help the body rest better at night and I was actually able to relax with less anxiety before bed and sleep better. If the anxiety gets bad enough then doctors put you on benzos which help but they just prolonge the withdrawal since then many (like myself) got addicted to them. Im a recovering alcoholic, it suxs, it gets better some moments better than others but the funny thing is; is even after one relapse I would feel jumpy for days. Been in an out of the hospital and called 911 just to have the ER people remember who I am and tell me its an anxiety attack. Hang in there peeps, I sometimes still read these posts with I get the craving to use thought I'd say what helped me >:(

Good to know that I am not alone although I wish this on nobody. I just got back from Vegas and it takes me a couple of days to get right again. The biggest problem I have is exhaustion and not able to sleep. I'm literally so tired that I can't sleep. I know I should eat something but my appetite is shot. I also suffer severe panic attacks as many of you do also. It's so wierd how much more relaxed and carefree I am when I am drinking, but the days following are just unbearable almost. Anyway, I wish everyone the best and know we will all be o.k. Time is on our side. Take care.

hi guys i also have anxiety issues it can be hell, :-( I am also a self medicator for it, some days i feel so dizzy disorientated its not funny.

Hi Folks, I dont know where to begin....last thursday in hospital for x-rays and sugar I had been drinking ....but nothing more than ...( ohh confessions of a wild woman!) Anyway, i dont know what happened and I thought my sister would believe me, but nope not now, No one believes what happened . I feel like I am bein pushed in to a corner and thats making me feel even more depressed. Anyway, nearly been a week and I dont know much about medical tech nology , but the doctors did x-ray my skull and checkbones ( though nothing was mentioned regarding my nose) I have gashes in my head form my cat , i have a claw like lump above my left eye and just bruised...anyway, yes longbeach I self medicate,, and its no good as the above is whhat happens. I stopped taking my pills , i dont know I thout I was better, I thought that I was okay, but no, So I went back on them yesterday. Thnk I can cope Just though I am feeling like Ive started the ball rolling. Sorted out some finances so I can be more independant from him....( Thats one way and one problem resoved).....but I dont feel ready to move out of here for some reason...I know that makes no sesne as ther is no nothing to keep me to want to be here. i KNOW MY PARTNER DID NOTHING TO ME THAT NIGHT ( No one believes me...though I do find it odd that he didnt come to try and help me when I was screaming blue murser......and that is chipping away at my allready cluttered head. I was going to go and visit a doctor and get this lump checked out, but having read up on noses ....I think I would be in complete agony, not jusdt sore...and surely if it was broken every footstep would make it hurt??????? I wish I knew what I did that night. My sister thinks there was a big spsider on the back of my head and the cat tried to kill it???? makes some sense...but its not in my cats nature. I keep going over it and over it, it sodoesnt make sense and its making me feel really insecure...I am finding it hard to go to bed at night and so forth ...nevermind sleep. Why do I let these things go on for so long??? I am really worried about my head. what if it a tumour...its still sore and thats been 6 days and there aint that much improvement. I know this sounds really silly, but I am so scared and feeling so fragile that I wish id stayed in hospital so that I could feel safe. Thats the one thing that stuck , some nice nurse wrapped me up like a baby and at 6am said " Sleep your safe" Like a lightswitch it worked. Wish I could do that here. Its strange as he protests about how much he loves me, yet ignores me if i am needy -are all men like that? Oh anyway, I dont know...I am sure Ill be laughing about it later...though I go green everytime I see my face.