remind me never to drink alcohol again. feel even more depressed

[alexa1]

hi. i have been taking st johns wort for a week and last night we had a bonfire party. i had no intentions of drinking any alcohol as i didnt want to mix it with the st johns. anyway, i felt a bit woozy after 2 glasses of wine & soda and really should of stopped at that but friends were really getting into the swing of things and say 'go on, just one more' well one more ended up a whole bottle of wine. i couldnt sleep properly and kept waking up all night and felt really anxious and more depressed than ever.
anyway, i have decided to give the 'escitalopram' a bash as i dont think the st johns are strong enough for me, i know u have to give them a month or so to work but i dont think i can wait that long as my anxiety is getting worse and i am feeling stressed.
the thing that is going to be hard for me is, i usually like a few glasses of wine or two and with christmas coming up and socialising i am going to find it hard. Too be honest, i don't really enjoy socialising anymore but do it for my DH's sake.
sorry to waffle, i am just feeling really hungover and feel rough.

it's good that you are keeping up with the socialising even when don't feel like it. you'll probably feel worse if you don't do it, so def keep that up. it is hard not drinking, when you enjoy it, and everyone else is. but a whole bottle of wine??!! drink lots and lots, now, and hope you feel better soon.

Thanks. i agree, a bottle of wine was too much, the annoying thing is i had no intentions of drinking and really didn't feel like it, so why did i do it.
my problem is i like to make everyone happy and as everyone else was drinking and saying to me 'oh go on, have a drink' i felt i had to have one. most ppl would have strength to just say no.
anyway, i have taken the first AD tablet and really dont want to mix these with alcohol, so taking these is a good incentive to stop drinking.

alexa1 hope you're feeling better soon. I took St JW and Kalms tablets during my last bout of feeling low, down and desperate and it started working after about 1 week. Guessing it's the combination. Couldn't touch alcohol either as after 2 glasses I was feeling ill.

If people try and egg you on to drink just tell them you're on antibiotics and really can't drink. Most people accept that as a reason and will stop bothering you.

mrsBig - the pharmacist told me u can't take st johns and kalms together because i went to buy the 2 of them and she said 'oh, its either one or the other'. anyway they worked for u so she obviously was wrong.

it's not the same ingredients so no risk of overdose. My mum's doctor, who I went to see when I was in Germany as I had given up with docs over here told me to take : StJW, hopps, valerian and some other herbal stuff which I don't know the English name for to 'bring me down' as I was totally hyper/on-edge due to trying to force myself out of the low (if that makes sense). She said as I'm generally healthy there's no issue. Granted I felt a bit zonked for the first week but it really sorted me out

Hangovers are terrible. Remember it is just the chemicals in your brain making you feel really down and remorseful. You will feel better later on and tomorrow, but you just need to get through the day without beating yourself up too much.

How to drink less without people noticing - tips learnt when less than 3 months pregnant!

Drink tiny sips, or pretend to drink really slowly, so they can't top up your glass. The other technique is just to accept a drink, then put it down somewhere and not drink it.

Really hope you feel better soon. It's good that you are doing something about the way you feel and not accepting it as ok or 'it'll pass' (what I tend to do, but just get worse!). Also great that you recognise you are always trying to make people happy (or like you?!). This is me too. I have learnt loads from my in laws about putting my needs/ my kids first sometimes rather than trying to please family all the time. And actually people are fine about it - I feel better when I have done that. In reality your friends will not like you any less for sticking to your guns. I'm sure they are not friends with you because you drink!

I could have written the title to your thread many times. Alcohol really doesnt help depression. But we seem to think it does at the time because of the way it makes us feel. But for you, maybe having taken the first of the ADs you will give yourself a break from the wine for a little while? I know you are not supposed to drink while taking them, but one glass at Christmas probably wont hurt. But I wouldnt advise a whole bottle again...

Hope you are feeling better now btw. And good luck with the ADs.

Thanks - I am feeling better and hope for an early night. I won't be drinking a whole bottle of wine again, especially on the AD's

that's good alexa1. I really hope they work well for you

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thanks dior - i'm on escitalopram now, think they are similar, but i'm not getting the nasty side effects like with citalopram.

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dior - how long do u think i will need to be on them for?? the GP didn't mention how long.

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alexa when I was on ADs (seroxat) my GP said 'for a minimum of 6 months' and then reassess. Also when coming off it it's best to 'schedule' it for spring so you don't get SAD on top of things iykwim