europagrl
Your fight with alcohol could very wel be the cause of your anxiety. We have conviced ourselves that if we have a drink our nerves will settle down and our hands will quit shaking. When all is said and done we discover that our solution is the same thing thats causing the problem. Once we remove alcohol from our system for any length of time those symptoms will disapear.Its important to remember that you suffer from a disease that will fool your mind into thinking your solution will make it better. When in reality your solution is the problem. I've seen you on here before have you tried AA.? Have you done anything to remove alcohol from your life? We really do need to wage war against alcohol if we wish to have any real success. Please give Alcoholics Anonymous a try the only thing you have to lose is your obsession to drink.Please keep coming back Greg

Ditto to what Greg said, Europa. It was through working the steps that I found freedom from fear and anxiety. Not that I am never anxious. It just doesn't rule my life anymore as it did in the past. I show up for life these days and work with others. I trust that all is well and as it should be.

Fear consumed me. I kid you not. There is a way out. Find a sponsor and do the work. I didn't think it would work for me. But it did. We become less concerned with ourselves and more interested in others. That quells a lot of fear. For me anyway.

hi greg....yea...it is possible.Maybe i just have to give some time to recover.i have relapses a lot.than thinking after being month sober all should be great and peachy

We ALL have anxiety and fear--that is what addiction stems from whether you r addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling,.anorexia etc-they are all manifestations of the same disease--so no worries in my opinion , we all share that prob--:)

Intense anxiety was VERY real for me too in the beginning. It is hard to explain, but I think now in hindsight, I see that I had the anxiety for a few reasons.

1... I was struggling with wanting to escape and fighting constantly not to drink - This caused a lot of inner turmoil for me.

2... I was in a relationship that was causing me incredible anxiety.

The first one was mostly relieved when I ceased fighting and gave myself completely to the program... as completely as I could. The struggle disappeared mostly when I made sobriety my absolute number 1 priority,

The second... Due to making my sobriety number 1 priority, I was able to see that this relationship had to go. Leaving my ex was the biggest change I made in my life to help my sobriety.

I still get some anxiety but nothing like before. I am a believer in finding where the anxiety stems from before meds, but in the past I have needed meds to function and could not get sober for even a day without. Much of that intense anxiety was a direct result of the alcohol.

You can do this. If you can do the rehab, that will likely help. Drinking won't be an option for awhile. I went to a 60 day program and felt safe. It was such a relief to have an institution to lean on and guide me awhile until I could get my head cleared.

Its almost impossible to work out what is going on while we are still drinking. Is anxiety making the drinking worse? Is drinking making the anxiety worse? Is the anxiety part of the alcohol problem or something separate? None of these can be answered while alcohol is still in the picture and untilt someone has been sober for a while.

I know lots of alcoholics who suffered badly from fear and anxiety and found that it went away when they stayed sober using a program of recovery which dealt with the underlying causes and conditions which are part of alcoholism.

I also know other people like me who found that even after doing that (recovery with a program) the anxiety and fear was different and to a certain extent better but didnt reduce to normal levels.

I was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder when i was several years sober. But i am very grateful that now I have much healthier ways to deal with anxiety, to try and manage it and change it, than alcohol.

You are right it may well be easier to get sober without anxiety but i think very few alcoholics are afforded that luxury.

It sounds as if you're repeating a pattern and it might be worth to take a close look at it with another AA member or a sponsor if you have one.
Fighting alcohol never worked for me. I had to surrender and give up trying to win the battle.

I agree with some of the others in that maybe the fight is making you feel anxiety? I also agree, talk to your sponsor and others. I used to fight the urge to drink. Now I work the steps and when I have anxiety, I talk to someone, I pray about it, I try to give it to my HP.

Hi there

I totally agree with everyone, I sometimes think once I get home from work a glass of wine will help me unwind, but then after I've had more than I should I feel even worse. The next day I'm even more anxious and know what I'm doing isn't solving any of my problems but creating more . It is such a vicious circle!