Some help and advice please

[Weasel2020]

Hi all and happy new year.

I hope you are all doing well on your journey. I really want to change my lifestyle by stopping drinking. I drink a bottle of wine and I drink everyday and have done on and off for 11 years

I am going through a period of extreme anxiety and alcohol helps until 3am when I wake up full of panic and fear and my drinking has escalated slightly. I very rarely get back to sleep so I have decided to stop, I have CBT booked and start that this week

Just have a few questions if I may.

1. Do I need to worry about withdrawal?

2. If so, when does that normally kick in?
3. What did you drink instead?
4. How much were you drinking when you stopped?
5. Did you sleep better immediately or did it take a while?

Any help/advice is much appreciated!

[mumgg]

I have decided to give up too. I feel I have been using more alcohol during the lock down and feel it is creeping in and could become a problem

[VoldemortsKitten]

Happy new year @Weasel2020

Well done on facing this, drinking a bit too much creeps up on so many of us and it really can contribute massively to anxiety

You're hopefully through any withdrawal by now if you posted Sunday. I would hope it would not be too bad at the levels you were drinking at. As long as you haven't got in to the habit of reaching for another glass at 3am to knock you out when the anxiety kicks in I would hope you wouldn't be physically dependent. Apologies if the very thought of that sounds appalling, i imagine it could to even relatively heavy drinkers but it can be part of the slippery slope.

CBT is a great plan and can really help.

Your sleep should massively improve after a couple of weeks. Ohhh the sleep. It's so worth it.

Good luck X

[Dolphin08]

Hi, This is the first time I’ve posted a message on Mumsnet - I’ve been reading some of the threads about drinking and I know I need to stop, I’ve spiralled since the first lockdown with homeschooling, work and being a single parent and turned to wine to get through. I can’t seem to stop and would like advice on how to, I just want to be me again instead of the grumpy mum I’ve become because of alcohol.

[Aquamarine1029]

I don't think you need to worry about withdrawl, but you do need to understand that it's actually the alcohol that's causing your anxiety. You think it helps, but it doesn't. In reality, it's the alcohol that is causing the next day's anxiety.

Stop drinking completely, and I guarantee you will notice a huge improvement in a matter of days/a week.

You've got this, op. Well done for taking charge.

[mumgg]

hi guys @Dolphin I am in day 12 now and like u I was reading post on this and not want to comment, but since I started chatting to other people it has help a great deal. I have kept a diary day to day on how I feel and this has helped me a great deal. You are not alone I think lock down has affected lots of us and alcohol at the time seams like a good way to cope but in the long run it makes things so much harder. Good luck as I know it's not easy but have faith in yourself and keep chatting it does help 💪