major depression and anxiety for days after binge drinking

I too have these exact problems after I drink. Because of this, I've basically stopped drinking socially, and maybe only 1x/week at most. It now only takes 2 cocktails to knock me out for 3-7 days straight. It's like it completely poisons my body & takes me forever to feel completely normal again. This came on suddely, and I don't understand why. Sometimes I think it's because my body is readjusting to my alcohol reduction, and I'm completely messing up my central nervous system, so much that my body just doesn't know how to react. It's weird, frustrating, and hard to deal with. I'm wondering if any medication helps you? Do you ever feel sternum/chest tightness or any pain between your shoulder blades? That's often my biggest complaint, along with feeling overall major anxiety, to the point I don't dare drive or go anywhere until my body gets back to normal. Does your anxiety symptoms come & go, or do they last pretty much all day/night with no let-up?

Yes i do get the pain in between my shoulder but the high levels of anxiety and panic are only after I have been out drinking and go to sleep then I wake up with it.

I also suffer from bad hangovers, and similar symtoms to the ones you describe. For the last 2 days i've had heavyness and difficulty breathing properly after a drinking binge.. feel i'm gasping for breath. I also have bad chest pains after drinking alcohol ad when I breathe in and out and it feels like i'm going to have an asthma attack or something, i'm not a suffer. I think there is no real cure of a hangover, just to drink loads of water, take some anti acid for the stomach, and painkillers for head, have 2 pieces of marmite on toast after the pain killers, go to sleep for 4 hours or so, you'll wake up feeling so much better. Also, remember to eat loads b4 u go out, pastas good as it soaks it up, or if u don't have time, have some slices of bread. also my sight goes funny the day after a binge... I'm feeling it today, time for a detox!!!

I am '40-something' and basically gave up drinking all together 15 years ago because I would feel hungover for 4-7 days afterward. It just wasn't worth the fun anymore, the price I paid afterward was way too high.

It turns out that I had fibromyalgia. In learning about fibromyalgia, I found that most people have the same reaction to alcohol.

Just something to consider. Your body may have changed and can't tolerate alcohol anymore?
Have a good day
Linda

I find I binge every few months or so. During the week I don't drink at all, but then the weekends - oh my! If I stay on wine it's not too bad, but the hard stuff is a killer - probably literally. I am on a drug for skin disorder (psoriasis) and severe arthritis, which instructs not to have more than two glasses a week. My usual consumption is two bottles of red wine/weekend until the binge idea hits.

I have the shakes, headache, don't see well and an upset stomach. Why do I continue? That's the big question. A psychiatrist I saw said that all his patients who have a drinking problem are angry. I know I should just quit and have done with it. Why don't I? :-(

I get exactly the same after drinking heavily, I think its all because i cut right down on my drinking through the week then binge drink at weekends. I dont really drink that much, prabably about 6-8 pints of beer, not nearly as much as my friends. I also suffer from IBS, so i'm not sure if this has anything to do with it.



I'm suffering from it right now and the thought of having a drink makes me feel sick, but by Wednesday i'll feel fine again and br ready for the weekend to do it all again!!



I am seriously considering stopping alcohol all together, but i really enjoy it, not the getting drunk bit, just the social side of things.



Anyway, the only thing that keeps me sane is my family and i cant be much good to them if i feel like this for 3-4 days!!

I was happy to read that other people suffer from the same issue.  After an episode of binge drinking, I wake up with a huge amount of anxiety and depression....I am not myself.  I can't snap out of it until the alcohol is out of my system which is about 20 hours after the drinking.  The issue has become worse and I didn't suffer from this until recently.   It's scary and scarier that I would continue to drink knowing that alcohol is so toxic to me.  The only way to prevent this is to stop but it's been very hard to do so.  As time goes by, it's easy to forget how bad these episodes feel the next day....it's not worth it. 

I have the same anxiety issue, but I think it's from the fact that the breaking down of alcohol in your system turns the sugars into adrenaline and makes you more hyper.   ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** web addresses not allowed***

 

I just turned 46 and did it again on my birthday. i binge every 4 to 5 months. i must drink 10-15 beers. it never happens on a weekday, only weekends. The next day i sometimes drink again. i get depressed and wonder what i did last night. I think its time to stop the drink....

Old thread but regardless I will toss in my thoughts. I have a long standing anxiety condition and I can confirm that a hangover causes anxiety to spiral out of control. I am 40 and I gave up drinking all together for 7 years.
I have recently made huge steps at tackling my anxiety and have once again began drinking. Now, so long as I moderate my drinking my hangovers are manageable but I went over the top this weekend and I once again experienced the hangover from hell.

The best advice is the obvious advice, moderate your drinking. When out drink slower, stick to a sensible drink, perhaps even toss in a few soft drinks here and there.
Drink lots of water before going out and once in.

Though honestly if you fall foul of the really bad hangovers, you just need to go through it. It won't kill you regardless of what your spiralling anxiety will try to talk you into.

Just see a hangover as feedback, use that information to adapt your drinking habits in the future.

For people who suffer really terrible hangovers like me, on a constant basis, there is a lot of denial at first, you will tell yourself it was a one off, that you won't drink as much from now on, that you will do things differently and it won't happen again. But as soon as you feel good again a week or two later you will go out and do the same thing again, if like me, you use drink as a excuse to drown your sorrows, or run out to the pub anytime something upsets you. Drink can become deadly.

 

The older you get, the harder it becomes for your body to flush out the alcohol and toxins. And you might just find, one night you drink so much you almost kill yourself, easily done when you binge drink and lose track of how many drinks you've actually had, it all depends on your age, how much you've eaten, your weight, it's not something you can judge very well if you're a binge drinker.

 

I went out one night and got so hammered, for the next week I really did think I was going to die, I couldn't breathe properly for days, and I was so out of it two days later I almost fell into the road into on coming traffic, I nearly collapsed , I was suffering from alcohol poisoning I think.  Add into that anxiety attacks brought on by drink, that require medical help, exhaustion so bad you can't get out of bed for days, and you can see how drink can affect your life. And I was someone who promised to never drink, I was one of the best at school in terms of sports, on many different sports teams, captain and so on, and always got good grades. But it doesn't matter. If you keep making excuses as to why you drink to much, or look on it as the only fun you can have and so on, it will destroy your life if you are not 100% able to keep it under control. I was never able to walk away when I should, which is why I had to stop drinking. it became far to dangerous for me, and I realised that most of the people in these places drinking, looked like they weren't even enjoying themselves, I finally woke up and saw that drinking was nothing special, the reality of it. Now I am just happy that I got out before I died, because I nearly did on a few occasions from drinking to much. You feel a real sense of relief when you quit drinking and realise you will never have to worry about hangovers and feeling scared that you might over do it again and kill yourself drinking, that is enough of a reward for me, along with the added feeling of well being. I wouldn't wish those hangovers on my worst enemy, it was like something out of hell.

Drink can take you to a very dark and scary place, trust me. If you drink to much, stop altogether before you end up in serious danger one day. It could easily cost you your life.

i know what your saying im 47 and its got out of hand with me most ive gone is 3 weeks beers and vodka...then when the alcohol wears out is the shakes, the vomiting....can.t sleep, anxiety....and most of all i look like sh*t....but like you said....once is over you do it again...i just wish i had this very strong will power....but i forget very easy....how the withdrawals suck!!! =(

I am 43. I would not call myself a big drinker. I  may have a beer or glass of wine at a social event, but that is it. However, several times in my life I have had too much wine. This pas t Saturday I did it again. But, i woke up the next day with terrible anxiety. It has been 48 hours and I am still in the throws of this. I went to the doctor and I will see a therapist. I havent had this anxiety for over ten years. How long will it take to feel normal again? I know for a fact I will never drink alcohol again!! Could  it also be a combination of menopause? I want to know what triggered it and when it will leave me!

 

It has recently been suggested that withdrawal can occur as a result of binge drinking as well as alcoholism. Alcohol withdrawal includes anxiety and hyperactivity. This is because alcohol causes upregulation of nmda (receptors that respond to glutamate) receptors and actual glutamate in the brain. This upregulation occurs in compensation for the depressing nature of alcohol. Alcohol inhibits neurons while NMDA receptors excite neurons. So during withdrawal there is too much NMDA acitivtivation which equates to too much excitation. This produces anxiety and hyperactivity.

It turns out that the glutamate equilibrium in the brain is very delicate. In addition neurons are very sensitive to over-excitation, hence the term "excito-toxicity". Glutamate is a known excito-toxin. In fact, alcohol related cognitive dysfunction and brain damage is better predicted by the number of times a person has withdrawn than with the duration of alcoholism. Alcohol related brain injury is actually delayed by chronic drinking.

It has been shown that rats who are given binge treatment for 4 days experience withdrawal and incur extensive brain damage and rats that are given binge treatment incur brain damage but mainly in the olfactory bulb. However rats just given a singe large dose of alcohol don't show brain damage.

Also, there is a phenomenon known as "kindling" which is characterized by worsening withdrawal as the number of times a person withdraws increases. For instance, it is known that the more a person has withdrawn, the more likely a subsequent withdrawal is to result in a seizure.

Such a profound and persistent reaction to drinking that involves anxiety and hyperactivity is probably withdrawal.

In addition, withdrawal is can cause permanent damage to the brain. This doesn't mean that you have caused permanent injury to your brain my binge drinking, but it is increasingly likely as the number of episodes increases.

For these reasons, if you experience significant persistent symptoms after binge drinking, it is important for the safety of your brain (which is everything) that you discontinue this behavior.

For more information, search google scholar with keywords "binge drinking, "brain", "brain damage" "withdrawal", etc.