Anxiety

[letgo]

Does anyone know the physiology of why you have less anxiety when you don't drink?

Seems to me that I'm always much calmer when I don't drink.

[A Work in Progress]

Anxiety

The whole cycle of wanting a drink, drinking, becoming intoxicated, coming down from the intoxication, then craving the drink again, all place a heavy load on a lot of our brain/mind processes. One aspect of all that, that contributes to anxiety, is the meaning we attach to our own drinking. If we perceive it as a problem we must try to control, or fix, then that alone ramps up our anxiety levels chronically. And for some people it contributes to full-blown panic attacks.

wip

[letgo]

Anxiety

I don't have any "cravings" for alcohol. That may make me different from many posting at this site. I drank too much on Friday night and probably won't drink again until another social function. I'm not fighting myself everyday whether I will drink or not.

My problem is (and the reason I'm at this site) that I tend to drink too much when I drink. I do, however, notice that I have more anxiety when I drink (the next day). There probably is some chemical reason for this.

[A Work in Progress]

Anxiety

Hangovers... your brain/body working to recover from the intoxication... that's part of what I was talking about in my earlier post; as well as the worry/meaning you attach to having had too much to drink...

[brittzak]

Anxiety

Letgo at the risk of being a smart-ass.....I show up for work, am a better parent, don't cuss out perfect strangers that haven't a clue what hell I am angry about, nor do I for that matter, drive responsibly, don't spend money I don't need to be spending on internet, remember to feed my small zoo, remember to do my childern's homework with them, hug my children, kiss them and love them, don't send emails cussing out someone I dated in the 8th grade because I am hearing a song that suddenly PISSED me off cause he broke-up with me dammnit.....In short...I remove alot of SELF-inflicted anxiety from my life...INSTANTLY

[letgo]

Anxiety

Okey Dokey

[Boss.man]

Anxiety

I made some notes based on some personal research I did. Skip down to the charts. When you drink daily, your body chems are unable to "catch up" to equalize your mood. Drinking can cause a cycle where your mood gets lower and lower, and this includes anxiety, sadness, depression and anger.

http://www.box.net/shared/static/t81snedyvi.pdf

[dingbat]

Anxiety

I would guess the chemical aspect has to do with the relation between GABA receptors, L-Glutamate and alcohol. There is a lot of research on the relation between these, much of it in very esoteric, scientific language - do a Google if you feel up to slogging through it all:H!!

Much of this research is in its early stages, and there's a long way to go to understand how all of these interact. But, it really is interesting and, I think, important for peeps like us!

[A Work in Progress]

Anxiety

Exactly, dingbat (and bossman). There are, of course, a lot of neurochemical aspects to all of this... there are neurochemical aspects to all of human experience! Every thought we have, every plan, every joy, every regret... and every drink of alcohol or bite of broccoli... creates a huge cascade of neurochemical events that are interrelated in extremely complex ways. Trying to find simple explanations is somewhat helpful, but also bound to result in distortions. There's a good reason why it's in "esoteric, scientific language"! So far, all of this is still understood only in a few broad and tentative outlines... Very, very fascinating, of course.

[letgo]

Anxiety

Thank you all for the information, the physiolgy is very fascinating. It still amazes me how much we don't understand about brain function. However, the progress over the last few decades has been tremendous.

[AstraiaJ.]

Anxiety

I was going to recommend boss.man's summary from a couple of months ago, but I see he's provided a link. It was really helpful to me as someone who also experienced an anxiety jump when I first stopped drinking. I now understand why I would go back to AL again and again before I was finally successful -- it felt like I was in some self-imposed anxiety hell, and drinking kept me from going nuts after day 3 or so when the anxiety peaked (I guess it took a couple of days for my system to whack out). Finally, I kept going AF and got past the worst of the anxiety period, and from there, I was able to KEEP going.

I read about the physiology too, in a book called "Seven Weeks to Sobriety," but I'm sure the pub. date is probably older than boss.man's info.

[maddiva]

Anxiety

well not for me

Anxiety you ask about. Well I feel anxious when I don't drink and drank only because I felt anxious. A vicious and nasty circle ensued, one which almost killed me. I think we are all different, but anxiety is sure as fuck a nasty thing. A disease of the soul. So if you don't feel anxious when you don't drink, then that shows you are coping with life and good for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dingbat]

Anxiety

Oh yeah! Anxiety is a killer - and I speak from experience. When I decided to stop the anti-depressants I started researching alternative treatments for anxiety and depression. I then started a regimine of supplements, vitamins and minerals that helped tremendously. I did very well for months, but stopped taking the supps for some reason and slid right back into drinking.

Also, all of these chemical reactions are tied into the body's metabolising of sugar. When I was taking the supps I was also on a strict low-carb diet. Between the two I felt better than I had in years, without the awful side-effects of ADs.

It's very difficult to find any Dr. who is willing to go along with such a program, at least around here. So for me it's been trial and error. I know that taking my magnesium, Niacin, L-glute and Chromium is essential. I do this to hopefully raise the level of GABA production, or to make it more efficient. I'm not sure about taking Straight GABA supps, as I read that they don't cross the blood-brain barrier?

Sad that we're on our own here; every Dr. I talk to wants to put me on yet ANOTHER AD and I refuse to go there again. Kind of makes me want to go back to school and study bio-chemistry; uh, NOT:H!!

Edited to ad: I once told a therapist that when I drank beer I felt more awake (at least at first); she flat out told me that was impossible because alcohol is a depressant. Well, I guess she missed the part about the carb load in beer - so I think I would get a carb high at first, before the depressant effect took hold. Anyway, once she told me that my feelings were "impossible" I knew I was in the wrong place.

[maddiva]

Anxiety

Funnily enough I am off to gp on Friday to discuss taking medication but loved your thread about 'natural' supplements. I do wonder if they work better and may just try to be more dedicated to them. What do you think? Prozac or alternative????

[dingbat]

Anxiety

Well, I'm not a doctor; all I can do is share my experience, and as everyone knows "anecdotes are not evidence". Anyway, IMO, I would at least try the supps and vitamins first. They can't hurt and they may help. Once you get on the AD train it's very hard to get off of it; and some of the withdrawal from them can be quite nasty. In my case the ADs literally made me crazy, as in having a psychotic episode; they also increased my drinking, including cravings and drinking early in the day, which had never happened to me before. I was a complete mess psychologically and had all of the physical side effects, ie., hair loss, weight gain, dull eyes and skin, the works! Lovely, no??

Again, this is only my experience and I am not a medical professional or scientist. So take it for what it's worth.