Anxiety/panic attacks from alcohol withdrawal - part 2

What a useful thread. I'm 28 years old and haven't drunk alcohol for 10 months now. I was a heavy drinker for 10 years, regularly getting blackout drunk and coming too on the other side of town with no idea of how I got there. I had to give up because of the anxiety. I would wake up in the morning still drunk from the night before and think i'd gotten away with it and then WHAM the anxiety would hit me. A feeling of indescribable terror. I was unable to sit still and scared out of my wits. If had to get in a car or a bus I became terrified that I would piss my pants. Seriously, that's how bad it was, I couldn't go anywhere. I also had numbness in my arms and legs and that chest pain that a lot of the others have written about. I even went to the hospital a couple of times convinced my heart was giving out, only to have a textbook ECG. I became convinced I had every disease under the sun, from meningitis to MS. And the headaches were the worst, particularly on the left hand side of my head, like something was crawling inside me. I had veins in my temples sticking out like snakes. I'm pretty sure that the anxiety caused my Irritable bowel syndrome which is no laughing matter either. I also found my short term memory and sense of direction became terrible. A coffee would send me over the edge. Over time the anxiety faded and my bowels and memory have improved too but even after 10 months I still wake up everyday with a stiff neck and an ache in the back of my head. Not as bad as it used to be but it's still there. The best thing I found on this thread is the vitamin B recommendation. I take a big complex supplement every day and additional thiamin and this has definitely made a difference. I've recently tried to meditate which i see others speak highly of but am having trouble with it. If anyone has any tips on how to get started I'd really appreaciate it.

I don't know if I ever will drink again. Mentally, not drinking wasn't a problem, I never craved alcohol but once I started drinking I found it difficult to stop. Right now I'm just pleased that I seem to be getting over the physical problems and can lead a normal life again, free from fear. I can drink a coffee again without going crazy and stand up and give a presentation without being scared witless. Some people were just not meant to be drinkers and I think i'm one of them.

Oh, and i'll add to my last post (the one immediately before this). If you are going through withdrawal, for your own sake try not to smoke. Nicotine is a stimulant and makes your anxiety even worse. One positive I can take out of this whole thing is that I no longer smoke and feel a hell of a lot better for it.

I have similar experiences and a friend turned me onto Valerian (root). It may not work for everyone, but it certainly helps me. If I'm in any situation that may create anxiety I take 2 pills and it really helps. You can take them with alcohol w/out any side affects also...so if I'm out drinking or nursing a minor hangover, it's safe to take and (for me at least) is effective.

Do your own research on it, but give it a shot - the pills even help when I feel anxiety coming on - the feelings subside within a few minutes.

Hey guys,

This is an awesome thread, a thread that gave me that finally convinced me that alcohol was the source of my anxiety issues, and I'm glad it did.

I never had a panic attack until I was 15 after smoking a lot of marijuana. I had only very occasional anxiety during the course of an 8 year marijuana smoking career when I smoked too much, but nothing too serious, it always went away when the high wore off. I quit smoking when I was 22 mostly because I felt it took away from my desire to be social with people, but then I guess most of my smoking went into the form of drinking. Drinking is a social drug and that's how I used it. I started going out all the time drinking and having fun. I took a trip to Europe and ended up staying for 3 months drinking every single night staying in hostels and going to clubs and bars. It was really fun until one night after being hungover the entire day from the night before, I was smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer (only smoked when I drank) and had the thought "what if my lungs got clogged from this and I couldn't breathe?" which sent me into a panic'ed state and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I sat back down and drank my beer at a hostel while chatting with some people trying to shake the feeling out of my head. It went away briefly and then when I got up to leave I started controlling my breathing and having anxious thoughts about it. I had about an hour or two of panic'ing after that focusing on the sensation of my breathing, having fears and thoughts about forgetting to breathe or not being able to breathe. Finally I went to sleep. I woke up and I began obsessing over my breathing again. I probably did the wrong thing by doing research on it at the cyber cafe. I stayed in Europe for another 2 weeks, getting drunk each night and waking up with HORRIBLE anxiety each morning. The first thing I would do in the morning is go get a couple shots of tequila which made the anxiety a little better. Then I would drink all through-out the day and into the night to keep the anxiety at bay. I was really confused on what was causing it. I did some ecstasy a few times a couple weeks before I had my anxiety attacks and I thought that I screwed my head up from it.

Finally I come back home to the US where I live. I was still having anxiety and was still confused about what was causing it. I continued to drink every night or every other night in my apartment by myself and out with friends. I work from home and was in between projects at the time so all I really did was sit around and obsess over my anxiety which I think made it a lot worse. I started a new year out with the anxiety and it got pretty bad. At this point I would have random fears about anything and everything. I would have tingling in my face after waking up from a night of drinking. I would obsess over the strangest things. I remember I was obsessing over my neck at one point and how my neck was able to hold the weight of my head. I would obsess over philisophical stuff like life, existence, religion, god, universe, reality. I basically had every symptom of anxiety, along with depersonalization. I was drinking throughout this whole time and it never really dawned on me that it could be the cause of my anxiety, I just knew waking up hungover made it a lot worse (but I was pretty much always hungover). I've never heard of someone getting anxiety and OCD from drinking.

Anyways, it started getting better halfway thru the year and I was able to just deal with it more and more. I would still go thru random obsessions. I continued to drink into the next year I felt better because I was going out and being social alot more like I used to before I started having the anxiety. BUT everytime I woke up after a night of drinking, I would sit around my apartment and panic ALL DAY until I went to sleep and woke up the next day when it would feel about 80% better. Finally at the end of August last year I woke up and was driving home from a place I stayed at during a night of drinking and I had to literally pull over my car about 4 times because I kept thinking I was going to crash my car. I couldn't even drive my anxiety was so bad. This finally, after 2 years, made me say f**k IT and I quit drinking.

Its been 6 months since I quit drinking and I pretty much forgot what it feels like to have anxiety. I started doing weights and sprints every morning for excercise and I cleaned up my diet. I lost 25 pounds of fat and I am in the best shape of my life. I started a new business venture that I am making a lot of progress on. I don't go out as much and when I do go out I just drink diet coke. It's really not as bad as it seems. I don't wake up with anxiety anymore and I feel awesome. I am even able to drink coffee in the morning again! Every once in awhile I will have a thought about an old obsession that will give me brief minor feelings of anxiety but it goes away really quick. I just think that is my brain working from memory. I suffered with that anxiety sh*t for 2 frikkin years.

But yea, I believe alcohol was 99% of my anxiety issues, the smoking and sitting around not doing much didn't help either. I've done a lot of research on anxiety and alcohol and I found out that alcohol basically floods your brain with anti-anxiety neurotransmitters when your drinking, and that why you feel really good and care-free, but in the morning your brain is DEPLETED of these neurotransmitters and your more open to feeling the effects of any anxiety/anxious thought or situation. The existence of this thread also says a lot about the condition. Anyways, just wanted to tell my story, hopefully it will motivate someone to quit drinking, its really not THAT hard, and its definately worth not having anxiety, plus all the other perks of not drinking. Here's a youtube video I found helpful when I decided to quit:

Good luck everyone! Stay positive, the anxiety will go away if you quit drinking (at least for me it did). I will keep my eye on this thread.

I have been having increasing anxiety for years, and nourishing a habit of approximately 750ml vodka a week for about 15 years. I'm rather hoping that it is the alcohol that has caused the anxiety, because my various other attempts to eliminate it have failed. I do like to drink, but it's not worth the anxiety (and other effects of long-term use). I will not have a significant difficulty quitting. My symptoms are generally heart palps, higher pulse rate and blood pressure, and a fairly intense desire to avoid socially challenging situations or even complex thinking. I know how to meditate and this can be useful, but I really think this is a biological disturbance that overpowers any attempt you might make to think calmly and peacefully.

The time lag between the anxiety and the drinking, which can come after you've recovered from the hangover itself, is what threw me off from making a connection. We shall see what happens with extended abstinence..

It bothers me that in a lot of these comments, the doctors do not make the connection between panic attacks and alcohol. If this theory is true, this is something that every doctor should be aware of. There are a lot of drinkers and lot of people with anxiety. This isn't some rare disease from House MD. This should be common knowledge.

Alcohol has caused so much damage to my life, I never want it back. It sent me to prison, lost me the love of my life, and after those things I still didn't even think to stop, only now after going through withdrawal for the first time has really shown me I was under the control of a foreign substance.

It is so comforting to read all these posts! :-) I too am 26, have been a binge-drinker for about 5 years, and in the last year or so have started to experience intense anxiety and scary physical symptoms on hangover days. I notice an increase in anxiety the day after drinking even if I only had a drink or two, and if I have a binge, I can look forward to spending the entire next day and often into the next night sick, sweaty, shaking and going out of my mind with anxiety. I've tried just about everything to combat this. I've tried eating before, during, and after drinking; I've tried having a glass or two of water between drinks, I've tried drinking more slowly, I've tried the "hair of the dog," I've tried vitamins, I've tried mental self-soothing techniques, and I can tell you none of it will "fix" the problem...because the problem is simply drinking too much alcohol at once, and doing it too often over time. I don't know if I will ever have "normal" hangovers again, and can't tell anyone else how to moderate their drinking, but I do know from personal experience now that the best way to have a healthier, happier day-after-drinking experience is to simply drink less.

I am glad to find this thread too. I drink 4 times a week and usually a lot, but it hasn't affected my work too much until lately. Last weekend I went on a bit of a bender and I've had serious anxiety ever since, I mean every day the whole day at work...I find it hard to hold a conversation with anyone without thinking the whole time in the back of my head holy c**p i'm about to freakin lose it. Somehow I've managed to barely hold it together but I feel like it's a matter of time before I start passing out at work. Anyways I didn't think it was a big problem until lately and I'm glad to see there are other people in similar situations, as in I'm not the only one. I already knew I had anxiety but I never told my doctor about the drinking, and I would say it is obviously either the cause or a big contributor to the problem. I never admitted it to myself before because a lot of my friends drink like I do and don't seem affected in this way. Anyways, good luck to everyone and I will be keeping an eye on this forum.

Thanks so much to everyone who posted. I experience these things almost exactly. My symptoms include blurred vision, tingling, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and a sense of impending doom. They usually occur for the next 24 hours on and off during the day after I drank. I am 20 years old (one of the younger people to have posted) and I have been having these panic attacks after drinking since I was 18. I continued to drink frequently (6 days a week) and they have continued to get worse however symptoms almost always get better within a day of sobriety.
I've found that doing things is one of the best solutions for panic attacks if you're hungover and take the day off work or whatever, it greatly increase the chance of a panic attack in my experience. Doing something can keep your mind from going to darker places. Additionally I've found that voicing my symptoms to someone and being able to talk about the fact that I feel like I'm dying is helpful. A friend or confidant someone who knows that you are just having a panic attack is helpful. These problems stem from the mind so talking to someone who will give you peace of mind is a step in the right direction. Another helpful thing is Xanex. Ultimately it seems the problem lies in alcohol.

livins easy w eyes closed wrote:

I am so glad that I found this thread. I have had panic attacks for the last few years, averaging one every couple of months. Lately, they have been happening much more frequently. The first time I had one was the scariest experience of my life. I was 22 and in good shape. My arms and legs starting tingling very strongly, my fingers bunched together and curled up, my heart was racing and it felt difficult to breathe. Strangest of all, I felt like I was tripping, like I was having a psychotic break on a hallucinogen.

I have been a drinker since I was 18, and a heavy drinker for three years since I was 22. For the past year, I have been drinking almost every day. The low end of the spectrum would be around 8 beers. The high end would be a 1.75 of hard liquor over the course of a full day and night. I have been trying to cut back my alcohol consumption, but I haven't been able to quit for over a day without feeling very anxious and uncomfortable.

Sometimes when I start to feel like I might have a panic attack, I go straight for the alcohol, and it usually calms me down. I feel like I am in a catch-22 situation. The alcohol will put off the panic attack for the time being, but might lead to one the next day. I do not want to quit drinking, I would like to cut it back to around 2 days a week, like I used to do. It has really gotten out of control this past year, in part because of several very stressful situations in my life (financial trouble, getting arrested and having to go on probation, my wife's immigration status, death in the family).

Starting tonight, I am going to try to decrease my alcohol consumption. I plan on drinking a 40oz at night, and than stopping. After maybe a week of that, I will try and skip drinking some nights entirely. I have to try and balance it so that my body is getting some alcohol, but less than usual so I don't shock my system. I am hoping that will work. Going cold turkey seems out of the question for me, the panic attacks and withdrawal are too much to bear...

I started having what I call "episodes" 2 years ago. I have had about 7 or 8 now, I couldn't believe when I found this thread how similar the symptoms are. cramps start in my feet then the hands feel like they are curling. I get waves off "cold" through my chest and stomach and time comes to a standstill. It is like being on a bad trip. my senses are way to aware, sounds freak me out, I have had both auditory and visual hallucinations (only small sh*t like seeing stuff out of the corner of my eye and thinking its a rat when it is actually the curtain cord etc) but enough to totally freak me out. I felt like I was confused and just plain going crazy. Thoughts of suicide did seem to be the only way out in the really bad episodes. It would come on late at night and go well into the morning and then I would sort of straighten up or comedown at like 4-5 am. No doctor or shrink has got to the bottom of it yet, anxiety/panic disorder is being touted as the likely cause. I have gone through loads of anti-depressants to no avail and let me warn people mixing SSRI anti-depressants and any benzodiazepines can lead to pretty brutal passouts. I fell onto my face at work one night, sitting on my chair eating a chocolate bar then felt light headed and didn't even have time to put my hands down to brake my fall. woke up with a broken nose and disorientated as f**k. Shrinks still commonly prescribe them together, it has happened one other time since then, I didnt realise my new doctor had combined the meds and over we went. I used to binge drink A LOT. I had never suspected anxiety withdrawals could come from it, however I used it for everything, ie to get to sleep, entertainment, pick me up etc. I had a few beers after being off it for 6 months and felt amazing. Then started feeling like sh*t all over again, but ironically only started drinking after 6 months because the anxiety was so bad!! I am trialling valium (benzo's) very addictive but better to be dependent for now then kill yourself right? I have had it in the past and no real issues coming off it slowly the anxiety has never been this bad that's all. desperate times call for desperate measures, I will tell you something else for free on my rant, doctors and shrinks dont know much about the brain. It's very complex and we really have little idea what it does and how to fix things that go wrong with it. Mental health at least in Australia is inept. I can schedule in with a shrink within 48 hrs, however to be a repeat client the next appointments are always in like 3 months. Great f*****g help that is I am sick NOW. Then they give you a bag of pills and off you go to fall on your face. Get cozy with a good GP (local doctor) and chase a treatment plan. Don't be afraid to ask for what you want. They will never be able to experience or understand how horrible this sh*t is, but you can find people who actually care about you. If something isn't working scrap it move on and try to find what will. I have been prescribed over 15 different meds over my time ( I have OCD too) yay for me haha but am confident there must be something out there to get me back in the game. On my good days I am as sane as the next guy, on my bad days I am a crazy bag man asking you for help. It doesnt make sense and there must be an answer and a treatment plan. Venting, either talking to a loved one or a doctor, or into cyberspace does actually help a little by releasing neuro chemicals to calm you. Good luck all and I hope you find a successful and lasting treatment plan, peace

A lost of these stories sound like me. Been a heavy drinker for about 10 years, now Im 30. Im over height, so had some issues with high blood pressure already. Going thru a nite marish mental time right now, Divorce, 3 kids going with Mommy, Work is dead, bankrupsy is right around the corner, cry sometimes all night, gotta sell the house and move in with the folks... So a couple weeks ago I went on a binge because of the what I think panic attacks must be. During withdrawl like sever hours later, or sometimes a day later, I'll start sweating, heart beats irregular and fast, little chest pain, the warm prickling sensation all over my torso, cant sleep hardly at all, some voices, reslestness, feel like Im loosing my mind. So If I had anything to drink around it would help, but only for a little while, then I'd be on a viscous cycle. If I wouldnt have anything around to drink, I would have to suffer thru the night, and usually drank more the next day to keep it away. I think Im gonna reduce the drinking, but not cold turkey, down to a minimal amount that wont give me an attack. I just wish there was more I could do about it now. Anyone try xanex, or lexapro, high blood pressure meds, Ambien? That sort of thing?
Email me, I'd appreciate it.

Glad to find this thread. Thanks for sharing. Just thought I'd add my data point. I'm 32, been a relatively heavy drinker for 10 years or so. More so in the last 4,5 years (1-5 beers a night, more on weekends). I started having noticeable anxiety problems in the last couple years, eventually concluding it was probably alcohol related—though I’m also starting to discover a family history of anxiety (and alcoholism). I’ve quit for a week a couple times a year for maybe three years, never finding it that difficult. But recently, I tried and failed (lasted 4 days), mainly due to anxiety. It scared me enough to attempt a longer abstinence. I’m currently on day 7, and am experiencing really bad anxiety. Days 3 and 4 seemed to be the worst. During the day, I was extremely fatigued. Then, starting in the evening I had terrible anxiety that kept me up until I knocked myself out with NyQuil. Since then, I’ve been less fatigued during the day, but the anxiety levels have remained high. It feels like I have high blood pressure. I’m unfocused, scatterbrained. My memory seems off.. I just want this to end. I’ve heard (around the net), that it usually takes a week for the panic to wear off, so am concerned it hasn’t tapered by day 7. However, I have read a lot of people say it takes up to 10 days or longer. And that the effects linger for weeks and months later sometimes. Yesterday I had a long, intense workout and felt normal for a couple hours afterwards (endorphins?). But then the anxiety returned.

frames are really messed up on this website.

After drinking off and on for the past 30 years I became a consistent black out drinker over the past 2 years. Then about 7 months ago I started having panic attacks. First time was the scariest since I didn’t know what it was. I just had a suddenly strange sensation come over me at dinner. My heart began to race and beat hard, I felt dizzy, vertigo, nausea set in to the point I threw everything up, my face was red, my chest ached, I was pacing, irritable, panicky. I felt like I was loosing my mind and thought I was having a heart attack and was going to die.

I went to the ER where they did EKG, drew blood, etc. After a series of questions the doctor honed in on my drinking habit. Afterwards he told me I was having a panic attack due to acute alcohol withdraw. I was given an IV of saline and vitamins, a hit of Valium and sent home feeling much better after an hour.

Later I tried controlled drinking thinking I could get around the anxiety and panic attacks by not drinking so much or sticking with beer. Weeks later in Vegas I really tied one on and spent the next two days in the hotel room with severe panic. I couldn’t even go outside! I tried taking the Xanax I was given but it seemed to make things worse. Back home I went to the ER after a week of daily bouts of anxiety and told the same thing as before. Its anxiety brought on from alcohol withdraws. Afterwards I swore off alcohol but then quickly fell back into drinking again weeks later. Another panic attack and another trip to the ER. This time I said enough and put myself into detox where I spent 3 days doped up. Afterwards I entered into extensive outpatient treatment where I learned quickly what the effects of alcohol could do to us mentally, spiritually, and physically.

The explanation for anxiety is due to our fight or flight getting out of control. Alcohol replaces the serotonin production in the brain. Serotonin is our feel good neurotransmitter. If we stop drinking, the brain is deficient in serotonin having forgot how to produce it due to the long term drinking. It takes time for the brain to relearn this process and eating foods high in Tryptophan; an enzyme used to make serotonin helps, like bananas, kiwi, tomato, etc. While cheese, meat, etc. also contain tryptophan avoid fats, as these tend to block the absorption of the tryptophan into the brain.


It’s been a little over three months since my last drink and I still get anxiety attacks on occasion. They have become less frequent and less intense with each cycle and I do tire of them but I know alcohol causes these and to stop drinking is the only way I’ll ever get rid of the attacks.

I find regular exercise, meditation, proper diet, adequate sleep, and mega dose of the B-Vitamins on top of the multivitamin, drink plenty of water, and anything to reduce stress. I’ve also had stomach issues due to the alcohol destroying my stomach lining so I eat light, 3 meals a day and avoid spicy, salty, dairy, caffeine and most of all, alcohol. Any aches or pains seem to trigger the episodes so I do what I can to prevent them.

Please, if your trying to quit alcohol cold turkey consult a doctor since sever withdraws can have life threating complications with seizures and such. If you’re experiencing anxiety or panic attacks due to alcohol withdraws then just remind your self your not going to die. As a doctor told me, know one has ever died from these attacks. Go to the gym and hit the aerobic machines for 30 minutes and in less then 2 hours you will feel normal again.

For my alcohol problem I finished phase 1 of out patient and am now in phase 2. I attend AA regularly and have a sponsor, work the steps, and pray to my higher power for relief. It really has help tremendously!

A superb thread and immensely helpful.

First of all I’d like to say well done to all of you who have managed to kick the habit and who feel better for it and wish all those of us dealing with the problem the utmost of inner strength to get through these dark days.

For me this is day one which is why I happened upon this thread through a google search under “alcohol and anxiety.” My panic attacks peaked the day before yesterday when I suffered one that lasted a full 24 hours. I remember some years ago I would have incredible difficulty falling asleep due to these attacks but normally related to the prospect of some stressful event that was happening the next day. I would start to doze off and then BOOM, like a long freezing cold needle piercing me through the chest I would immediately wake up terrified. This would continue for hours.

I started drinking when I was 14; I’m now 34. In my culture this is not considered unusual. In fact it took me only until a short time ago that I realized that my drinking habits were highly unusual. Over the past two or three years I have been drinking mostly alone every night of the week. The evenings often started the same way; a six-pack of beer and then wine if it was in the house, if not, outside to the street guys selling it in the centre of town to the late-night revelers. An average night would be anything between 8 to 10 beers. If I went out with friends then you could easily double that and throw in wine and/or spirits.

Lately the panic has become immense. Those occasional sleepless nights have become constant. I am in utter terror and I don’t know why. I even talk to myself out loud to try to rationalize what’s going on … “what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you feeling like this, pull yourself together you id**t.” My 24-hour attack arrived combined with a heavy feeling in my heart, as if it were a rock in my chest. Irregular beating, waves of panic, not sleeping, dreading the thoughts of how not sleeping would affect me.

I like to run so went outside and put in an hour and felt slightly calmer afterwards. Now that I am reading this thread I feel even more reassured so thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. I feel a little calmer now but also worried in another aspect. I adore drinking, I love my beers of an evening; the thoughts of a great red wine with a juicy steak has me drooling as I type. But there is one thing that I know and that frightens me about some of the other posts: I cannot control my drinking. I developed a kind of an idiotic expression but for me it is very true: “if I don’t have the first, there won’t be an issue.” For me there is no, “let’s have a drink,” because in my case one leads to nine or seven or searching the house at 4am looking for anything alcoholic.

My life has been a downwards spiral of binge drinking and anxiety for the past two years but I know now thanks to you guys that I have to stop. It’s already eating me up, my brain is already saying “but what about poker on Friday? What about going to that restaurant on Saturday?” It’s going to be very, very hard but I do NOT want to suffer the horror of another 24-hour terror induced panic attack that has me shouting at myself and staring in the mirror in dread.

Thanks for reading. May the thread continue.