drinking with anxiety

[marcusphill]

ive been dealing with anxiety for about  one year now.
and ive gave up drinking, in hopes my anxiety would cure, since i used to heavily drink.
my anxiety didnt really go away. but after a while. i learned tips and tricks to deal with it.
i am not 21, but i was in brazil in other places, where the drinking age was 18.
since i gave up drinking cause of my anxiety, there was moments i tryed to have a drink, but everytime i would
have any drink. my anxiety would hit me, and i would feel anxious,not exctaly cause of alcohol, i would just get paranoid that  my anxiety would get bad. so now you got a idea of where im coming from. ima cut to the chase.
    i was told before by people with anxiety before, that drinking actually helps their anxiety, or it doesnt effect their anxiety  at all.
and ive heard from other that alcohol is a depressant and dehydrates you and makes you have anxiety. or anxiety gets really bad  after a day of drinking.
soo im not sure exctaly what side to look at.  
i would like to be able to drink again with out freaking, but i dont want to take risk. its gon harm me.
so could anyone help me out with this????

[Fixit50]

From what I've heard so far from people I know,  Drinking is a huge trigger. Caffiene and Alcohol are not good while your having issues.  

[nursegirl6572]

Alcohol, in my opinion, is the worst thing an anxious person can partake in.  While, obviously, alcohol may decarese the anxiety while you are drinking....usually the next day or two, anxiety goes through the roof.  Not to mention that it seems you already know that alcohol causes you MORE anxiety, so in my humble opinion, I think you would be better just steering clear of it all together.  Lastly, if you are on medications, you really should avoid alcohol...as alcohol many times can increase certain effects of the med...for example, with some meds, it can increase anxiety, or increase the driwsy effects of a med.  Whatever you decide, be very careful!

[hazyworld]

would love to have an occasional beer but on prozc and xanax dr says it would be ok but im scard to try though for years before i drank with xanax

[sunset555]

Hi Marcusphill,

I tend to agree with what the above people have said, although If you find that you can tolerate alcholol in moderation, I dont see the harm but from my point of view I am feeling that you may be feeling a bit of peer pressure with the drinking maybe because of your age and being so young, do you feel that you "have" to drink? if so that can and may be actually what is triggering your anxiety in the first place.

Either way love, I feel that if you think you can have a drink go ahead, but try not to dwell on it or focuss in on it too much, if that works fine, if not well then just stay away from alchol full stop.

Have you tried talk therapy, or excercise? both help a lot in situations like these.

Best of luck and please do keep us posted, we are here to help and give as much support as we possibly can.

Sharon X

[mammo]

I agree that if you can have just one or two drinks, fine. Many people find life easier to deal with by consuming alcohol, self medicating. We all know this can be a slippery slope so you need to tread lightly with this.  Since your anxiety gets worse after drinking....why drink? Panic attacks are not worth a couple of drinks in my opinion.  Take care....

[cj29]

Alcohol and anxiety generally don't mix in my opinion.  However, are you able to drink in moderation?  Can you have just one or two drinks without having more?  I tend to believe that drinking can increase your anxiety, but in my experience with this, one or two drinks for me really doesn't affect that much...keep us posted.

[Brianlame]

My anxiety will blow up a day or two after drinking.  Minor drinking to the point just before intoxication(like the minor buzz area) gives me some anxiety too.  If drinking gives you panic attacks, and you can avoid panic most other times then don't drink.  It's probably your anxiety reminding you of past attacks that gets going when you're having a drink.