Alcohol and Panic Attacks- What should I do?

Hey, I'm Scott, I'm 23. I've had panic disorder for the last 3 years and I hate it. However, I have a very addictive personality. I have done tons of drugs in the past, but haven't done any in close to 3 years. I also just recently quit smoking (3 mos ago). However, I feel I have a major addiction to alcohol. I have recently been trying to lower my intake to just beer, because I tend to fill up faster and therefore drink less amounts than hard liquor.

In the past, I have had insane withdrawals due to immensely high intakes of alcohol over several day spans. Combined with my panic attacks, they land me in the hospital on the severe cases. So I quit drinking for two mos. Then I started again (full swing- hard liquor incl.). I have lost much of my memory b/c of my past drug dependence and my current alcohol addiction. I get so depressed when I quit drinking, because I am so lonely without my drinking buddies. Plus, I drink way to much caffeine when I'm off of alcohol.

But now I'm depressed again. I also get panic attacks all the time. I can't sleep, not for days. Luckily, since I've quit smoking cigs, I'm never without an appetite, as long as I keep my drinking levels moderate. But alcohol is definitely affecting my life, my emotions, and my financial state. I have no health insurance, so I cannot get meds for my panic disorder. I am falling into a pit of loneliness and destructive behavior. But if I completely quit drinking, I will def. relapse and fall into a worse pit. I use alcohol to self medicate, but in the end, it messes me up worse. but if I quit, I will lose the few friends I have. I am too stressed out to not drink. What the heck should I do?

self help books on overcoming agoraphobia and panic disorder have useful advice on coping with the panic attacks
alcahol stops panic attacks for some but not all
generic prozac is cheap and often reduces or stops panic attacks and doesnt have addiction issues
have you tried any antidepressants?

Hi scott,

I know what you mean. It's like, excuse me? is there life after alcohol?? I don't think so! LOL

I joined a group in Feb of 2001 after 7 years of unsuccessful attempts to stay clean/sober and 30 years of daily or almost daily substance abuse.

I've been to four or five 30-day residential rehabs, one hard-core 90-day residential rehab, and over a year's worth of 3x/week out-patient rehab therapy.

I lost a great job in a large physician's office because I found out they didn't lock up their narcotics - so I stole them for a year, and the drug-reps kept replacing them. My bosses didn't fire me because they didn't know - but my pdoc, therapist and rehab counselors did an intervention and said point blank: "We've tried for well over a year and it's apparent that we can't help you. Quit your job and go into a 90-day rehab. That's our best advice. If you choose not to, we can't continue to support what you're doing."

I was lucky and only got one DUI which resulted in fines, an educational class, loss of license, and phenomenol insurance rates for a year.

I spent $670 on just one internet drug order during an impulse buy while high. Between the ordering and their arrival (4-6 weeks), I had promised a special person I would quit if he helped me be strong. He stood beside me as I flushed them all.

I've flushed drugs, poured out untouched bottles, buried bottles - both empty and full - and had funerals for the death of the relationship I had with what I thought was my best friend, but was actually my worst enemy.

I've spent hundreds of thousands on drugs, alcohol, rehabs, hospitalizations for depression, therapy, and psychiatric meds. The figure is probably pretty close to 3/4 of a million.

I've humiliated and embarrassed myself too many times to count - in person, on the phone, on the internet.

I hurt lots of people and lost two men I loved because they were fed up with me and the whining, sobbing, empty promises I made while drunk or high.

I haven't had a drink or used an un-prescribed drug since Oct 2003. Between Oct 2002 and Oct 2003 I relapsed on approx 8 occasions, none of which lasted more than a few days.

Trust me - if you want to live without all that crap, you can. It's do-able. In the beginning I was obsessing about how I'd cope with depression after I quit, and people, including professionals, kept telling me to quit first, then deal with what was left. To be honest, I didn't trust anything about my future being better or yes I could have fun sober or hell, that I could even do it. But I trusted the people in my group, and they trusted in me until I could. I don't miss the alcohol at all - my drug of choice was drugs. If there were a way to do them for the rest of my life without consequences, including always needing larger quantities, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But I figured as I got older all of those "wheww! that was a close one!" chances with the cops or getting caught stealing or not killing someone while I was driving were getting low. Like when there's one black marble in a bag and 30 white ones and you draw with the goal being not to get the black one. Sure, there's a chance of getting the black one every time, but as the whites are removed, the chances get smaller of getting the black one. I quit drugs at age 30 in part because I didn't, really didn't want to go to prison and I'd drawn a lot of white balls.

Check out this group. It might be just the thing for you. It was one of the most real groups of people I've ever known, and I even flew to FL for a conference one year to meet them in person. There's some raw, painful honesty - the kind that makes you cringe for the poster. But that's what made it feel safe for me to get honest.

www.unhooked.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LifeRing_Secular_Recovery

Warmly, saffron

I also used to self medicate my panic attacks w/ alcohol and it worked great(not that that's a good thing). The thing is, It's a vicious cycle comming off the alcohol amplifies the length and severity of your panic attacks(at least in my case). I take alprazolam as needed (1mg pills up to 3x a day) works great for me. Let me rephrase that "worked" great for me. I've been at that dosage for about 2 yrs. Now it doesn't quite do much, but I get withdrawals if I don't take it. I also abused it at the begining, so don't! I have a lot of other issues as well (that I won't get into now) that I believe grew out of my untreated and self-medicated panic attacks over the years. I would advise you to talk to your doc. about alprazolam(xanax) assuming you attacks are your only problem, because it really did work well for me. Don't abuse it and try to cut back on your drinking.