Anxiety and Alcohol

[arche_apeiron]

I was having an ever-increasing debilitating problem with anxiety, to the point I tried to get on anti-anxiety medications, which in the long run made me feel even worse with a bunch of terrible side effects.

I gave up alcohol after the new year, and while it has been pretty difficult to not go back on my word because I miss the buzz, I have now discovered that alcohol is a primary cause to my anxiety and panic attacks. The anxiety is such an icky feeling, that it gives me that extra incentive to commit to the year of no alcohol.

My husband and I had pre-purchased a tour of a meadery, and for awhile I was planning on having that as an exception, but I have asked my husband to take someone else with him.

It became a strange cycle, apparently. Something would make me anxious, so I would drink to ease the anxiety, which would in the long run increase my anxiety. That's not fun.


12
There is not as much good
as men claim there is
in alcohol for one's well-being.
A man knows less
as he drinks more,
and loses more and more of his wisdom.

14
I was drunk,
I was too drunk,
at Fjalar's house.
The best kind of feast
is the one you go home from
with all your wits about you.

-- The Counsel of Odin the One-Eyed

Comments

[root_tracer0963]

I have been meaning to reply to this right after you wrote it. I can't believe I let two weeks escape me before I came back to my journal.

Anyway,it's too bad anti-anxiety medications side effects were worse than the medications themselves. I say that because my mom had anxiety issues for which she had medication for. I am not sure if she stayed on it or not, although I don't think she did. I remember seeing the same bottle of pills in her medicine cabinet that never seemed to go down as far as the number of pills in the bottle goes. Instead, she tended to self-medicate with alcohol as well. Unfortunately, for my mom, her alcohol use became a big problem for her. I have often thought about writing about this but have struggled whether or not doing so would dishonor her memory.

Anyway, I hope you're able to some way find relief from your anxiety issues.

[arche_apeiron]

I think if writing about it will help you process it, then you should write about it. This is a pretty anonymous forum, so as long as people who knew her don't read it, I don't think it will dishonor her.

[arche_apeiron]

Also, I've had a couple bouts of anxiety since writing this. One the other night was absolutely dreadful, and I didn't have alcohol, so obviously there are other things that can make me feel that way.