Hey guys. I was just wondering if Anxiety / feeling depressed is common when giving up alcohol? I’m going on Day 10 without alcohol today, and im feeling really down. If you got any tips or pointers please let me know! Thanks!!
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Thanks so much for the advice!!
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This is very common. I suggest doing a search on the forum on anxiety, you will find a lot of helpful threads.
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Thanks so much!
Will do, thank you!
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Day 50 for me. Still get anxious and depressed.
Things that have worked for me:
- counseling: professional help. Therapy and meds. I’m currently on a mild antidepressant and disulfiram which acts as a drinking deterrent (while on it, if you take as little as a sip, you’ll get sick fast)
- reading: recommend “Easy way to quit drinking” by Allen Carr. If you want I can go into more detail as to why I’ve found it helpful
- writing: started a blog but for me only (as in, I’m not publicizing it) as a kind of diary
- exercise: found something that motivates me
Glad to go into more detail if needed.
Good luck!
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Awesome! Thanks for the helpful tips!!
Forgot one. I also recommend this podcast. It’s serious, feels genuine, feels real, pragmatic and offers great point of view.
”The Alcohol ReThink Podcast“ - Patrick Fox.
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Its been my experience that anxiety and depression and all around feeling beat up is normal. I was in detox for 14 days and when I got out I still felt frazzled. Everyday I didn’t drink I felt better. Stay hydrated. Hang in there. You will feel better.
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I think it’s common. It’s kinda twisted. I drank because i was anxious, stressed & depressed… But it seems to only make everything worse.
Then those first few weeks were bad, had to power through while my body worked on healing from the toxins I’ve been living on. Then i just started to feel better, better rested, better mood, more patience, more tolerance, more energy etc…
It takes awhile for your body to heal and stop craving what you were feeding it…
Give it time and do some of those great suggestions above (walk, read, draw, call friends, video meetings, cook, hike etc…) go to a DR of you have other issues you were dealing with to get help. It seems most people drink or drug a lot to deal with other issues. You have to work on them too. (or at least i have to)
You got this
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Thank you so much!
My depression and anxiety were made much worse by alcohol consumption, first few weeks sober intensified but now with counselling and medication at 1347 days sober I feel the best I have felt in years! Hang in there, you will feel better X
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I’d say don’t be afraid of talking to a doctor. Anxiety medication will probably help you, there’s non-narcotic medication althought it takes several days before it starts to work. I’d recommend taking some for a lil while then slowly wing yourself off when you start feeling better. Besides that time is the only other thing that will help and hanging out with positive friends that support you
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We are all different and things effect us in different ways. Much the same advice as others: Sleep, Exercise and rest. The first few weeks, you will feel unmotivated and perhaps lazy. Your body is doing some real healing in the big scheme of things. I always tried to get up and move, increasing your endorphins does amazing things in my opinion. I would also recommend checking out some vitamins and other herbal remedies. What worked for me was a solid multi-vitamin, milk thistle, Vitamin D, terminnic, apple cider vinegar and fish oils.
Like I said at the top, everyone is different and this combo may not work for everyone; however, I feel a million times better when I take my daily vitamins. I can tell, if I miss a day.
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Thank you!! I’ll definitely check it out!
For sure! I’d rather be sober than go through the hell I’ve put myself through!
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Yes I’ve had this too stick with it it gets better and it’s not even close to the horrible depression and anxiety you get the few days after a binge lost count of how many times I’ve told myself come on Kel four days and you’ll be ok…2 days later I’d be back on the booze 
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B12 is a very important vitamin to take in early recovery, magnesium & potassium also. Alcohol depletes all these & deficiency in these can be dangerous.
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Drink coconut water, it has many health benefits but don’t over do it due to the sugar
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Deppresion and boredom. I suppose all i ever did was plan where to go in order to drink as much as possible. When that stopped there was not much going on in my life, i 'm not a hobby guy and actually had no interests apart from beer. Deppresion lessened with time and eventually stopped. Boredom still a challenge. But sober brain is tops
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