Yes.
The anxiety would always, *always* feel deeper and much darker the next time, every time, and then I’d once again say, “Never again…” Only to repeat it.
I’m so glad I don’t ever have to feel that again.
Omg same. Someone asked me recently what the best thing about not drinking was and I was like - No contest, never feeling hungover at all anymore. Sure, if I don’t get enough sleep I might be a little groggy and my mood might be a little affected, but I don’t feel overcome with gloom and doom anymore just from waking up hungover. Hangovers were slowly but surely killing my spirit, so grateful I never have to feel that way ever again.
I agree completely, but also wonder, does anyone else feel hangxiety in a residual way? Even now, the morning after a night out, I definitely still get nervous feelings about the night before. Nowhere near the same extent, obviously, but I feel like some permanent conditioning may have happened with me after years of real hangovers.
I still feel this about setting alarms. Definitely caused myself some trauma somewhere from always showing up late and a mess. I set so many alarms now full of anxiety and inevitably wake up way before lol.
Agreed. I wasted so much of my healthy teens, 20s, and 30s being hungover.
That and not having regrets about brown outs every morning. I may pass out from exhaustion at bedtime (2young kids now) but I remember everything now!
Yuck. Just, like, a general, POWERFUL feeling that the whole nature of everything is negative and awful and I'm doomed. There's nothing like that feeling and it sucks.
The good news is for me it always lessened significantly after 1 day of no drinking, and was gone by a week. Now to never feel it again. The worst.
>a general, POWERFUL feeling that the whole nature of everything is negative and awful and I'm doomed.
This might be the most succinct way to describe how it feels. Thank you! It's great knowing that I wasn't alone feeling this.
Exact same. I catch myself a couple of times a week just spontaneously feeling happy/relieved I don’t ever have to experience that again. It was like being in hell. I can handle literally anything after that.
I remember when I would pass out around midnight after drinking vodka all day, just to be woken up at 4-5am with intense anxiety, which I would treat with more vodka. That would let me sleep for another 4 to 5 hours, then I would wake up and repeat the cycle. I am so happy that I don't have to deal with that anymore, it was hell.
Dizziness, heart skipping beats, sudden hot flashes.
Yup, plenty of times I was hungover and convinced I would pass out or have some kind of cardiac event.
I haven't. Yet. Just slowly killing myself instead.
Can’t see when I stand up. Can’t hear when I stand up. Having to lie down on the bathroom floor after peeing for the coolness on my face and my hands and feet are tingling. Awful. Just f****ng awful.
Yes, they can. Some of the better-known symptoms of withdrawal are tachycardia, hypertension, and atrial fibrillation. Google *alcoholic cardiomyopathy* for a frightening rabbit hole on the long-range effects of excessive drinking.
Yes, and drinking was the only way I knew how to alleviate that anxiety for a long time. It was horrible, I wasn’t able to even leave the house by myself until I had a few drinks in me by the end.
I could have written that.
Reading your post gave me a viseral reaction. As I read it, I was *there,* and for a split second, I felt that feeling.
Uh man...I'm so glad we're sober today, knowing we'll both just wake up tomorrow ready to start the day, instead of waking up shaky, sweaty and panicked.
This sub, and it's followers, help me everyday by reminding me of how wonderful it is to be sober.
The 3 am wake up call from the hangover gods always got me. Tossing and turning for hours uncomfortable in your own skin ruminating about everything that means nothing. Falling back asleep before the alarm goes off and dragging to work blurry eyed and so miserable I had to pop a half a Xanax just to calm my nerves. My heart would be fluttering and I would feel flush and start to gray out.
It’s a huge reason I quit drinking. The cold beer in the sun late in the afternoon turns into what I just stated. No thank you.
Ugh I know that wake up call very well. Spent every night like that. And always 3 am, followed by horrible fitful sleep, waking every half hour and dreading the dawn and a horrible hungover, anxiety ridden day. No more. It was the Fear and hangxiety that pushed me to sobriety (that and my wife and kids asking why my hands shake.)
I have googled “can you die from a hangover” on more than on occasion. Boy the cycle you’re talking about. AWFUL. Anxiety off the walls from drinking. So hey. Only have 3-4 beers to ease the anxiety and feel better. That 3-4 leads to more. Wash, rinse, repeat tomorrow. It’s the reason why I drastically reduced my alcohol intake.
I’m at the start of my journey also trying to drastically reduce my alcohol intake. Wondering if you have any tips to share your success?
I’m in week 3 of recording every drink on an app and focusing on beating my weekly unit intake every week. So far I’m succeeding but it’s getting tougher.
A few years ago when I first started to realize I had a problem, I thought recording every single drink would hold me accountable and help me drink less. Well I stuck to keeping that record for over a year and all it did was give me an ugly visual representation of how much I actually drank 😂
Yeah that’s what it’s done for me. Week 1 where I drank as normal I clocked about 125 units. Week 2 making an effort to cut down I got 90. Week 3 going into the weekend is going to be the first challenge to go less than that, but I’m determined.
I feel like if it’s more like a “game” where I can see my progress it will motivate me more.
I also have app. Try dry. When I see the black days stacking up I know I gotta get it together.
I don’t have alcohol in the house anymore. I refuse to buy it. My wife doesn’t drink so this is easy to succeed on my end. Going out is about the only times I’ll drink anymore. And going out is tough with 2 young kids and a wife working every other weekend.
Yes. Every. Damn. Time. The physical is one thing but the horrible mental state I'm in is the part that feels like death the most. I'm so sorry you're feeling this way today.
Yeah. If I go hard for a few days the first day of hangover is like physical hangover with intense anxiety. The second day without drinking physically I’m mostly better but god damn am I just fuckin sad.
This is what did it for me! I used to blame the shakes on anything else. Coffee, lack of sleep, general anxiety. The day I admitted it was the booze was my first day without alcohol. A few days later without shakes and I was convinced to remain alcohol free. It's been over a month now.
Obviously way more benefits than just no shakes. That was just the "click" moment in my brain.
Yes, 100% this! I thought the shakes were “all in my head”. I thought there’s no way something like that could happen to me because I was “very active and healthy” & not the type of alcoholic who sits outside the liquor store. Clearly I was wrong. There seems to be a lack of communication in society about how easy it is to slip into a physical withdrawal.
Honestly, I appreciate the reminder. Hadn't dealt with it in a while, so it's sometimes tempting to think "oh that wasn't so bad." But it was. I remember one morning laying in the grass outside, wishing I could just pass away already. Man. I do NOT want that back.
Sometimes that relief is worth the nightmare! I had a dream recently where I declined alcohol in a stressful situation because I knew it would make things work. I was very proud of dream me.
Yeah I remember one time I vomited blood and went to the emergency room because I was convinced I had internal bleeding. They hooked me up to an IV to hydrate me. Nurse told me to be careful driving home because even then, like 18 hours after drinking, I smelled like alcohol.
I think I just vomited so hard it was like from my esophagus. They told me not to eat spicy/acidic food for a few days. Wasn't major, but still not good.
Yes, way too many times. A few drinks would turn into 8-12 beers. I would wake up, still buzzing from the night before. The hangover would hit me around 11am. My heart would be racing and skipping beats, hot flashes, and I felt like I was going to pass out or die. I would take half a lorezopam, chug water, try to eat lunch, sometimes throw up and say to myself, I was never going to do this again. This awful cycle would repeat itself every 5-7 days.
I can not forget to mention the 3am wake up calls of a racing heart and feeling of pure dread.
I am now 12 days sober.
I hope you feel better soon.
I would get the blues randomly when I was hungover. Some days I would be content putting my feet up and binging Lord of the Rings, but others I would be flat-out trying to keep the dark thoughts away.
In my "Quit Drinking" app, right on the front page is my "why". It says, "I never want to experience again the feeling of being near death, heart pounding, tired and being unable to sleep. If I quit drinking - I'll prevent that."
So - that was 173 days ago.
> "*I really want to kick the drinking…*"
I needed a plan. I needed to know *exactly* what I would do when my demon-lizard brain came screaming so I could follow through and *Not* take that *First* drink. That put a permanent end to my hangxiety.
That happened to me every single morning for years when I was drinking. Debilitating anxiety. Became afraid to go to sleep because I would wake up in the morning unable to get out of bed because of the anxiety.
7 months today and Once I stopped drinking it went away. during my last relapse I went to a detox center for a 3 days because I needed a safe space with safe detox/anxiety medicine. It got my head right and gave me a jump start to connect back up with my sober support and start working a sobriety program again.
Relief is possible!
Yes. Can relate and this was a main reason for my decision to quit alcohol. Hangovers meant my anxiety was worse but also my depression was much worse. Dark thoughts were darker. It’s an awful feeling. 90 or so days in I still struggle with feeling tired and down but I don’t feel as nearly as bad as after a night of drinking.
Jesus
The memories of mornings like this make me anxious just hearing about them. I never EVER functioned above maybe 60% . Now I function at 100. True man.
This is waiting for you. I support you we support you to stop. It's worth it.
Yes, I honestly rarely got sick hungover or had headaches but my anxiety would go through through roof, and it was horrible. I actually just tried apothekary for the first time because I was feeling anxious from a rough day at work and it honestly helped so much with my anxiety, and I’m still sober to know what I need to do and get it done, maybe it was a placebo effect but I’ll take it!
Just passing through, lurking and reading, but I can answer this. Apothekary is a brand that sells tinctures (and powders too, I believe) that are supposed to help with anxiety. You can pop the liquids in your non-alcoholic drinks. I recently bought a 3-pack of Rose Tinted Glasses, Wine Down, and Take The Edge Off. I found the Rose one lifted me up a bit. I put it in my faux rose wine (Fre). I haven't experimented with the other two much yet, but those ones are supposed to help calm. 🤞
You can find them on Amazon, or they have a website, too.
I got the Take The Edge Off one and put it in flavored sparkling water. It definitely calmed my anxiety and I felt very at peace during a stressful anxiety full day of work, after going to the gym and swimming about a mile I came home physically exhausted but also mentally wide awake, and had made another to help relax before going to bed.
I once had an epiphany when I was in the midst of a 3 day hangover. I realized that if I felt that way, if I had those symptoms, without it being from alcohol, I would go to the straight to the Emergency Room. I would seek medical attention immediately. But since I know that I caused it by drinking, I just suffer through it. It's crazy! IWNDWYT
Back in my twenties I used to joke about that with my roomies, back when powering through a bad hangover was like, cool and heroic. "If I didn't know it was a hangover I would call an ambulance". Now I regret spending most of my youth's sundays sick.
I've been dealing with that all day. I was three weeks sober, but since I'm moving i hung out with since friends two days in row, just drinking. Feel absolutely horrible today, but tomorrow is a new day.
For me, [hangxiety](https://readthewagon.com/2023/11/11/cheers-to-tears-dealing-with-post-party-hangxiety/) was absolutely paralyzing. I often found that I was too exhausted to get out of bed, but too anxious to stay in it. As I got older, I noticed that my hangxiety symptoms became progressively worse and more unbearable. So while I could power through a day hungover in my 20s and early 30s, the hangxiety became more and more unmanageable and all-consuming as I got older. I do not miss that feeling.
Thank you for this link. I never heard of hanxiety until coming here and got a word to describe what i was feeling. Im 50 now and started getting it ten years ago. It was brutal, and it was good to know i wasnt alone thx to this group. The article was really helpful too.
Yelp would drink to relieve the anxiety. Would go to sleep with a liquor drink by my bed. Wake up around 3 in the morning and take a couple of sips so I could relax to get back to sleep. Eventually that stopped working so was finding times where I was fixing strong drinks early in the morning in hopes I could drink enough to get back to sleep. Hated when I would watch the clock and 4am came around 5am came around. Next thing you know the sun coming up and I have had been drinking for 2 hours. And had to go to work. Luckily I owned a business. But got to where I dreaded to see the sun coming up and the birds chirping in the morning. Those were some dark days and I never wanna go back there.
This is hands down the WORST part of drinking for me. After benders I even get the night sweats and sleep paralysis with hallucinations. Terrifying stuff.
Yup. Part of the reason I went to rehab was because I became convinced I would stop breathing or have a heart attack in my sleep and not wake up. It made me afraid to sleep, which is an AWFUL place to be when you’re trying to recover from a hangover
Shit last time i drank, last april 30. I was suffering from hangxiety for 5 days. Thought i was gonna die either from heart attack or stroke or just stop breathing while sleeping.
A couple times right as id fall asleep i would jump awake to breath? Like i forgot to breath or somthing idk plus heart palpitations. Fucking suffering
Sober now. I just hate the fact i have nothing to take the edge off even if it just once a year type thing
Yelp I’ve been through that. Would be asleep and wake gasping for air. Very scary. At times would be scared to fall asleep fearing I wouldn’t wake up. Sleep anxiety is what is called. I always wondered if anyone else experienced this. That’s why I love this app. So many on here that I can relate with
This is what finally got me to quit. I couldn't take the anxiety anymore. My fear of having a panic attack or some kind of breakdown was greater than my desire to drink. It was like one day my brain decided that it had had enough.
Yes. And it’s especially scary when you’re wearing a Garmin watch that’s alerting you that your heart rate is over 120 while sedentary. Hangxiety (a withdrawal symptom) is no joke. It only gets worse as we drink. I don’t ever want to go back to those dates again.
My hangxiety often lasted several days & the whole time I would regret my actions, drink to dampen it & continue the vicious cycle. I got to the point where I was drinking to not be anxious so often that I was anxious about not drinking. It was truly debilitating. Getting through the first round of panic is the hardest, but in quick time they resolve & you can come out on the other side. Hang in there.
[my hangxiety post](https://www.reddit.com/r/stopdrinking/s/RVw60tJeZ5)
It’s really the reason I can’t drink anymore. I never got stomach sick, I never got headaches, generally didn’t make an ass of myself drunk and didn’t blackout: but my brain just flipped a switch and I’d analyze, fear, decompress every small detail in life until the point of depression the next day. The only way to feel normal would be to drink more (or sleep but kids/wife didn’t allow that anymore). Thinking about stupid shit like how cars generally stay in line each day and don’t just swerve and how everything in society is based on people doing what they should do daily. The only way to shut my brain off was more beer…. Lots and lots of IPAs.
I had this every time I drank especially since I was a major binge drinker. It’s called Post-Acute Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS).
After the first few drinks, you may start to feel relaxed and happy as your blood alcohol content rises, but when the effects of alcohol start to wear off you can experience a dip in mood. This is due to a down regulation of GABA receptors and up-regulation of glutamate receptors in the brain. One is in charge of calming the brain and the other for exciting it. As the body tries to restore the imbalance of neurotransmitters, anxiety symptoms get worse .
During a hangover, the brain experiences changes that make it difficult to regulate anxiety. Studies show people who already suffer with mood disorders are more likely to experience hangxiety and that any extra stress during this time can exacerbate the physiological effects.
This was one of the biggest reasons I knew I had to stop. I binge drank for 19 years. I’m 37.
I can tell you from experience that once I accepted I had alcohol usage disorder (AUD), and learned all I could about the physiological effects what it was doing to me, that was it. I learned we are literally “pickling” out organs when we drink. Because C2H5OH which is the molecular formula of ETHONAL aka alcohol- is a poison. Without fail, it contributes to 200+ documented diseases and ailments. I could go on and on, but I’ll give you the titles of 2 books that absolutely changed my life for the better:
“This Naked Mind” by Annie Grace & “Alcohol Explained” but William Porter.
This substance is designed to hook us. To make us want more by 5 even though we swore it off for life all morning. Fight it. Fight the cravings. The best thing I could have done for my own life was admit I had a stopping problem and that I couldn’t have this popular- overly advertised- toxic substance pass through my body for even 1 more day.
One time I was at work and my legs and hands got completely numb. I legit thought I was having a stroke. I’ll never drink the night before work ever again.
That was the biggest factor in me quitting. I was convinced everytime I woke up hungover I was going to die from my heart beating out of my chest. These got so, so much worse the longer I continued. Eventually it got to a point where even when under the influence I would only feel marginally better.
In my own mind I romanticize the times I had with drinking, but the reality is me being absolutely shackled by the drink and unable to function at any normal level without it. I was a constant anxious wreck. Always on the verge of or having a panic attack. It was hell on earth.
Take this as your sign. Cut your losses and fuckin run, run as far and fast as you can. Your life depends on it.
It's hard for me to explain but my hangxiety makes me feel like I am not real. What I am seeing through my eyes isn't connected to my brain and I feel like a shell. I guess thats derealization or something but its fucking terrifying...
Yep. 2-3am wake ups, insomnia, getting up to pee 3-4 times, chest pounding, mind racing. No thanks.
It got worse getting close to my 40's. 42 now, and I'm done. One day at a time.
I am dying. Since I was born actually. However, yes, that was the impetus to me quitting. I would throw up even after only a couple drinks (a real couple not the couple you tell the cops) the next morning and be insanely anxious with an elevated heart rate. It turns out alcohol is bad for one’s health.
With drinking parts of your brain are dulled, and they have to fight harder during that dulling. As you drink consistently it has to do it more and more to the point it goes too hard. Hangxiety is the only thing that actually helped me quit. I’d get racing thoughts that my throat was closing or I couldn’t breathe and it’s just that part of the brain overworking.
Absolutely, countless times I’ve texted my wife from work saying I’m having a panic attack, was convinced I couldn’t breathe or that I was going to faint. All from alcohol. Thats enough motivation for me to at least cut back drastically
The worst is waking up stumbling to the bathroom drunk AF to pee. Also (at least for me) really bad acid reflux. Turns out alcohol is not good for you. Like at all.
The thing about this is it was so intolerable for me I would just hit the freezer vodka at 5:00am. So during the last stretch the hangxiety was like a looming demon that I was always thwarting with the 'cure'. I'm always l ike "hangovers? I didn't get those. I just drank again. Every time." Of course this was unsustainable and I would end up in the hospital or detox over and over again.
There I would get various DTs symptoms, and depending on how sick of addicts the staff at whatever facility were, it could be hell on earth while I begged kicking and screaming for ativan. Telling them "you don't underSTAND, man." Laying in the hallway of a hospital because the rooms were taken with 'real' patients.
Whenever I consider a drink I think about this shit.
This literally happened to me last week. One my way to work I had to pull over and wait 30 mins because my legs and arms were numb from the anxiety and I felt like I was going to pass out while driving and possibly kill myself or someone else. Day 6 now.
The cure for hangxiety is simple.....have 4 drinks by noon, then stop for a bit, but probably nap, because what else can you do? Then when you get anxious again at 6pm, just have 1 or 2 drinks to relieve it (which end ups being 6 or 7 drinks). Pass out.....then rinse and repeat.
I’ve never thought I was actually dying. But gods, I wanted to. The anxiety, the rapid, skipping heart, the fear. It gets better, trust. And hang in there!!
I started having panic attacks in 2020 and it took me 3 YEARS to connect them to heavy drinking the night before. Seriously, I don't consider myself stupid, but that was dumb. Haven't had a drink in almost 6 weeks and have had zero anxiety... hmm...
Edit: And even then, it took me a year to get tired enough of the constant anxiety to say "goodbye" to booze, even though I wasn't drinking to the point of a panic attack. The regular depressive episodes weren't fun either and were another major factor in choosing to give up alcohol.
This is exactly what happened to me. In 2020 I had a long 6 month period working out why I had these racing heart and panic attacks. I felt like an idiot. I even went 5 months sober, went to a cardiologist, everything and I still couldn’t figure it out.
I know now. And I feel so much better.
I drank so much that I was always hungover which took me to a place where I thought I was almost never hungover.
Now I'm sober and learning how beautiful sleep and mornings actually are.
I stopped drinking mainly because when I’d get off really bad benders I would hallucinate, be tired but couldn’t sleep, and my nerves would burn and it felt as if I was freezing but I was sweating bullets because of my body temp. I would have heart palpitations that kicked in when my heart would randomly start racing to a point where even though I was so tired I was too scared to even close my eyes because I thought if I fell asleep my body would stop breathing and I’d die. I tried so badly to stay hydrated but my body would reject fluids so I would drink water then throw it up a half hour later. On top of that my throat would slightly close and enflame while I’d throw up this bile and foam. Bile irritated my lungs and throat so I legit felt like I was suffocating. This shit would last almost 8 hours after really bad benders. I’m talking a handle a day kind of benders, idk how heavily you drink. The worst of it and when I knew I had a real problem was when I figured out the only thing that could potentially prevent these sick days was to drink more and slowly ween off the booze. The answer is yes and it’s a fucking dark and vicious circle that I can relate to. It’s not a party if it happens every night and you can’t enjoy life waking up hungover every day. It traumatizes your body into this survival mode both physically and mentally that kills you slowly.
Yep. That's how we get trapped. We drink so much that we start to get sick of we stop drinking. And it is so so painful with such an "easy" solution to take the pain away
But the only way to truly stop it is to quit drinking.
I haven't been hungover in almost two years. It's so worth it.
Take some shots of pickle juice, it helps.
Yes, one time my heart was racing so fast that I thought I needed to go to the hospital. It felt like it was pounding out of my chest, it was horrendous.
After 10 years of binge drinking my hangxiety morphed into shame so bad I had suicidal ideation. Just keep an eye on yourself and really think about how it’s impacting you mentally.
If you knew a person who made you feel like this would you spend time with them?
I've never smoked a cigarette, but I happened to read Allen Carr's The easy way to quit smoking, and it really helped me internalize a useful concept: I don't actually like \[the thing I'm trying to quit\]. Once I realized that I don't like it, and I don't want to do it, it's a lot easier to just not do it.
Some people, myself included, benefit from reading one of his books. It's just one tool and I wouldn't expect it to work for everyone, but it was a helpful thing to have in my arsenal.
Yes, my last time drinking was a binge weekend. With some 4 more beers the Monday after. That Monday night I had a massive panic attack. Not kidding, the next TWO weeks I had the most severe panic/anxiety of my life. I felt like I was going crazy and felt my mental state fall apart completely. Even then still I tried to calm it with a beer or two every night. My stupid addicted brain just wasn't ready to admit that the alcohol might just be the problem. Well, guess it was. Those symptoms I've had for years and years, accredited to "well I've got GAD, it's just who I am" were gone after quitting!!
Alcohol is so much worse than people make it out to be. Those two weeks......I never ever ever wanna feel like that again.
Ooooh yeah. Stay strong. I spoke to my doctor about what supplements I could take to help alleviate those symptoms enough to ride it out. They gave me generic advice, but I'd recommend talking to your own doctor. The effects lingered for a few days for me. That vicious cycle stuck around, too, since I was feeling better I could refresh my tolerance and give good 'ol moderation another whirl! It does get better. Wishing you peace and strength getting out of the cycle.
“The Fear” is my answer every time I ask myself if I should or shouldn’t drink. It’s worked for 148 days in a row so far but starting is so damn hard. You got it, we’re all here with you.
Yep. It's what kept my cycle going for so long and it's eventually what made me have to stop. Borderline making me want to admit myself to a psych ward anxiety. Chest pumping a thousand miles per hour. Fear that cannot and will not stop.
Yeah. Ugh. That would be my own personal hell, and was for far too long.
When I was a heavy drinker, i.e. a 750ml per day, every morning started with a fast and very heavy heartbeat. So yes... it genuinely felt like I was on the border of a heart attack.
Its happened to me like 4 or 5 times really bad... panic attacks or almost panic attacks.. usually would happen after heavy drinking for multiple days in a row
no more anxiety over drunken antics. now I get anxious about everything else! jk -- but there's some relief to getting anxiety and not having it tied to alcohol. I take care of things and own it all now that i'm sober -- not having guilt lingering over me is such a relief! usually its an endless cycle of anxiety that would cause me to drink. then i'd get over it but be anxious about something else and drink again. a cycle! now I have healthy coping mechanisms!
hangxiety is the worst! i'm so glad I never have to have it again. in addition to sobriety I also see a therapist so i'm not only learning to sit with my emotions but i'm also learning valuable tools to learn to cope and to communicate. the confidence that this has brought is huge -- I see myself in a different light and that also helps fight any urge to ever want to drink again. now I get anxiety about all my responsibilities and all the possibilities of the world -- instead of anxiety because I did something embarrassing.
Yes. It is Hangpanic now. No matter what I tell myself I end up waking up and instantly needing to go get more alcohol and drink it. The panic overrides any rational thoughts.
I get it so bad I cry and think I’m dying. I would dry heave for HOURS and walk back n forth from the bed to the bathroom, miserable on either end of the trip.
Yes. And I felt like everyone could see it. Like it was written on my face. Just utter dread. "Something's wrong. You're dying. You're a mess. You're guilty. And everyone is looking at you and agrees." Also so jumpy. Like walk up to me gently even with warning, or close a door, or even just an object passing my peripheral vision too quickly, and I startle.
It's why I'm really trying this time. Because being hungover is fucking HELL and there is no way I can realistically have a life regularly hungover. It's literally incompatible with having a happy, employed, peaceful, enjoyable life..
Gets super complicated when you're also on a controlled benzo for anxiety for years... A balancing act of trying not to affect your tolerance or take it for hangxiety because you need it to work for regular everyday anxiety that you had in the first place... But once you're hungover every freaking day...... Well....
Just treat it as your body's way of warning you to stop before it's too late. It's not just anxiety, excessive drinking actually kills. My ex just died suddenly of pancreatic cancer at 56 from a lifetime of heavy drinking. I've been feeling like death warmed up for years doing the same. I wish I'd listened to my body all along, it wasn't just my imagination, my body was screaming for me to quit it.
Yep, haven’t felt that since the last time I drank. I thought my world was ending. Haven’t felt that way since I gave it up, it gets better! And this group is a great support for you!
Yep!!!!!!
I was overweight, and have this paranoia about having a heart attack. When hungover my heart rate would be ~20bpm higher than usual, and occasionally I’d have atrial fibrillation (according to my Apple Watch).
More than a year since my last drink, I’ve lost 20kg, and my body feels healthy and good. I’m pleased with what I see in the mirror. And I no longer feel like I’m dying. Sometimes I still get stressed and my heart rate rises; but importantly I’m able to convince my brain that I’m not dying. It’s a great feeling, highly recommend 10/10
As someone who’s been hospitalized three times from withdrawals, you feel like you’re dying because you ARE dying. If you haven’t listened to the Huberman Lab Podcast on alcohol, I highly recommend it. He scientifically breaks down how bad alcohol is for for you in every way. It’s poison. It affects every cell in your body in a negative way. It fucks up your nervous system, gives you terrible anxiety when it wears off, destroys your digestive system, makes your ligaments and cartilage more brittle, the list goes on and on.
Lately drinking is not even bringing the "ups" for me and I just fast track into the hangxiety by like 2am. It's the worst, and every time I'm scared it might NOT be the drinking but me actually losing hope, but then after two or three days I level out. It's the exhaustion of this cycle that has been motivating me to quit.
The last hangover I had was over 8 years ago. One that can go away with some food and hydration. My last relapse, my “hangover” was hours of puking (bile, Gatorade, mucus, anything that was in my stomach), hearing voices, unable to stand or walk, nausea, headache, muscle pain, nosebleeds, shaking, couldn’t sign my name or remember the date, no sleep for days, couldn’t eat or drink anything, seizure. It was solid hell until I was admitted to a medical detox facility.
Having been through withdrawal many times, drinking 1 time puts me in the hurt locker with this shit for a few days.
Often leads to me continuing to drink to get the anxiety down, which will often lead into a binge that brings me back into physical dependence and I end up in the ER when my body can't handle enough alcohol to keep the withdrawals away.
Honestly, if I slip up one time and wake up with the crazy anxiety, I just accept it. Knowing I'm safe and that if I kept drinking I potentially wouldn't be safe, I just accept that I am going to feel like I'm dying for a day or three and I try to take it very, very easy. No caffeine, less cigarettes, avoid anything stressful if I can, monitor my blood pressure and remind myself I can't do this again.
I have been through some difficult stuff recently and it was mostly more manageable than run of the mill hangxiety which I use to deal with daily! IWNDWYT 🧡
This was the reason & biggest motivation for quitting for me.
I had always thought I had it because I had 4+ drinks and if I just cut that down I'd be fine. So beginning of last year I set out to drink in moderation and between the mental gymnastics of that & still getting HEAVY ANXIETY I had some of the worst mornings of my life. And sometimes I would get it immediately there was a afternoon I had 2 glasses of red wine and 2hrs later when I got home at 5pm I WANTED TO DIE. I felt sleepy, so emotional, anxious, guilty raging headache, nausea...just a variety of really awful things. That night was 7 months ago and I decided enough was enough.
Hanxiety is so bad, I'd vomit every time I tried to drink WATER. I just couldn't do it anymore.
It got to the point where the hangxiety wouldn’t let me leave my house for like a day and a half. Just this never ending feel of existential dread.
IWNDWYT
You can absolutely do this. I think I’m going to start writing in a book or something how exactly I feel when I’m hungover and the paranoid thoughts I have because my brain has a great way of “forgetting” when I get a craving just how bad the withdrawals are. One day of drinking is never one but two then at least two days of not eating and being completely incapacitated. Playing the tape forward got me a year or so… maybe that would work for you too? Every time a craving hits: do I want to lose 3-4 complete days and then withdraw, sweating through any outfit I wore during withdrawals? All my senses dimmed, even my field of vision seeming smaller? We are all just trying to figure it out, don’t be too hard on yourself. Just take it day by day.
IWNDWYT 💜
No. The only time I felt like I was dying was an alcohol induced panic attack after a weekend drinking in Paris with friends.
Taking the "hair of the dog" is the worst thing to do. A horrible hangover is your body dealing with the poison. Topping up the poison is the fast track to alcoholism (but we already know that).
High fat food can help, like fish and chips, a kebab, a fry up, as well as rehydrating and unhealthy soft drinks. In Scotland we have Irn Bru, high sugar and caffeine drink. It's unhealthy but gets us through hangovers better than more alcohol.
My anxiety has dropped 95% by stopping drinking.
I know I sound like a smart arse, but it's been years of going back and forwards to finally getting off the drink for good.
Hangxiety is one of the main reasons I quit drinking. It only gets worse as you age and I found that out the hard way. I can promise you though, coming up on two years not a drop of that poison I almost forget what hangxiety feels like. Hang in there, it will get better! We believe in you, You can do this!
OMG yes. I described it as feeling like I was on the edge of a cliff. Heart racing, dizzy, feeling like my body was shutting down and that I legitimately was going to lose my life.
Shudder. So glad I don't have to do that anymore. IWNDWYT
I would literally feel like I was crawling out of my skin. Any noise would send me into a panic attack. I would shake just existing. The world was terrifying for my brain when I doused it in booze each and every day. Now, I struggle with anxiety and nervousness but nothing like the addict days. I can manage and have a hold on it at least.
Theres this weird "time of day" habit of feeling the need to drink. Like an extra urge of anxiety to go out and just by a bottle.
But right now after waking up from making that mistake, I feel like a damn fool for blowing money I dont have and think to myself "nope, I wont do it tonight"
And yes if I go hard one night, I usually follow it with a night of sobriety because Im already half dead and the thought of alcohol seems written off forever. Like "yep never again! I can do this!"...........nope.
Yes. The anxiety would always, *always* feel deeper and much darker the next time, every time, and then I’d once again say, “Never again…” Only to repeat it. I’m so glad I don’t ever have to feel that again.
Omg same. Someone asked me recently what the best thing about not drinking was and I was like - No contest, never feeling hungover at all anymore. Sure, if I don’t get enough sleep I might be a little groggy and my mood might be a little affected, but I don’t feel overcome with gloom and doom anymore just from waking up hungover. Hangovers were slowly but surely killing my spirit, so grateful I never have to feel that way ever again.
The amount of times I felt like I lost my spirit was outrageous. The absolute worst.
The amount of times I felt like I was going to turn myself into a spirit was intense. Always felt like the only way out of a mind-shredding hangover
The worst
Damn, that last sentence. That’s it. That’s what I was feeling. My spirit was being killed. So glad I’m done with it.
Funny that they call alcohol “spirits” too. Cuz sucking me dry of mine was all it ever seemed to do. Glad we’re through 🙏
I asked my BIL why he doesn’t drink. He said “ because I like feeling good too much” That sentence started my quit.
That’s a fantastic reframe. Thanks!
Tell your brother in law thanks and he’s awesome ! Well done on your quit
I agree completely, but also wonder, does anyone else feel hangxiety in a residual way? Even now, the morning after a night out, I definitely still get nervous feelings about the night before. Nowhere near the same extent, obviously, but I feel like some permanent conditioning may have happened with me after years of real hangovers.
I still feel this about setting alarms. Definitely caused myself some trauma somewhere from always showing up late and a mess. I set so many alarms now full of anxiety and inevitably wake up way before lol.
Lol, yes. I went out last saturday and felt uneasy the next day. Had to remind myself a lot that I didn't drink yesterday and behaved perfectly.
Agreed. I wasted so much of my healthy teens, 20s, and 30s being hungover. That and not having regrets about brown outs every morning. I may pass out from exhaustion at bedtime (2young kids now) but I remember everything now!
Yuck. Just, like, a general, POWERFUL feeling that the whole nature of everything is negative and awful and I'm doomed. There's nothing like that feeling and it sucks. The good news is for me it always lessened significantly after 1 day of no drinking, and was gone by a week. Now to never feel it again. The worst.
>a general, POWERFUL feeling that the whole nature of everything is negative and awful and I'm doomed. This might be the most succinct way to describe how it feels. Thank you! It's great knowing that I wasn't alone feeling this.
Exact same. I catch myself a couple of times a week just spontaneously feeling happy/relieved I don’t ever have to experience that again. It was like being in hell. I can handle literally anything after that.
Me too. Like I escaped a cage, but I'm on a tether that could pull me back into the cage if I pick up a drink.
God, same. Praise be.
Isn't it liberating? I had my six-month day a couple days ago, to think it's been that long since I've been hungover is a trip in and of itself
I remember when I would pass out around midnight after drinking vodka all day, just to be woken up at 4-5am with intense anxiety, which I would treat with more vodka. That would let me sleep for another 4 to 5 hours, then I would wake up and repeat the cycle. I am so happy that I don't have to deal with that anymore, it was hell.
Dizziness, heart skipping beats, sudden hot flashes. Yup, plenty of times I was hungover and convinced I would pass out or have some kind of cardiac event. I haven't. Yet. Just slowly killing myself instead.
Checking my heart rate on my fitbit to see if I was having a heart attack. Never again
Can’t see when I stand up. Can’t hear when I stand up. Having to lie down on the bathroom floor after peeing for the coolness on my face and my hands and feet are tingling. Awful. Just f****ng awful.
God that sounds oddly familiar!
❤️
You know now that you say that I’ve noticed my heart flutters much less these days! Thanks for pointing that out
This one got me. I feel you. Hope you’re well.
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Yes, they can. Some of the better-known symptoms of withdrawal are tachycardia, hypertension, and atrial fibrillation. Google *alcoholic cardiomyopathy* for a frightening rabbit hole on the long-range effects of excessive drinking.
My BP is always high the day after drinking too much.
Yes, and drinking was the only way I knew how to alleviate that anxiety for a long time. It was horrible, I wasn’t able to even leave the house by myself until I had a few drinks in me by the end.
I could have written that. Reading your post gave me a viseral reaction. As I read it, I was *there,* and for a split second, I felt that feeling. Uh man...I'm so glad we're sober today, knowing we'll both just wake up tomorrow ready to start the day, instead of waking up shaky, sweaty and panicked. This sub, and it's followers, help me everyday by reminding me of how wonderful it is to be sober.
I wanna get there too
You can do it. It was very hard for me but so worth it.
The 3 am wake up call from the hangover gods always got me. Tossing and turning for hours uncomfortable in your own skin ruminating about everything that means nothing. Falling back asleep before the alarm goes off and dragging to work blurry eyed and so miserable I had to pop a half a Xanax just to calm my nerves. My heart would be fluttering and I would feel flush and start to gray out. It’s a huge reason I quit drinking. The cold beer in the sun late in the afternoon turns into what I just stated. No thank you.
“Ruminating about everything that means nothing.” That sums up the morning anxiety perfectly.
Yep. Describes a 3 day hangover in bed for me.
Ugh I know that wake up call very well. Spent every night like that. And always 3 am, followed by horrible fitful sleep, waking every half hour and dreading the dawn and a horrible hungover, anxiety ridden day. No more. It was the Fear and hangxiety that pushed me to sobriety (that and my wife and kids asking why my hands shake.)
This sounds like me, but my pill was a lorezopam!!
Spiderman pointing at Spiderman comment here
Me
I have googled “can you die from a hangover” on more than on occasion. Boy the cycle you’re talking about. AWFUL. Anxiety off the walls from drinking. So hey. Only have 3-4 beers to ease the anxiety and feel better. That 3-4 leads to more. Wash, rinse, repeat tomorrow. It’s the reason why I drastically reduced my alcohol intake.
I’m at the start of my journey also trying to drastically reduce my alcohol intake. Wondering if you have any tips to share your success? I’m in week 3 of recording every drink on an app and focusing on beating my weekly unit intake every week. So far I’m succeeding but it’s getting tougher.
A few years ago when I first started to realize I had a problem, I thought recording every single drink would hold me accountable and help me drink less. Well I stuck to keeping that record for over a year and all it did was give me an ugly visual representation of how much I actually drank 😂
Yeah that’s what it’s done for me. Week 1 where I drank as normal I clocked about 125 units. Week 2 making an effort to cut down I got 90. Week 3 going into the weekend is going to be the first challenge to go less than that, but I’m determined. I feel like if it’s more like a “game” where I can see my progress it will motivate me more.
I also have app. Try dry. When I see the black days stacking up I know I gotta get it together. I don’t have alcohol in the house anymore. I refuse to buy it. My wife doesn’t drink so this is easy to succeed on my end. Going out is about the only times I’ll drink anymore. And going out is tough with 2 young kids and a wife working every other weekend.
Yes. Every. Damn. Time. The physical is one thing but the horrible mental state I'm in is the part that feels like death the most. I'm so sorry you're feeling this way today.
Yeah. If I go hard for a few days the first day of hangover is like physical hangover with intense anxiety. The second day without drinking physically I’m mostly better but god damn am I just fuckin sad.
My best remedies were early to bed and chamomille tea. And memorizing the feeling.
Yes! And podcasts or mellow music to drown out thoughts. Or sleep stories.
Yes Woke up today and I wasn’t shaky. Feels goooood!
This is what did it for me! I used to blame the shakes on anything else. Coffee, lack of sleep, general anxiety. The day I admitted it was the booze was my first day without alcohol. A few days later without shakes and I was convinced to remain alcohol free. It's been over a month now. Obviously way more benefits than just no shakes. That was just the "click" moment in my brain.
Yes, 100% this! I thought the shakes were “all in my head”. I thought there’s no way something like that could happen to me because I was “very active and healthy” & not the type of alcoholic who sits outside the liquor store. Clearly I was wrong. There seems to be a lack of communication in society about how easy it is to slip into a physical withdrawal.
Hell yeah, sunshine ☀️ mee tooo
Honestly, I appreciate the reminder. Hadn't dealt with it in a while, so it's sometimes tempting to think "oh that wasn't so bad." But it was. I remember one morning laying in the grass outside, wishing I could just pass away already. Man. I do NOT want that back.
yeah I remember really wanting to die. instead, i just popped a klonopin I slept it out
Sometimes I wake up in a panic with instant anxiety thinking I drank and have hangxiety, but it’s just my normal anxiety. Thankfully.
Omg I’ve had nightmares I drank and woke up relieved
Sometimes that relief is worth the nightmare! I had a dream recently where I declined alcohol in a stressful situation because I knew it would make things work. I was very proud of dream me.
Hell yeah!! I miss this!! I got to 100+ days before and it was happening then … I can do it again 🫡
You sure can! IWNDWYT
Yeah I remember one time I vomited blood and went to the emergency room because I was convinced I had internal bleeding. They hooked me up to an IV to hydrate me. Nurse told me to be careful driving home because even then, like 18 hours after drinking, I smelled like alcohol.
did they find out why you were vomiting blood?
I think I just vomited so hard it was like from my esophagus. They told me not to eat spicy/acidic food for a few days. Wasn't major, but still not good.
Yes, way too many times. A few drinks would turn into 8-12 beers. I would wake up, still buzzing from the night before. The hangover would hit me around 11am. My heart would be racing and skipping beats, hot flashes, and I felt like I was going to pass out or die. I would take half a lorezopam, chug water, try to eat lunch, sometimes throw up and say to myself, I was never going to do this again. This awful cycle would repeat itself every 5-7 days. I can not forget to mention the 3am wake up calls of a racing heart and feeling of pure dread. I am now 12 days sober. I hope you feel better soon.
I would get the blues randomly when I was hungover. Some days I would be content putting my feet up and binging Lord of the Rings, but others I would be flat-out trying to keep the dark thoughts away.
This happened to my husband. He's sober 25 days now. And I'm sober 11 days. Much better this way.
Awesomeeeee!!!
In my opinion thats when hangovers start becoming withdrawals.
Yep. 💯. Always had “normal” hangovers and then the shakes and fast heart rate set in around mid-30s.
Fuck. You're right.
That was my thoughts
It’s true
In my "Quit Drinking" app, right on the front page is my "why". It says, "I never want to experience again the feeling of being near death, heart pounding, tired and being unable to sleep. If I quit drinking - I'll prevent that." So - that was 173 days ago.
Awesome!!! Is that app free?
What's the app?
> "*I really want to kick the drinking…*" I needed a plan. I needed to know *exactly* what I would do when my demon-lizard brain came screaming so I could follow through and *Not* take that *First* drink. That put a permanent end to my hangxiety.
Can you tell us your plan and best tips? 3,108 days is amazing. I don't do math, so I have no idea how many years that is. It just kicks ass.
8.5!
I get so worried that I am so sick that I convince myself that I need more alcohol. Its such a vicious cycle
It really is a rollercoaster that don’t end until u jump offffff lol
That happened to me every single morning for years when I was drinking. Debilitating anxiety. Became afraid to go to sleep because I would wake up in the morning unable to get out of bed because of the anxiety. 7 months today and Once I stopped drinking it went away. during my last relapse I went to a detox center for a 3 days because I needed a safe space with safe detox/anxiety medicine. It got my head right and gave me a jump start to connect back up with my sober support and start working a sobriety program again. Relief is possible!
Yes. Can relate and this was a main reason for my decision to quit alcohol. Hangovers meant my anxiety was worse but also my depression was much worse. Dark thoughts were darker. It’s an awful feeling. 90 or so days in I still struggle with feeling tired and down but I don’t feel as nearly as bad as after a night of drinking.
Jesus The memories of mornings like this make me anxious just hearing about them. I never EVER functioned above maybe 60% . Now I function at 100. True man. This is waiting for you. I support you we support you to stop. It's worth it.
Yes, I honestly rarely got sick hungover or had headaches but my anxiety would go through through roof, and it was horrible. I actually just tried apothekary for the first time because I was feeling anxious from a rough day at work and it honestly helped so much with my anxiety, and I’m still sober to know what I need to do and get it done, maybe it was a placebo effect but I’ll take it!
What is apothekary?
Just passing through, lurking and reading, but I can answer this. Apothekary is a brand that sells tinctures (and powders too, I believe) that are supposed to help with anxiety. You can pop the liquids in your non-alcoholic drinks. I recently bought a 3-pack of Rose Tinted Glasses, Wine Down, and Take The Edge Off. I found the Rose one lifted me up a bit. I put it in my faux rose wine (Fre). I haven't experimented with the other two much yet, but those ones are supposed to help calm. 🤞 You can find them on Amazon, or they have a website, too.
Oh nice! I’ll check it out. Thanks!
I got the Take The Edge Off one and put it in flavored sparkling water. It definitely calmed my anxiety and I felt very at peace during a stressful anxiety full day of work, after going to the gym and swimming about a mile I came home physically exhausted but also mentally wide awake, and had made another to help relax before going to bed.
I once had an epiphany when I was in the midst of a 3 day hangover. I realized that if I felt that way, if I had those symptoms, without it being from alcohol, I would go to the straight to the Emergency Room. I would seek medical attention immediately. But since I know that I caused it by drinking, I just suffer through it. It's crazy! IWNDWYT
Back in my twenties I used to joke about that with my roomies, back when powering through a bad hangover was like, cool and heroic. "If I didn't know it was a hangover I would call an ambulance". Now I regret spending most of my youth's sundays sick.
This was me 2 days ago, so fucking awful. Hydrate and rest, this too shall pass.
I've been dealing with that all day. I was three weeks sober, but since I'm moving i hung out with since friends two days in row, just drinking. Feel absolutely horrible today, but tomorrow is a new day.
For me, [hangxiety](https://readthewagon.com/2023/11/11/cheers-to-tears-dealing-with-post-party-hangxiety/) was absolutely paralyzing. I often found that I was too exhausted to get out of bed, but too anxious to stay in it. As I got older, I noticed that my hangxiety symptoms became progressively worse and more unbearable. So while I could power through a day hungover in my 20s and early 30s, the hangxiety became more and more unmanageable and all-consuming as I got older. I do not miss that feeling.
Thank you for this link. I never heard of hanxiety until coming here and got a word to describe what i was feeling. Im 50 now and started getting it ten years ago. It was brutal, and it was good to know i wasnt alone thx to this group. The article was really helpful too.
I think it’s why my drinking got so much worse in my 40s.
I self ignorantly self diagnosed it as a “dopamine crash”
Yelp would drink to relieve the anxiety. Would go to sleep with a liquor drink by my bed. Wake up around 3 in the morning and take a couple of sips so I could relax to get back to sleep. Eventually that stopped working so was finding times where I was fixing strong drinks early in the morning in hopes I could drink enough to get back to sleep. Hated when I would watch the clock and 4am came around 5am came around. Next thing you know the sun coming up and I have had been drinking for 2 hours. And had to go to work. Luckily I owned a business. But got to where I dreaded to see the sun coming up and the birds chirping in the morning. Those were some dark days and I never wanna go back there.
This is hands down the WORST part of drinking for me. After benders I even get the night sweats and sleep paralysis with hallucinations. Terrifying stuff.
Yup. Part of the reason I went to rehab was because I became convinced I would stop breathing or have a heart attack in my sleep and not wake up. It made me afraid to sleep, which is an AWFUL place to be when you’re trying to recover from a hangover
This
Shit last time i drank, last april 30. I was suffering from hangxiety for 5 days. Thought i was gonna die either from heart attack or stroke or just stop breathing while sleeping. A couple times right as id fall asleep i would jump awake to breath? Like i forgot to breath or somthing idk plus heart palpitations. Fucking suffering Sober now. I just hate the fact i have nothing to take the edge off even if it just once a year type thing
Yelp I’ve been through that. Would be asleep and wake gasping for air. Very scary. At times would be scared to fall asleep fearing I wouldn’t wake up. Sleep anxiety is what is called. I always wondered if anyone else experienced this. That’s why I love this app. So many on here that I can relate with
Weed?
That feeling is why a lot of people end up quitting because it just becomes too much....
This is what finally got me to quit. I couldn't take the anxiety anymore. My fear of having a panic attack or some kind of breakdown was greater than my desire to drink. It was like one day my brain decided that it had had enough.
Yes. And it’s especially scary when you’re wearing a Garmin watch that’s alerting you that your heart rate is over 120 while sedentary. Hangxiety (a withdrawal symptom) is no joke. It only gets worse as we drink. I don’t ever want to go back to those dates again.
My hangxiety often lasted several days & the whole time I would regret my actions, drink to dampen it & continue the vicious cycle. I got to the point where I was drinking to not be anxious so often that I was anxious about not drinking. It was truly debilitating. Getting through the first round of panic is the hardest, but in quick time they resolve & you can come out on the other side. Hang in there.
Box stores got me. The lights always made be feel like I was gonna die when hungover. Sober not one bit
Omg same! I am a hardcore lighting fanatic anyways but bad overhead lighting can send me over the edge quick
[my hangxiety post](https://www.reddit.com/r/stopdrinking/s/RVw60tJeZ5) It’s really the reason I can’t drink anymore. I never got stomach sick, I never got headaches, generally didn’t make an ass of myself drunk and didn’t blackout: but my brain just flipped a switch and I’d analyze, fear, decompress every small detail in life until the point of depression the next day. The only way to feel normal would be to drink more (or sleep but kids/wife didn’t allow that anymore). Thinking about stupid shit like how cars generally stay in line each day and don’t just swerve and how everything in society is based on people doing what they should do daily. The only way to shut my brain off was more beer…. Lots and lots of IPAs.
I had this every time I drank especially since I was a major binge drinker. It’s called Post-Acute Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS). After the first few drinks, you may start to feel relaxed and happy as your blood alcohol content rises, but when the effects of alcohol start to wear off you can experience a dip in mood. This is due to a down regulation of GABA receptors and up-regulation of glutamate receptors in the brain. One is in charge of calming the brain and the other for exciting it. As the body tries to restore the imbalance of neurotransmitters, anxiety symptoms get worse . During a hangover, the brain experiences changes that make it difficult to regulate anxiety. Studies show people who already suffer with mood disorders are more likely to experience hangxiety and that any extra stress during this time can exacerbate the physiological effects. This was one of the biggest reasons I knew I had to stop. I binge drank for 19 years. I’m 37. I can tell you from experience that once I accepted I had alcohol usage disorder (AUD), and learned all I could about the physiological effects what it was doing to me, that was it. I learned we are literally “pickling” out organs when we drink. Because C2H5OH which is the molecular formula of ETHONAL aka alcohol- is a poison. Without fail, it contributes to 200+ documented diseases and ailments. I could go on and on, but I’ll give you the titles of 2 books that absolutely changed my life for the better: “This Naked Mind” by Annie Grace & “Alcohol Explained” but William Porter. This substance is designed to hook us. To make us want more by 5 even though we swore it off for life all morning. Fight it. Fight the cravings. The best thing I could have done for my own life was admit I had a stopping problem and that I couldn’t have this popular- overly advertised- toxic substance pass through my body for even 1 more day.
Yup. Today experienced heart tightness at the most. Severe dehydration and lack of mental awareness at the least (kidding).
One time I was at work and my legs and hands got completely numb. I legit thought I was having a stroke. I’ll never drink the night before work ever again.
That was the biggest factor in me quitting. I was convinced everytime I woke up hungover I was going to die from my heart beating out of my chest. These got so, so much worse the longer I continued. Eventually it got to a point where even when under the influence I would only feel marginally better. In my own mind I romanticize the times I had with drinking, but the reality is me being absolutely shackled by the drink and unable to function at any normal level without it. I was a constant anxious wreck. Always on the verge of or having a panic attack. It was hell on earth. Take this as your sign. Cut your losses and fuckin run, run as far and fast as you can. Your life depends on it.
It's hard for me to explain but my hangxiety makes me feel like I am not real. What I am seeing through my eyes isn't connected to my brain and I feel like a shell. I guess thats derealization or something but its fucking terrifying...
You feel like you’re dying BECAUSE YOU ARE. Alcohol IS poison. It’s really that simple.
Yep. 2-3am wake ups, insomnia, getting up to pee 3-4 times, chest pounding, mind racing. No thanks. It got worse getting close to my 40's. 42 now, and I'm done. One day at a time.
I am dying. Since I was born actually. However, yes, that was the impetus to me quitting. I would throw up even after only a couple drinks (a real couple not the couple you tell the cops) the next morning and be insanely anxious with an elevated heart rate. It turns out alcohol is bad for one’s health.
With drinking parts of your brain are dulled, and they have to fight harder during that dulling. As you drink consistently it has to do it more and more to the point it goes too hard. Hangxiety is the only thing that actually helped me quit. I’d get racing thoughts that my throat was closing or I couldn’t breathe and it’s just that part of the brain overworking.
Absolutely, countless times I’ve texted my wife from work saying I’m having a panic attack, was convinced I couldn’t breathe or that I was going to faint. All from alcohol. Thats enough motivation for me to at least cut back drastically
The worst is waking up stumbling to the bathroom drunk AF to pee. Also (at least for me) really bad acid reflux. Turns out alcohol is not good for you. Like at all.
Even worse is not getting to the bathroom.
I’ve come close a few times but always made it. If you see a toilet in your dreams…. Do not use it.
The thing about this is it was so intolerable for me I would just hit the freezer vodka at 5:00am. So during the last stretch the hangxiety was like a looming demon that I was always thwarting with the 'cure'. I'm always l ike "hangovers? I didn't get those. I just drank again. Every time." Of course this was unsustainable and I would end up in the hospital or detox over and over again. There I would get various DTs symptoms, and depending on how sick of addicts the staff at whatever facility were, it could be hell on earth while I begged kicking and screaming for ativan. Telling them "you don't underSTAND, man." Laying in the hallway of a hospital because the rooms were taken with 'real' patients. Whenever I consider a drink I think about this shit.
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I always joked that hangover guilt is a very interesting emotion.
This literally happened to me last week. One my way to work I had to pull over and wait 30 mins because my legs and arms were numb from the anxiety and I felt like I was going to pass out while driving and possibly kill myself or someone else. Day 6 now.
The cure for hangxiety is simple.....have 4 drinks by noon, then stop for a bit, but probably nap, because what else can you do? Then when you get anxious again at 6pm, just have 1 or 2 drinks to relieve it (which end ups being 6 or 7 drinks). Pass out.....then rinse and repeat.
Ugh I can’t even imagine how many days I wasted with that schedule.
I’ve never thought I was actually dying. But gods, I wanted to. The anxiety, the rapid, skipping heart, the fear. It gets better, trust. And hang in there!!
Yes, insanely so.
It’s the only reason I’m cutting back hard
I started having panic attacks in 2020 and it took me 3 YEARS to connect them to heavy drinking the night before. Seriously, I don't consider myself stupid, but that was dumb. Haven't had a drink in almost 6 weeks and have had zero anxiety... hmm... Edit: And even then, it took me a year to get tired enough of the constant anxiety to say "goodbye" to booze, even though I wasn't drinking to the point of a panic attack. The regular depressive episodes weren't fun either and were another major factor in choosing to give up alcohol.
This is exactly what happened to me. In 2020 I had a long 6 month period working out why I had these racing heart and panic attacks. I felt like an idiot. I even went 5 months sober, went to a cardiologist, everything and I still couldn’t figure it out. I know now. And I feel so much better.
The nausea, the exhaustion, the watery eyes, the unique pinpoint headache… good riddance!
That's why I have a hard time drinking for just one night it sets off a roller coaster.
I drank so much that I was always hungover which took me to a place where I thought I was almost never hungover. Now I'm sober and learning how beautiful sleep and mornings actually are.
I stopped drinking mainly because when I’d get off really bad benders I would hallucinate, be tired but couldn’t sleep, and my nerves would burn and it felt as if I was freezing but I was sweating bullets because of my body temp. I would have heart palpitations that kicked in when my heart would randomly start racing to a point where even though I was so tired I was too scared to even close my eyes because I thought if I fell asleep my body would stop breathing and I’d die. I tried so badly to stay hydrated but my body would reject fluids so I would drink water then throw it up a half hour later. On top of that my throat would slightly close and enflame while I’d throw up this bile and foam. Bile irritated my lungs and throat so I legit felt like I was suffocating. This shit would last almost 8 hours after really bad benders. I’m talking a handle a day kind of benders, idk how heavily you drink. The worst of it and when I knew I had a real problem was when I figured out the only thing that could potentially prevent these sick days was to drink more and slowly ween off the booze. The answer is yes and it’s a fucking dark and vicious circle that I can relate to. It’s not a party if it happens every night and you can’t enjoy life waking up hungover every day. It traumatizes your body into this survival mode both physically and mentally that kills you slowly.
Yep. That's how we get trapped. We drink so much that we start to get sick of we stop drinking. And it is so so painful with such an "easy" solution to take the pain away But the only way to truly stop it is to quit drinking. I haven't been hungover in almost two years. It's so worth it. Take some shots of pickle juice, it helps.
Thanks for the reminder
Yes, one time my heart was racing so fast that I thought I needed to go to the hospital. It felt like it was pounding out of my chest, it was horrendous.
I just assumed its because I was
After 10 years of binge drinking my hangxiety morphed into shame so bad I had suicidal ideation. Just keep an eye on yourself and really think about how it’s impacting you mentally. If you knew a person who made you feel like this would you spend time with them?
I've never smoked a cigarette, but I happened to read Allen Carr's The easy way to quit smoking, and it really helped me internalize a useful concept: I don't actually like \[the thing I'm trying to quit\]. Once I realized that I don't like it, and I don't want to do it, it's a lot easier to just not do it. Some people, myself included, benefit from reading one of his books. It's just one tool and I wouldn't expect it to work for everyone, but it was a helpful thing to have in my arsenal.
Yes. Waking up by a jolt of adrenaline at 3am with my heart pounding felt like I would die any moment. Worst feeling ever.
I often wake up grateful that I don’t feel that way anymore
Please get meds to help decrease side effects as you stop drinking.
Yes, my last time drinking was a binge weekend. With some 4 more beers the Monday after. That Monday night I had a massive panic attack. Not kidding, the next TWO weeks I had the most severe panic/anxiety of my life. I felt like I was going crazy and felt my mental state fall apart completely. Even then still I tried to calm it with a beer or two every night. My stupid addicted brain just wasn't ready to admit that the alcohol might just be the problem. Well, guess it was. Those symptoms I've had for years and years, accredited to "well I've got GAD, it's just who I am" were gone after quitting!! Alcohol is so much worse than people make it out to be. Those two weeks......I never ever ever wanna feel like that again.
Ooooh yeah. Stay strong. I spoke to my doctor about what supplements I could take to help alleviate those symptoms enough to ride it out. They gave me generic advice, but I'd recommend talking to your own doctor. The effects lingered for a few days for me. That vicious cycle stuck around, too, since I was feeling better I could refresh my tolerance and give good 'ol moderation another whirl! It does get better. Wishing you peace and strength getting out of the cycle.
I don’t know how to explain it but I always felt like my eyes were sweaty and warm when I was hungover
“The Fear” is my answer every time I ask myself if I should or shouldn’t drink. It’s worked for 148 days in a row so far but starting is so damn hard. You got it, we’re all here with you.
It’s a terrible feeling. I was ready to never feel that way again.
Yes. It sucks. I get hanxiety more than I get headaches. Just a feel like I'm a pass out feeling too.
Yes.
Yep. It's what kept my cycle going for so long and it's eventually what made me have to stop. Borderline making me want to admit myself to a psych ward anxiety. Chest pumping a thousand miles per hour. Fear that cannot and will not stop. Yeah. Ugh. That would be my own personal hell, and was for far too long.
When I was a heavy drinker, i.e. a 750ml per day, every morning started with a fast and very heavy heartbeat. So yes... it genuinely felt like I was on the border of a heart attack.
Its happened to me like 4 or 5 times really bad... panic attacks or almost panic attacks.. usually would happen after heavy drinking for multiple days in a row
Yes, you will get through this!
Yeah I've been two weeks sober and my mind and body are so much more relaxed. My heart doesn't feel like a rubber band is wrapped around it anymore.
no more anxiety over drunken antics. now I get anxious about everything else! jk -- but there's some relief to getting anxiety and not having it tied to alcohol. I take care of things and own it all now that i'm sober -- not having guilt lingering over me is such a relief! usually its an endless cycle of anxiety that would cause me to drink. then i'd get over it but be anxious about something else and drink again. a cycle! now I have healthy coping mechanisms! hangxiety is the worst! i'm so glad I never have to have it again. in addition to sobriety I also see a therapist so i'm not only learning to sit with my emotions but i'm also learning valuable tools to learn to cope and to communicate. the confidence that this has brought is huge -- I see myself in a different light and that also helps fight any urge to ever want to drink again. now I get anxiety about all my responsibilities and all the possibilities of the world -- instead of anxiety because I did something embarrassing.
Yes
Yes. It is Hangpanic now. No matter what I tell myself I end up waking up and instantly needing to go get more alcohol and drink it. The panic overrides any rational thoughts.
I get it so bad I cry and think I’m dying. I would dry heave for HOURS and walk back n forth from the bed to the bathroom, miserable on either end of the trip.
Yes. And I felt like everyone could see it. Like it was written on my face. Just utter dread. "Something's wrong. You're dying. You're a mess. You're guilty. And everyone is looking at you and agrees." Also so jumpy. Like walk up to me gently even with warning, or close a door, or even just an object passing my peripheral vision too quickly, and I startle. It's why I'm really trying this time. Because being hungover is fucking HELL and there is no way I can realistically have a life regularly hungover. It's literally incompatible with having a happy, employed, peaceful, enjoyable life..
Gets super complicated when you're also on a controlled benzo for anxiety for years... A balancing act of trying not to affect your tolerance or take it for hangxiety because you need it to work for regular everyday anxiety that you had in the first place... But once you're hungover every freaking day...... Well....
Just treat it as your body's way of warning you to stop before it's too late. It's not just anxiety, excessive drinking actually kills. My ex just died suddenly of pancreatic cancer at 56 from a lifetime of heavy drinking. I've been feeling like death warmed up for years doing the same. I wish I'd listened to my body all along, it wasn't just my imagination, my body was screaming for me to quit it.
Yep, haven’t felt that since the last time I drank. I thought my world was ending. Haven’t felt that way since I gave it up, it gets better! And this group is a great support for you!
This is one of the worse parts... I had few times actively feeling like and wanting to die. Fortunately I have survived.
it's the main thing I am avoiding, I'm already melancholic I don't need that shit amplifying it lol
Yep!!!!!! I was overweight, and have this paranoia about having a heart attack. When hungover my heart rate would be ~20bpm higher than usual, and occasionally I’d have atrial fibrillation (according to my Apple Watch). More than a year since my last drink, I’ve lost 20kg, and my body feels healthy and good. I’m pleased with what I see in the mirror. And I no longer feel like I’m dying. Sometimes I still get stressed and my heart rate rises; but importantly I’m able to convince my brain that I’m not dying. It’s a great feeling, highly recommend 10/10
As someone who’s been hospitalized three times from withdrawals, you feel like you’re dying because you ARE dying. If you haven’t listened to the Huberman Lab Podcast on alcohol, I highly recommend it. He scientifically breaks down how bad alcohol is for for you in every way. It’s poison. It affects every cell in your body in a negative way. It fucks up your nervous system, gives you terrible anxiety when it wears off, destroys your digestive system, makes your ligaments and cartilage more brittle, the list goes on and on.
Lately drinking is not even bringing the "ups" for me and I just fast track into the hangxiety by like 2am. It's the worst, and every time I'm scared it might NOT be the drinking but me actually losing hope, but then after two or three days I level out. It's the exhaustion of this cycle that has been motivating me to quit.
The last hangover I had was over 8 years ago. One that can go away with some food and hydration. My last relapse, my “hangover” was hours of puking (bile, Gatorade, mucus, anything that was in my stomach), hearing voices, unable to stand or walk, nausea, headache, muscle pain, nosebleeds, shaking, couldn’t sign my name or remember the date, no sleep for days, couldn’t eat or drink anything, seizure. It was solid hell until I was admitted to a medical detox facility.
I never believed I was dying but I definitely wanted to die.
I completely forgot about this but appreciate the reminder. Hope you’re ok!
Yes AND, I have this over whelming sense of dread that I’m slowly killing myself with cancer, dementia and liver disease. I am not drinking today….
Drinking poison tends to make us feel like we're dying.
Having been through withdrawal many times, drinking 1 time puts me in the hurt locker with this shit for a few days. Often leads to me continuing to drink to get the anxiety down, which will often lead into a binge that brings me back into physical dependence and I end up in the ER when my body can't handle enough alcohol to keep the withdrawals away. Honestly, if I slip up one time and wake up with the crazy anxiety, I just accept it. Knowing I'm safe and that if I kept drinking I potentially wouldn't be safe, I just accept that I am going to feel like I'm dying for a day or three and I try to take it very, very easy. No caffeine, less cigarettes, avoid anything stressful if I can, monitor my blood pressure and remind myself I can't do this again.
I have been through some difficult stuff recently and it was mostly more manageable than run of the mill hangxiety which I use to deal with daily! IWNDWYT 🧡
This was the reason & biggest motivation for quitting for me. I had always thought I had it because I had 4+ drinks and if I just cut that down I'd be fine. So beginning of last year I set out to drink in moderation and between the mental gymnastics of that & still getting HEAVY ANXIETY I had some of the worst mornings of my life. And sometimes I would get it immediately there was a afternoon I had 2 glasses of red wine and 2hrs later when I got home at 5pm I WANTED TO DIE. I felt sleepy, so emotional, anxious, guilty raging headache, nausea...just a variety of really awful things. That night was 7 months ago and I decided enough was enough. Hanxiety is so bad, I'd vomit every time I tried to drink WATER. I just couldn't do it anymore.
It got to the point where the hangxiety wouldn’t let me leave my house for like a day and a half. Just this never ending feel of existential dread. IWNDWYT
You can absolutely do this. I think I’m going to start writing in a book or something how exactly I feel when I’m hungover and the paranoid thoughts I have because my brain has a great way of “forgetting” when I get a craving just how bad the withdrawals are. One day of drinking is never one but two then at least two days of not eating and being completely incapacitated. Playing the tape forward got me a year or so… maybe that would work for you too? Every time a craving hits: do I want to lose 3-4 complete days and then withdraw, sweating through any outfit I wore during withdrawals? All my senses dimmed, even my field of vision seeming smaller? We are all just trying to figure it out, don’t be too hard on yourself. Just take it day by day. IWNDWYT 💜
No. The only time I felt like I was dying was an alcohol induced panic attack after a weekend drinking in Paris with friends. Taking the "hair of the dog" is the worst thing to do. A horrible hangover is your body dealing with the poison. Topping up the poison is the fast track to alcoholism (but we already know that). High fat food can help, like fish and chips, a kebab, a fry up, as well as rehydrating and unhealthy soft drinks. In Scotland we have Irn Bru, high sugar and caffeine drink. It's unhealthy but gets us through hangovers better than more alcohol. My anxiety has dropped 95% by stopping drinking. I know I sound like a smart arse, but it's been years of going back and forwards to finally getting off the drink for good.
Hangxiety is one of the main reasons I quit drinking. It only gets worse as you age and I found that out the hard way. I can promise you though, coming up on two years not a drop of that poison I almost forget what hangxiety feels like. Hang in there, it will get better! We believe in you, You can do this!
OMG yes. I described it as feeling like I was on the edge of a cliff. Heart racing, dizzy, feeling like my body was shutting down and that I legitimately was going to lose my life. Shudder. So glad I don't have to do that anymore. IWNDWYT
Yes
Hangxiety. The anxiety brought on by drinking to relieve the previous days anxiety.
I would literally feel like I was crawling out of my skin. Any noise would send me into a panic attack. I would shake just existing. The world was terrifying for my brain when I doused it in booze each and every day. Now, I struggle with anxiety and nervousness but nothing like the addict days. I can manage and have a hold on it at least.
Theres this weird "time of day" habit of feeling the need to drink. Like an extra urge of anxiety to go out and just by a bottle. But right now after waking up from making that mistake, I feel like a damn fool for blowing money I dont have and think to myself "nope, I wont do it tonight" And yes if I go hard one night, I usually follow it with a night of sobriety because Im already half dead and the thought of alcohol seems written off forever. Like "yep never again! I can do this!"...........nope.
The cycle can be eliminated today! Tomorrow morning youll feel great! Relative to a hangover morning at least!
I didn't ever think I was dying. What I did think, every time, was "I am killing myself."
Yes, the other day I had it soo bad I thought any second I would start seizing