Anxiety about health after drinking

[florence0]

I have health anxiety / Cardiophobia, when I haven’t been drinking I can cope quite well with it, it rears it’s ugly head occasionally but I can cope.

It seems to flare up massively if I have been drinking the night before, I don’t go on wild benders or anything, even when I share wine at home with the OH I suffer really badly the next day and am worried about my heart / health. I purposely stop drinking after a certain amount of alcohol as I know it will play up the next day, but all that happens is it plays up regardless and I have cut short an evening of relaxing and having fun the night before.

I see other people drink ALOT more than I do and they don’t seem to worry or have anxiety and are able to continue with their day. My friend has recently come back from Dublin and she was drinking all weekend Fri, Sat and Sun and she doesn’t feel how I do.

How can I train my brain to detach from this or detach drinking alcohol from me worrying I have something wrong with my heart and body? I want to live a normal life and not give up drinking, I eat healthy, exercise and don’t have any other vices and only drink once a week.

Any advice? xx

Well drinking isn't good for you. So you're not wrong in that sense. The way everyone else does it (and I say this with a glass of wine in my hand) is to assume it won't affect them. But none of us actually know.

Just stop drinking. Alcohol free drinks taste just the same these days. A few friends of mine have given up drinking as it affects their anxiety and they feel so much better for it. I haven’t drunk for 8 years. I don’t get the whole outlook of people “having” to drink. I enjoy events just as much as everyone else.

Do you take medication for your anxiety? I'm on medication for depression and anxiety and found when i drink the depressive effect of the alcohol really affects me and I really very low even after a few drinks. Not worth it for me, I also have other issues around drinking, so I've given up for now.

Similar. I have health anxiety and I'm also deaf in one ear with tinnitus. After a few too many I always wake up at 2/3am. My tinnitus is blaring and I panic about being in a noisy environment (usually it's just a friend's garden and a few drinks while the kids play) and that I'm damaging my good ear. I struggle to go back to sleep. Usually takes 2 hours and it's grim. I've tried drinking lots of water and still going to bed around half 10/11. Really I should just try not to drink but it's only now and again and i enjoy a few drinks and the fun at the time. So I just have to accept if I have a few drinks then this is how I'm going to be affected. 🙈
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Drink safely and consider your liver.

I have always suffered great anxiety about my health and the adverse affects on it of drinking.
It may be an inconvenience but I consider it an overall good thing. If it weren't for my paranoia about my poor liver and other adverse side affects I would have drunk myself into an early grave years ago.
I think you should take your health anxiety after drinking as a total positive because it is your brain trying to tell you to preserve your health and life.