Hello everyone. Im a recovering alcoholic. I’m over one year sober now. Over the past year I’ve struggled with something I have never had in the past. Anxiety. I’m happy and sober and never want to touch booze again but my daily life is now a gamble of whether or not I’ll have a panic attack or not. Sometimes I can go days without one and sometimes months. Has anyone else had this problem? I try to just sit somewhere quiet and concentrate on my breathing. Stuck at work right now in the middle of attack and could use some positive words! Thank you all
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I suffer from anxiety also. When my thoughts overwhelm me to the point of panic I focus on actual physical things in the room (clock is a circle, that guy is bald etc)…sounds dumb but it helps my mind take a break from freaking out which allows my body to calm.
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Didn’t know it before but when I stopped drinking my anxiety went through the roof-therapy, meditation, AA and sober friends helped me so much-- I think that drinking hid a lot of problems I never realized until sober enough to notice- try a meditation app/book, go to meetings (you just have to listen) and focus on YOU- it gets better
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Hi, I am here again, last year I used to have it, hipnosis helped a lot,
Ok. I don’t know where else to post. I tried to find an appropriate topic, but I give up. I hope this one is ok to choose. I am 62 days sober with alcohol. With what is going on here in California, I have been reluctant to off load my minor problems but I just had a good size panic attack and I’m alone and have to get it out. I got sober shortly after both of my kids started school. This is the first year they have both been in school at the same time. I have a two year history of anxiety and panic. The time, the sweet sweet time I was able to have as a stay at home mom with two kids in school, for the first time since I left work, is probably the only thing that allowed me to start working on me. I have terrible flight anxiety and also react completely irrationally to disasters that aren’t directly affecting me like mass shootings, fires etc. In the last two weeks, I have flown twice, spent 7 days 24 hours with my husband (who I normally see maybe two hours a day but he helps with the kid’s bedtimes), returned to the fires and the mass shootings in a town where we have some friends and family and my kid’s schools cancelled indefinitely at this point. Air quality in my town is up in the 300ppm range on whatever scale which is apparently not good for being outside at all. I can’t walk or exercise. I can’t go to meetings because the kids are out of school and no one is available to watch them. My husband is gone for 5 days for business. I have a friggin ear infection. I keep seeing the clock at 9:11 which is so stupid. I know it’s stupid and it hasn’t happened to me in a long time. It was funny before anxiety and then it was a problem. I have this thing about seeing the clock at exactly 9:11 every day. It sucks. Tonight 9:11 pm was enough to trigger a full on panic attack. My kids are sleeping. I’m alone. Guess what I want to do to make this all go away. I need to just go to sleep but I have a hard time doing that when my husband is gone. I feel like I have to sleep with one eye open or listen for nixle reports all night long to make sure no fires start near us (they were close last year). I’m sorry for venting. Terrible when so many people are suffering and my God, the suffering. I only know one person that lost their home so far. Last year we knew a dozen or so. The stories of evacuation are so terrifying to me as I kind of obsess about keeping my kids safe and I just cannot imagine. We’ve been stuck in the house for 4 days now and the kids are bananas. We tried having another family over and the kids got in a fight which caused friction between the parent and I, another thing that causes me anxiety. I am pushing my limit right now and can’t see a way out. I just keep thinking one day at a time, one day at a time.
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Today is day 55 for me and although I can’t relate to everything your going through I can relate to the anxiety and panic attacks.
I had them bad in the beginning but then they went away. Now, at almost 2 months I am barely sleeping at night because of anxiety, that’s why I’m on here now. It’s 1:52 am here. I wish I could help more. You definitely are not alone, I’m sure there are many others going thru same thing. And your right 1 day at a time! Hope you can get some sleep!
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@JUSTINo and @dot.dot.dot Thank you. It helps so much just to feel like I was able to “talk” about it after only being around the kids for the last few days. Thank you so much for listening. It makes me feel so guilty to be losing it over minor problems like these. I took down an entire bag of generic herb seasoned croutons while staring blankly at Season 1 Episode 1 of Twin Peaks since I wrote that, so you know, hey, things are calming down. Haha.
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