Anxiety and depression for days after binge drinking

Gosh this sounds like me totally. I was out on sunday and cannot remember the end of the night... woke up yesterday morning with panic, guilt, worrying about what I said, did - did I show myself up ? What did I say? My BF gets so annoyed with me as I have to continually ask whether I was ok and if I said anything to anyone. Now I've got butterflies in my stomach and have already texted a friend to ask if I was ok - my friends must think I'm stupid! I then start to worry that they think I'm stupid for asking for reassurance that "I was OK". I hate feeling like this and wish that I'd never been out - even though we had a good night (from what I remember) and my BF can remember everything and said I was fine but nothing will get this feeling out of my head - arrgh ! I am constantly thinking what if I shown myself up, what if I said something to someone and offended them, what if I fell in teh pub? My BF even tries to laugh and say "you were striping in the pub" as he can't seem to understand that that's how I really feel that I've done something terrible even though I've been told over 100 times (after constant questioning!) that I was fine. Has anyone any ideas of how to calm down and what helps stop these feelings from your experiences? It is genuinely nice to read that there are other people out there in similar situations as you do start to think you are going mad and you're the only person feeling like this x Thanks all x

I was exact same on sunday night , was proper drunk . I have suffering from anxiety bad 4 about 6 months now i realise i HAVE to give up drinking or i will never recover . Im exactly the same its always me that cant remeber anythin and its always me that gets hangovers for days after

hey guys been reading this thread and like all the others i can relate to the fact that alcohol can really mess you up. a while back i too started to get panic attacks and de-personalisation (not really comfortable with who i am and feeling i am not ME). thought i was going crazy. i would be in a crowd and everyone would be having a great time but there i am, just standing there feeling confused and not saying anything. i found it hard to relate to people and this fog would be there for days and weeks. it was horrible. i couldnt function properly and it made my life hell. long story short. it is only now i realise what i have been doing to my body and mind over the last few years. it was the alcohol. it screwed me up a treat. i thought it was the other stuff i was taking (you dont want to know) but at the end of the day drink is poison. i have now stopped. the best thing i have ever done is to stop drinking. i feel great now. i exercise, read more, eat healthily and is generally more productive. my mind is clear. i can remember, i am witty again. in short i am a different person. take it from me. stop. do it now.

I am so relieved to have found this site and see that other people are going through the same thing I have been going through. Not that I would wish this on anyone, but just to know I am not alone and that I can be back to my old self is a comforting thought. I have been a social drinker for about 10 years now, often times heavy in college and many binges, but backed off alot in the last 3 years or so. About a year ago, I went through a very rough breakup and found myself drinking to the point of blackout nearly every night for 4 months. It was pretty much the only way I felt I could cope. Well, around that time the depression and panic attacks started, but I continued to drink heavily (not thinking the alcohol could be a big factor). I have been taking Celexa regularly and only have a drink or so a few times a week. But every now and then I binge drink very heavily and I have finally noticed the correlation between my depression/anxiety and the alcohol. After drinking all weekend, I find myself the most depressed I have been in a long time. The anxiety is unbearable and the negative, awful thoughts will not leave my head. It's like my brain can think of the absolute worst thought and make me focus on that all day and night. I can't sleep because the thoughts and anxiety are simply overwhelming. I pray that this feeling goes away soon so I can start focusing on my recovery. I now know that the alcohol is to blame for all of my problems and I will have to stop drinking in order to be myself again. And that would be the most amazing feeling in the world. Everyone out there, be strong. If you do not have a support system (I have a pretty good one, but they really do not understand what I am going through) know that there are others going through the same as you and you can get through it! We can get through it together!

I go out drinking with my friends every weekend. Sunday i'm always crippled with the fear. That's why I'm here at 1:20 in the morning -I had been asleep until I abruptly woke up in a sweat, with a knot in my belly, panicing about...I dunno really - amplified x 100. I guess it just a chemical imbalence in the brain caused by drinking. I did some serious binge drinking for a long time in my teens and early 20s -it was never really seen as a problem - in Ireland that's just what we do. But these past few years I just have a few pints or glasses of wine - get a bit giddy and have fun - I don't get "messy" drunk - but still always get the fear the next day. I guess I need to just stop drinking altogether which I will find difficult - after a long week in work I look forward to unwinding with a few drinks with my friends and chilling out or going dancing and having fun. I'm not sure what I will replace that with but I sure as hell won't miss this feeling. I will try to go back asleep now knowing that I'm not alone in this. Was good to read your posts. (p.s Licoroice is supposed to have some kind of calming qualities - you can get teas with licoroice in them among other things that help you sleep - they have calmed my nerves in the past and I would recommend them..... just wish I wasn`t all out! )

I get this pretty bad. Even if I remember the whole night I still feel I did, or said, something to offend someone or humiliated myself somehow. I'll dwell on it for days, or even weeks despite people I was with telling me I was fine. It really is crippling and completely absurd because the chances are I had a great night out, at nobody's expense except my wallet's. My friends call it my 'drink shame', and yeah, I have it today.

Thank God I found this forum. Just binged for four days straight. I mean serious drinking. Black outs and all. I've been getting really bad anxiety lately even without drinking but after a heavy night it's so bad. I'm constantly thinking I'm dying and or having a heart attack. This one is really bad. Stopped drinking Sunday night and now it's Tuesday morning 1:01am and Im still anxious! Yesterday was really bad I had to take a klonopin. My boyfriend said I was really freaking him out, I was acting so crazy! He also suffers from anxiety really bad. I know when I was younger around 6-8 my dad had to take me to the doc all the time because of panic attacks. Then it went away in my teens and now i'm 23 and it's back bad. I don't know what to do. I'm in constant fear that I'm dying. Every symptom of a "normal" hangover makes me think there's something seriously wrong. As much as I tell myself, hey you just drank for four days straight tour body is gunna hate you, my mind still races like crazy that I'm dying! It's so scary and I hate living in this constant fear. I don't know what to do besides see a therapist and stop drinking. It's just so tough being my age. I'm just going to try. Thanks for the advice on here everyone! It's kind of calming my mind down.

:'( I just lost my girlfriend because I treated her bad. I always used to feel terrible after an argument of saying bad things to her. I never used to be this kind of person. Since we moved to Johannesburg from the countryside I started binge drinking everytime we went out. I now suffer from severe anxiety and has treated her like absolute crap for the last year or so. I use to take everything out on her because it felt like I had to get rid of this tension or I would explode which happend occasionally after keeping every emotion in for to long. Now I have lost her and I'm seriously thinking of giving up drinking. People don't think that alcohol can be causing problems like these because you drink on Saturday and the anxiety last you a whole week without touching anything until the next binge. It f@cks everything up. Alcohol is no man's friend.

Like so many other people that have posted I am so happy that I found this board. I'm 24, I've been drunk four times in my life. Two days ago was the worst. I didn't pass out or anything, and I can remember most of the night. But now, I've noticed that the other three times after drinking, I've been horribly embarrassed. I just feel like I want to crawl in a hole and not come out. I obviously knew it was from the drinking, but I just now connected it to an actual chemical reaction, and not that I did anything particularly bad. So, I have to confess this on an anonymous board, lol. I made out with a random guy. I was pretty much all over him for a little bit. Now, I know that definitely is not the worst thing I could have done, but still! With this anxiety and depression from drinking, it's driving me crazy with guilt. I can't stand it. I'm a very easily embarrassed person, but what kills me is that I know I shouldn't really be embarassed or anxious over two nights ago! I graduated from College, what better reason is there to party? Plus, like I've said, I've only been drunk four times in my life! There's NO reason for me to feel as bad as I do. /endrant sorry about that, lol. But like I said, it's good to know it's the chemicals in my brain that are messing with me, and that I didn't do anything as remotely bad as I seem to think right now. Can this just be over now? I want to be HAPPY and depression free again!

I am also very pleased to have found this forum, reading these posts have been very helpful. I'm currently a junior in college and am 20, however, I have been drinking since I was 15. When I was 18 I got alcohol poisoning after a really heavy night of binge drinking, before and up to that point I usually only drank liquor, especially vodka. After that point the thought of liquor made me sick and I started drinking beer regularly in place of vodka or other mixed drinks at parties. About two months ago I started having panic attacks after a night of drinking and smoking weed, I was vomiting and having heart palpitations, my thoughts were racing and I felt like I was going crazy. The anxiety and depression were unbearable and I had a grim outlook on everything when I would normally be a very happy person, after all I didn't have anything to be depressed or anxious about, but I could help the feeling like everything was going to collapse. After some counseling I eventually got back on my feet and was doing good for a month, exercising like crazy, eating healthy, running, swimming, etc. And I was feeling really good about everything and felt to be back to my "normal" self. However, about 72 hours ago I visited my home town and met up with a bunch of old friends and decided to get completely trashed at a party, the first time I consumed large amounts of hard liquor since I had gotten alcohol poisoning two years previously. Needless to say I was taking triple shots, drinking beer, and smoking weed. I blacked out most of the night, after a certain point I cannot recall anything that had happened, even after being cued about events from friends I still did not recall that the event had taken place. I was vomiting all night long, and barely got any sleep that night, woke up the next day and all my anxiety and depression was back, I felt extremely panicked. I began drinking water immediately to hydrate myself, and then tried to eat, but could not keep anything down and continued to vomit the entire day. Now 72 hours later I am still extremely anxious, I haven't slept more than a couple hours the last two days, and woke up last night completely drenched in sweat, unable to sleep any more. I have talked to my doctor again as the anxiety and depression has been an issue the last few months, and after stopping my Zoloft about a month ago I have started taking it again as of yesterday, I was also prescribed Ativan for the insomnia, and am taking a Multi B-Vitamin. I know that liquor is something that I do not need in my life, especially if it is going to make me feel like this, so it is time for me to stop drinking completely so hopefully I can get back to being "me" again. Hope this was helpful.

So now about two weeks later I thought I would be fine to have a few drinks at my cousins wedding, except a few drinks turned into a binge and apparently I didn't learn my lesson the first time because here I am the next day with my head in the toilet at my hotel room and feeling really anxious and sick again. Not sure why I keep doing this to myself its just so hard not to drink around everyone, especially when they are trying to get you to drink.

Though I'm not sure (for the purpose of this thread) what the exact definition of a binge drinker is, but I'm assuming it's similar to other binge activities.... This last weekend, I went to the bar with my family members while on vacation. I had an exhorbitant amount of alcohol and ended up beligerantly drunk. Though this is not a normal behavior for me (the last drink I had was over 6 months ago), I came to a point in which I was "black out" drunk. I do not remember the walk back to the hotel, nor do I rememer how I fell and broke my foot in the parking lot. I remember the pain and laughing myself silly because I knew it was broken. The next day, needless to say, I had the worst hangover I have ever had in my life! I spent the last day of my vacation in bed while my husband, daughter, and the rest of our family went to the beach. I have not been the same since then (4 days ago). I have been in a constant state of depression- mostly because I have this strange feeling that my "perception" of the world around me has changed. I'm really hoping that this goes away- not only for my mental state, but also because I have a family who depends on me. Your posts about life returning to normal has given me hope that I will be happy again. Since I am prone to anxiety and depression anyways, luckily I still have my daily dose of Zoloft, but I have also been having to rely on my Xanax to keep the anxiety at bay. I would love to hear some thoughts on my situation!!!

Hello :-) I have had bursts of going out, with friends, nights out on my own and found myself wanting to stay out later than my friends, carry on drinking until the club closes, then go to the next club until it closes. One aim since I split up from a long term relationship, was to find a partner or a man for company and since this is one way I learnt I could achieve this... I was/am making strong demands on myself, to not get so drunk again, not end up in tears at the end of the night. Feeling like I don't want to go home on my own and end the night because when drinking it feels like this is my chance and I should stay with it (being out, dancing, trying to find a man and someone to chat to) At the time, it's difficult to stop once I'm in the motion. Then later that night/morning when I've had too much, or in bed with a complete stranger, and wake up, after I've been crying, having someone close to me, possibly having intercourse, but sometimes barely remembering what the person looks like or being able to see clearly, not remembering what their name is, too little sleep and feeling guilty, it comes crashing down. Then, I feel like the next day is a right off, have to go home alone to sleep it off, panic and sorrow set in, as I realise I'm on my own again, someone has asked me to leave his place, since he, had to go to work, had a bbq at a friends, needs to go play football, etc. Rejection sets in, tightly, leaving me feeling alone and panicked...yet at the same time, I'm not sure if I want to see him again, have this vision of the perfect partner, someone right for me, someone who wants to ask me out without prompting. I hold down a good job, I have a good network of friends, family who care and love me very much, all which fuels more guilt, when I've spent the night feeling sorry for myself for being alone, or past events, for being critical of other people, and thinking about myself too much. Since and during these times, I am seeing a counsellor. I've thought more about what is going on. I've dropped from the path a few times more, but have realised that how I feel is a 'feeling', feelings change from time to time, and in order to feel 'fun', security and happiness, I must be in the company of people I trust, people who respect me, and if I drink less quickly when I am out, then I naturally get tired 'before' I start to feel out of control. Sometimes it feels boring to calm down and sit back from excess, but working on my interpersonal skills outside of nights out and realising that I can build confidence in my usual day to day activities to brighten the main part of my life, really helps me. If I want to meet a man, I can go to evening classes, friend of a friend, work (possibly :-) I go swimming more often, and swim alot now. I sometimes go swimming on a Friday night, later at night, and it makes me feel great. I'm just trying to gain more of a balance. My 'male' friend came over the other night, and although sometimes I feel upset, even when I'm with him, fear to be on my own again after feeling his warmth, (especially if we were drinking too much wine!) Then another time recently we spent a few evenings drinking alittle or just tea, gentle evenings, fun without excess. When I don't have a man, I'm content doing my own thing, I paint, I more often enjoy work, now that I talk to people more, some of the desperation came from ignoring how I was feeling in other parts of my life, not talking things through with people. Tomorrow night, I am going out, I'm going to drink a bit, I will have a hang over the next day, I hope I don't fall into tears at the end of the night, and drink too much, or regret the excess, but instead find fun things to do while I am out, if I feel abit depressed I will slow down and stop drinking fast, talk to my friends about all the interesting things which I do in my life, talk to new people about their lifes, have a dance, but most importantly of all, go to bed happy, and wake up happy the next day. I'll let my mind catch up with the alcohol and slow down so that I won't feel out of control. I shall try to be interesting and fun with a little :-) Seeking help works for me, I'm not quite there yet, but I hope to feel more rounded the longer time goes on. I'm in my 30's.

Everyone needs to read this short article. I had my first panic attack at 23 and it was a Massive One! (shot of pain down my arm, then my chest went numb, then I lost my voice) Thought I was having a heart attack. It was from drinking and not sleeping for 7 years, my body had enough! I am 37 and of course still drink. And yup, I don't throw up or any of the typical hangover routine. But I find my self having to take Ativan to control more Panic Attacks from coming on. And if I don't sleep after drinking it's even worse, as in I can't leave my apartment. http://counsellingresource.com/features/2006/04/18/alcohol-self-medication/

Hey man the exact same thing happened to me in indonesia, I was in Bali partying with a few mates. WE got wasted for 4 nights in a row. We had a mentawaii islands trip lined up for the seventh day which is in sumatra, we had to take all our own food with us so we decided to go and buy mosquito nets and food, bottled water etc. We were in the store and i started freaking out, like proper wigging mate it was heavy. exactly the same as what you said. I thought i was loosing it, was trying to figure out if someone spiked my drink or something, never really experienced anything like it and neither had my mates so i was wigging out! the more i thought of it the worse it got and because i didnt realise that it was alcohol i kept going out and getting blind. We went to the mentawaiis and i didnt have one drink, it was this little island called yangyang. I kept zoning out, feeling super tight in the stomach and chest, and then id lay down and go into a weird little dream thing, where my vision would go all funny. Constantly had something bothering me, my mind was racing and i couldnt focus on one thought at all. By the second week on the island though i was sweet, Was sleeping fine, eating well. Surfing all day everyday. I was killing it! I didnt realise it was alcohol related though. SO when we went back to bali, first night went out and got blind. Next day same thing, wigged out! So i kept going out and getting pissed. I didnt realise it was the alcohol causing it, It was pretty much this site and posts like yours that have made me 100% sure that its alcohol induced, and that im not completely loosing it. cheers for the clarity and im feeling you mate