Anxiety and alcohol

I have been a drinker for about 9 years now. Why in the Lord's name do we do this is beyond me. I do not drink during the day and I do not drink when I have my daughter (which is about 3 nights a week). Now normally I would get a buzz and go to bed, wake up and feel fairly bad in the morning and then be better by the afternoon. Well, things have changed. I have had anxiety issues for almost 15 years now and it comes and goes. However, for the past 2 or 3 months I have slacked off and slacked off and my anxiety attacks are happening more frequently. Am I having these attacks for the fear of not drinking anymore? I am agreeing that I have an issue but I know I can do this myself. Heck, 3 years ago I was drinking a pint a night, now I have it down to less than half a pint and not drinking at all when I have my daughter. I just wonder why I am having these attacks. Today I have had one ALL day long. I cannot fight it. The main thing that scares me is that the alcohol calms my nerves and I don't want to go back to a pint a night.

[Jacker]

I can't say whether or not there is something else happening with you, but I had similar issues after I did enough drinking.  Alcohol comes back and bites you sooner or later and as you progress, you're actually "less" able to handle it.

I used to feel quite relaxed after being heavily buzzed or even drunk the night before.  At the end, I would feel anxious and my heart would beat fast.  This was after about 15 years of drinking and it was a signal that I had permanently crossed a line.

I tried to cross back to the "good old days" numerous times before finally throwing in the towel. I read that your central nervous system is affected by alcohol, and eventually becomes hyper-sensitive to it.  I've also talked to many alcoholics with the same anxiety issue.

You may think that alcohol calms your nerves, but the booze is lying to you.  I'm more calm now than I was a the end of my drinking days......it takes a few months to work the effects of the booze out of your system, but each month is better than the last.

The old say is that "once you're a pickle, you can't become a cucumber again".  I've found that it's true.  

[ambie5000]

my advice would be to stop drinking all together but if you don't binge drink and only have like one beer then make sure you drink at least 2-3 glasses of water before going to bed. When I used to drink I would have really bad anxiety in the morning.

[ibizan]

I'm with Jackers opinion 150% and agree with ambie be wise to quit altogether.I had very bad anxiety and minor depression when i quit but i knew what i had done to my brain chemicals...and that a healing process would have to occur and that it would take a considerable amount of time..i didn't get the way i got overnite!Recovery is a all brick road.......one brick at a time!:)

[dominosarah]

You gotta get your mind and body on the same page here.  If you dont stop the "controlled" drinking is soon going to get out of hand again.  Your brain is calling for the alcohol and your body is responding to the signals it gets.  Anxiety is no fun but there are things you can do to help it.  Breathing exercises really help.  I would also highly recommend looking into some sort of aftercare.  Using is just a symptom to what is really going on......sara