ryan369

hi just joined today been sober 14 days after 8 years of 3-5 nights a week 20+ units a session first week was rough panic,anxiety,thinking i was going crasy so after 3 days of this doctor put me on diazepam for 9 days really helped me but after that period i started with all the anxiety again but he will not carry on with the dizepam so has give me haloperidol instead hope this works does anybody know long before i can be free of this anxiety and fear

CarolD

Welcome....

It's always best to follow your doctors advice.
We can't give medical advice on med's anyway.
We are simply not qualified to do so.

I'm sorry you are having anxiety....
It is not part of my history.

Here is a link that might help you

Post Acute Withdrawl - Relapse Prevention Specialists - TLC The Living Center

I do know it took me longer than 2 weeks to feel
back in balance Are you eating healthy foods?
Drinking a lot of water? Taking any vitamins?

LaFemme

Hi Ryan,

I think everyones withdrawal goes a little differently and I am unfamiliar with the drugs you mentioned. I have found meditation helpful in dealing with anxiety.

Others will be along with more experience, but welcome to SR, its a great community and reading and posting here might help with your anxiety.

Congratulations on you sobriety.

Peace, LF

Shoei

G'day Ryan,

I'm on day 49 so can not speak with much authority. However mentally I felt free of most of my "fear" at around the 20 day mark. It wasn't a sudden thing but day by day I feel better and better. So much so that I need to read these threads on a daily basis to remind myself that this is it for me now and that however good I feel I can't go back to how things were as the madness will be there waiting for me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that in the short time I have been sober things in all areas have been improving steadily and I'm sure they will for you too!

CarolD

Jasper....
Thanks for sharing your experience.

Glad you are moving forward...

223

When I withdraw (hopefully for the last time) I get anxiety as well. What helps me personally is just to go for a walk.

Wilde10

Anxiety IS my problem. Has always been so i cannot give advice just empathy.
I am looking for a good counsellor. i want to start in September (leaving on holidays now).
I will start yoga and meditation too. I need a new outlook on thinks and some internal peace.

Good luck

Dee74

Hi Ryan

I suffered from anxiety before I stopped drinking so I have no experience to share either - but do keep asking your doctor these questions

Welcome to SR!
D

penny74

it takes too long....
But eventually it does go away.
l am going through the same thing and it is hell on earth.

lildawg

Ryan, my alcoholism began with anxiety. I drank to quell those feelings. I realized this after I quit drinking and the anxiety came back like a sledgehammer banging at me.

Some things that might help:

• hot baths
• lavender scent (candles, essential oils, inscense)
• chamomile tea
• breathing exercises for calming

In addition to the stuff above, I've also taken herbal supplements (vitamins, dietary supplements, whatever you like to call them) that are touted to be good for anxiety--and I believe they did help. However, since forum rules direct that we not mention medications, I feel that I shouldn't tell you what I've taken.

You might ask your doctor about natural anxiety control. If he or she won't help you, you might consider visiting a herbalist.

I hope I've not gone against forum rules, but my anxiety was intense for about the first year of my sobriety. I wasn't on any drugs or alcohol, but I had actual paranoia. So I totally understand where you're coming from.

TexasNative

Welcome to SR. I have had a fair amount of anxiety my whole life, but when I stopped drinking it got bad, my emotions in general were way outta hand. As posted already it's different for everybody, I am a few days short of 30 days and for me right around the 20th day I started to feel more comfortable and stable. I still feel anxious and uncertain but nowhere near as bad as the first 2-3 weeks. Good luck to you, keep posting.

Ainslie

Hey Ryan

I too have problems with anxiety - before, during and after my drinking problem. Ive also been prescribed valium on and off and I know what withdrawal from that is like - not pleasant!

If youre unsure of what youre taking now and how long its going to take to work, maybe seek another doctors opinion?

irontadpole

yeah, i can totally relate to the anxiety issues you describe, and as mentioned above, my high-anxiety levels have been wit me many years! I'm from stoke-on-trent, and with a lot of help and hard work i am grateful not to have use alcohol or cannabis since jan. 18th 2010. Diazepam on a reducing scale is prescribed to help you through the worst of your withdrawals such as shakes, muscle tremor, vommiting etc. I attended a re-hab centre, and after the first 2 weeks on diazepam, it was then time for 18 weeks of intensive therapy dealing with my feelings & emotions, and trying to discover why it was that i had the need to spend 25+ years taking any mind altering substance to escape myself.
I had tried many times before to rid myself of my addiction, but nothing worked for me until i refered myself to The B.A.C. & O'Connor re-habilitation centre in Newcastle-under-Lyme, staffs. You can get funding for the cost of the treatment from your local council, and the amazing thing is - it works if you work it!!
The idea of 18 weeks in-house re-habilitation was hard to accept at first, and i felt i didn't have the time to commit to the program. Of course, this was my addiction trying to talk me out of it, but then i realised that 18 weeks out of a life that i was slowly destroying was a small price to pay if there was any chance of a recovery.
It certainly was not plain sailing, and took a lot of honesty, acceptance, and determination on my part, but i completed the programme, graduating on 22nd may 2010!! My life today is completly turned around, and for the first time ever i have some respect for myself and realise i'm equal to anyone else, and deserve to be happy in this life. This is all down to accepting thehelp that is out there, it's just so hard to find when trapped in the chaos of active addiction.
PLEASE get in touch with The O'connor centre on 01782 615590. If i can do it, anyone can!!! One final thing; i now do voluntry work as a recovery champion/mentor with a service user group with a very true name...R.I.O.T. which stands for Recovery Is Out There... how very true!! Best wishes, Mick C. We DO recover.....

Anna

Anxiety has been part of my life since my teen years. It's been really difficult at times and was part of the reason I began to drink. Of course, drinking made it much worse. So, after stopping drinking, I knew I had to deal with the anxiety. For me, I do not want to take meds for the issue. So, I do a lot of things to help. First of all, proper breathing can reduce your anxiety. If you notice, when you are feeling really anxious, your breathing will likely be shallow and quick. This feeds the anxiety. So, take three slow, deep breaths and then continue to breathe all the way in and all the way out. Yes, it works! So, does yoga, meditation, exercise, time alone. I do all those things.

LaFemme

Hi Ryan, I have been doing a lot of reading about the biomedical aspects of alcoholism and saw this just a few minutes and it made me think of you.

"In alcoholics, ongoing use alters brain chemistry, causing addiction for which willpower is no match. Willpower can't lift depression or stop cravings caused by chemical disruption. Anxiety, irritability, mental confusion, and irrational thinking are often caused by physical disruption of the brain and central nervous system. "

If you are interested you can click here for the full article.

Hope it helps:-)

LastDrinkToday

Hello,

One OTC supplement which studies have proven helps with alcohol withdrawal is Dihydromyricetin.

This study states:

From the reading I've done, abusing alcohol for long periods of time changes your brain's "GABA System". Then, when your brain is deprived of alcohol, your GABA System won't function properly. This leads to anxiety and in extreme cases seizures.

Dihydromyricetin helps your GABA System function properly while you are going through alcohol withdrawal.

This is the article I read about it.