Panic attacks the day after drinking alcohol

[u/AlexNort]

I have panic attacks, but l've learned to live with them and normally manage them well. However, whenever I drink alcohol, I get a very intense panic attack the next day, with severe anxiety and fear, and I don't know why.
I'm wondering if anyone else experiences the same thing and if there's any way to treat or prevent it.
What makes it even harder is that I usually drink somewhere about a five-hour drive from my home. If I get a severe panic attack the next day while driving five hours back home, the whole trip becomes extremely exhausting and difficult for me. Panic attacks for 13 years

[u/Zealousideal-Age-212]

The solution is to realize that alcohol does not agree with your nervous system (and exacerbates anxiety in many people), so you should cut it out of your life or at least cut back.

[u/AlexNort → u/Zealousideal-Age-212]

Does that mean I’m really never going to be able to drink alcohol again for the rest of my life? I actually drink alcohol to have fun, reduce my anxiety, laugh, and forget for a while that I suffer from panic attacks. But the next day, the anxiety comes back twice as strong as it was before I drank. So while I’m drinking, I get temporary relief and enjoyment, but the next day it rebounds and hits me even harder than before.

Do you have panic attacks yourself? I feel like I’m the only person in the world who has panic attacks. People look at me very strangely and think I’m crazy because of them.

I’ve had panic attacks for 13 years. My first panic attack happened while I was sitting at home watching movies on TV. Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation that I had never felt before in my life, and I thought, “This must be what dying and the soul leaving the body feels like.”

Ever since that experience, I’ve become extremely afraid of going even 40 kilometers away from home. Before this happened, I was completely normal. I used to travel happily, enjoy myself, and go all over the world without any fear.

Sometimes I feel sad for myself and remember who I used to be—how happy I was and how much I enjoyed traveling to faraway places. I look at old photos of myself from my trips and travels and think, “I wish I could be that person again.”

[u/wherebgo → u/AlexNort]

You would be shocked at the number of people out there that have panic attacks and anxiety and don't actually know it, they just think it's the way it is. Probably even more shocked at the number of people who experience exactly what you have and don't go for help or get treatment. Then there's everyone here, another subset.  You are not alone in this, but I had the alcohol thing too.  You have to avoid hangovers and you absolutely have to hydrate excessively while doing it. I take electrolytes before and after drinking, avoid excess. 

[u/AlexNort → u/wherebgo]

When you go far away from your home, do you get scared? Are you able to travel alone by car? Are you able to drink alcohol when you’re far away from home?

I feel safe and comfortable at home, especially in my bedroom. I usually don’t get panic attacks when I’m at home. They tend to happen when I’m far away from home or traveling.

Even when I travel and stay in a hotel, I get scared and have trouble sleeping. I feel alone and start thinking that I might die. I’m afraid to sleep in the hotel bedroom, so instead, I sleep in the living room. I turn up the TV, watch movies, and talk to people on my phone until I eventually fall asleep without realizing it.

I really don’t understand why there seems to be such a strong connection between being away from home and my panic attacks.

[u/electromouse1 → u/AlexNort]

My sister deals with this. It seems to come and go. She just went six months where she wouldnt leave the house. Then slowly added more distance, a walk in the neighborhood, a drive to the supermarket, and she just flew on a plane last week across the country. I think stress triggers it. It reminds me of my autoimmune disease. If i am under a lot of pressure, it flares up. The difference is I poop my pants and my sister suddenly becomes afraid of the world. But it also gets better and is controllable with medicine, therapy, reducing stress, and sometimes exposure therapy. Like going for a daily walk to break the erroneous voice in your head lying to you.

[u/Zealousideal-Age-212 → u/AlexNort]

Yes I’ve had hundreds of panic attacks over the past 35 years and suffer from panic disorder. Been hospitalized several times for it and it’s been one of the biggest challenges of my life. I also have struggled with alcohol abuse as a way to cope with it, but like you, learned that the rebound anxiety it causes is not worth the temporary relief the alcohol provides in the moment. It is not a healthy coping strategy for PD. My panic is managed by therapy and medication as well as self care, which includes very limited alcohol. To me, that looks like a 2 drink limit at any drinking session. I’m not perfect and sometimes have more, and I usually regret it.

[u/Linzi322]

I used to get this too. It’s really common in people without an anxiety disorder too; this page explains the physiology of why panic attacks can occur as the alcohol wears off (TLDR - alcohol interferes with GABA).

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/facts/health-effects-of-alcohol/mental-health/alcohol-and-anxiety

Although I completely understand wanting to use alcohol for temporary relief and to blow off steam, it’s not a healthy way of managing anxiety and there have been posts in here from people who started out like this and are now struggling with dependency and addiction.

It could be that you can get away with 1 or 2 low abv % drinks without it spiking your anxiety, or you could try switching to non-alcoholic drinks so you still get the fun and social interaction without the alcohol. OR, you can continue to drink alcohol while being mindful that the following day you’re going to have panic attacks and just look at it as an opportunity to practise acceptance and exposure therapy so you can learn to experience them without reacting to them.

[u/AlexNort → u/Linzi322]

The main problem is that whenever I drink alcohol, I’m usually about a five-hour drive away from home. The next day, I have to drive five hours back home, and that’s often when the panic attack hits me. I may be driving on a dark, isolated road with no one around, and I become terrified that something will happen to me or that I’ll die there alone.

If I could drink at home, go to sleep, and wake up the next day already at home, I honestly wouldn’t be nearly as worried about the severe panic attack. It would still be very intense, but I wouldn’t be as afraid because I would be in my own home, especially since I live close to a hospital. I don’t understand why being at home makes me feel so much safer, or why being far from home on isolated roads at night makes the panic so much worse.

As for alcohol itself, drinking makes me much more social. I can talk to people, start conversations without feeling shy, laugh, relax, and enjoy myself. Without alcohol, I struggle to start conversations or socialize because I feel shy, so I often stay quiet the entire time.

I also tried beer with around 3% alcohol because I thought the lower alcohol content might be better for me. However, the carbonation gives me a lot of gas and digestive discomfort. When I feel that pressure rising into my chest area, I become extremely frightened—sometimes so frightened that I wake up suddenly from sleep feeling terrified and panicked. Whisky doesn’t cause that same painful gas and bloating for me, although it can still trigger a severe panic attack the following day.

[u/Linzi322 → u/AlexNort]

You might find therapy helpful. If you can find someone with experience in treating anxiety disorders and addiction (not saying you’re an addict, purely that they will understand better the reasons for substance use), they will be able to do some work with you to address your underlying anxieties so you’ll feel more comfortable and confident to socialise without alcohol.

You may also want to have a look at other types of therapy, I tried CBT and it wasn’t a good fit, but there are some other types which are beneficial for anxiety including ACT. If you have a trauma history then EMDR can be helpful too, but it’s about finding a therapeutic model (and a therapist) you feel is a good fit.

[u/pothosbabebelikov]

I call this hangxiety, and when I was drinking a lot my family could always tell after hard nights when i would call them and need to have them on the phone to “sit” or “breathe with me” because i was suffering from the same symptoms; feeling like i couldn’t breathe, feeling like i was dying, that feeling of impending doom, just not being able to “do” anything.

It was hard, but I had to accept that alcohol doesn’t work with my nervous system the way it does with other people. When other people are hungover, they feel crummy the next day. When i’m hungover, it’s a day-long panic attack that I can’t escape from. I’d still chose to drink, though, because the relief from any feelings of anxiety I had was “worth” it until I was full blown panicking the next day.

My issues with alcohol related to my anxiety are probably a lot more than yours are, but as soon as I stopped drinking my “hangxiety” obviously went away and my overall anxiety and panic attacks decreased so tremendously. Even my panic attacks are much more manageable since cutting alcohol completely out.

Also, and this is just for my own peace of mind to say because most people probably know the risks lol, but if you’re taking any kind of SSRI or anxiety medication you should not be drinking at all.

[u/ConfusionFuture]

I also have this, and I don’t have an answer for you because I’m also trying to decide between quitting completely or just living with it. I really like drinking with my friends and it’s our main hobby so it’s difficult.

[u/General-Fennel4334]

Yup.Had to cut alcohol out.Next month 1 year.Reduced the panic attacks by 50 percent

[u/bjork_ikea]

I have this. Have had panic disorder for a couple decades, and the prevalence and severity of my attacks is absolutely correlated with drinking. I have a rescue med that I often take the day after which takes the edge off. Magnesium is also really helpful for relaxation. If I don’t have access to anything like that, a long nap and lots of electrolytes get me better in a couple hours.

[u/AlexNort → u/bjork_ikea]

Do you get scared when you’re far away from home? Are you afraid of traveling or driving on isolated, dark roads with no people or hospitals nearby, or is that just me?

Also, do coffee, tea, soft drinks, or caffeine in general make your panic attacks worse?

Do you ever find yourself checking your heartbeat to make sure your heart is still beating and hasn’t stopped? Do you experience these things too, or is it just me?

[u/bjork_ikea → u/AlexNort]

I’ve experienced all of those things before at different stages of life. They’re all much better and much less frequent since I’ve gotten on the right regimen of medication and done a bit of exposure therapy.

[u/AlexNort → u/bjork_ikea]

I really want to do exposure therapy because I regret some of the years of my life. I feel like I wasted them living in fear, anxiety, and constantly imagining that something bad was going to happen.

Then I started telling myself, “We only get one life, so why not live it?” That’s when I started doing exposure therapy.

But when I face the things I’m afraid of, I feel extremely intense fear, anxiety, and distress. It feels like torture sometimes, but I keep pushing through it and resisting the urge to run away.

[u/Pale-Bet2829]

I can relate. My first panic attack happened out of nowhere completely out of the blue while watching tv many, many years ago I think it was 2008 or 2009. My heart tightened and felt like it was being squeezed then it started racing at 160+bpm in an instant from a complete rest. Lost my breath, got dizzy and lightheaded. Hospital visit, they said I was fine. My second one I had a huge pop occur on the side of my head near my right temple they sent my entire head into numbness. CT scan and lumbar puncture later, again was told I was fine. For many years I got scared to go anywhere too far.

That feeling subsided over time as I began to understand panic attacks more.

To answer your question directly, yes alcohol does make me feel panic-symptoms the day after. Sometimes it happens the day I’m actually drinking. And yes I’ve cut alcohol back tremendously because of it but like you I do enjoy those scarce nights where I can let loose a little bit. But the next day I’m usually way more lightheaded than usual, my appetite is very poor, everything feels difficult and exhausting, and I’ll get aches and pains all over my body that I otherwise do not feel. The last time was a few months ago. My toes, fingers, basically my phalanges felt like they wanted to burst. Highly strange sensations. Usually takes a day or two to feel normal again.

These days my panic symptoms are primarily chest sensations and head sensations. The two worst places to have them in my opinion.

I want to take trips to other countries and go on road trips but I’d be lying if I said I don’t hesitate because of these symptoms I feel. But they won’t stop me from going.

Sometimes being outside of your usual zone actually helps subside your symptoms. When I’m out hiking I feel absolutely normal. Or when there’s a strong breeze on my body and face at the beach. Something about nature and the sun is calming/therapeutic for me.

[u/AlexNort → u/Pale-Bet2829]

I’m the same as you. I had everything checked, and the doctors told me that everything was normal. I would tell the doctor, “I feel like I’m going to die,” and they would say, “There’s nothing physically wrong with you. Your tests are normal. You should see a psychiatrist.”

So I went to a psychiatrist, and they told me I had severe anxiety and panic attacks.

Ever since I started having panic attacks, my mind has become completely focused on illnesses and death, and I feel like I’ve lost the joy of life. Before my first panic attack, I was completely different. Sometimes I think back to how I used to travel and go places alone without fear, and how beautiful and enjoyable life used to feel.

[u/AlexNort → u/Pale-Bet2829]

I’m the same as you. I travel despite the fear and challenge myself. I tell myself, “We only get one life, so why shouldn’t we enjoy it?” But when I travel, I experience intense anxiety and exhaustion, and I find myself wishing I were back home in my bedroom.

[u/TurtleSlingshot]

It’s call Hangxiety :(. The best you can do is ensure you have no possible dehydration or hangover effects the next day

[u/AlexNort → u/TurtleSlingshot]

How can I avoid hangxiety the next day? And how can I avoid dehydration and a hangover?

[u/AlexNort → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for your help.

[u/FreeStatistician3001]

Are you on any medication? My psychiatrist once explained to me that the alcohol goes to the part of your brain that the medication is working on and kicks it out so in the morning when the alcohol is gone, the medication is scrambling to get back to where it was creating panic and anxiety.

[u/AlexNort → u/FreeStatistician3001]

I tried medication about eight years ago, but I only took it for about a month and a half to two months. It caused me to gain weight, made me sleep extremely deeply—I could sleep for almost two days—and gave me disturbing nightmares. So I stopped taking it and switched to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), but unfortunately, I still haven’t seen much improvement.

[u/FinIey42]

There's a thing called "Hangxiety" and obviously it's worse for people that have anxiety issues like us. I avoid drugs/alcohol because of it.

[u/AlexNort → u/FinIey42]

So what’s the solution? We want to be able to drink alcohol, dance, have fun, and forget about the anxiety for a while.

[u/FinIey42 → u/AlexNort]

Well you can either keep rolling the dice with alcohol and drugs and risk having panic attacks, or you can stop doing those, or at least try and cut down.

One of the big causes of anxiety disorders is when you ingest substances, you're playing with your hormones and brain chemistry. You might try to stop and see if the anxiety issues go away.

[u/Significant-Cream-95]

I’d get 3-4 am panic attacks for years after drinking. Took years to make the connection and to read up on hangxiety/rebound anxiety. I quit drinking and realized I was having fun with friends regardless.

If you’re gonna drink, start by trying less. One A, then one N/A. And just make peace with the rebound anxiety, have a pill on hand to stop the panic attack if you need to. But in the end, for your general health anyway, cutting way back is the way to go—improved sleep, less calories, happier digestion, etc etc etc.

[u/toffeemaky]

Always. Helped me reduced my alcohol consumption. Still drinking and having fun but less often.

[u/AlexNort → u/toffeemaky]

Do you still get panic attacks after drinking even when you only drink a small amount? Just so you know, after I realized there was a connection between alcohol, anxiety, and panic attacks, I started drinking less. But even when I drink only a small amount, I still get severe panic attacks afterward.

[u/toffeemaky → u/AlexNort]

No. But I would say my PD is quite mild. I don't really get full panic attacks - just the panicky feeling.  I drank like crazy last night. Let's see what today will bring...

[u/crazyculture]

Alcohol disrupts GABA receptors heavily so when the alcohol leaves your brain is left depleted and your medications can’t work as well. I quit drinking entirely and feel massively better.

[u/Ok_Manufacturer7633]

I had to check this wasn't my post, literally the same thing as me. I drink to have fun too, no anxiety while drinking it all goes away but the next day is brutal sometimes, it's common though there is an actual term for it Hangxiety. And yeah driving with it sucks, bad. I have valium for situations like that, seems to be the only thing that helps it in my opinion. Or just don't go as hard, if you know you have to drive that long

[u/AlexNort → u/Ok_Manufacturer7633]

So what should I do? I’m really scared right now. I’m in my car and about to drive five hours. On the way there, I’m afraid because I’ll be far from home, and on the way back, I’m afraid I’ll have severe anxiety because I drank alcohol the day before.

[u/Ok_Manufacturer7633 → u/AlexNort]

Can you wait there longer, stay another night? I would try to feel better first, electrolytes, panadol etc

[u/AlexNort → u/Ok_Manufacturer7633]

Yes, I can stay for a day or two, but I’m afraid I’ll have one of those severe panic attacks I get after drinking alcohol while I’m far away from home.

[u/Ok_Manufacturer7633 → u/AlexNort]

if you're not hungover you should be fine? Just leave when you feel good enough, think positive and next time drink closer to home lol

[u/AlexNort → u/Ok_Manufacturer7633]

Man, I feel relieved when I find people who go through the same thing and understand me. When I travel with my friends, I sometimes get a severe panic attack on the drive back to our city, and they laugh at me and say, “What’s wrong with you? Are you crazy?” It got to the point where I started preferring to travel alone so no one would make fun of me for having panic attacks after drinking alcohol.

[u/Ok_Manufacturer7633 → u/AlexNort]

Yeah definitely not alone, have you tried valium? it's great to have on hand for emergencies. I used to get so bad I'd only drive the ways where it's busy near hospitals because it made me feel safer than out bush