ocdengineer

Cray,

For me the two went hand in hand. I HAD to quit drinking at least in the short term to quit smoking. The reason I tell people to quit these things is that they can sometimes become crutches that we use to hold us up and
hide the anxiety dissorder that you have.

For instance, alcohol has an amazing effect of bringing us introverted anxious people out of our shell and is also a lot of fun. However, it also cures anxiety while drunk. This is why many anxiety dissorder sufferers become alcoholics. It is not easy to have an anxiety attack while drunk, however as you noted after you are done drinking and the alcohol starts it withdrawl process you feel pretty horrible. This is because the night before you dehydrated your body and you are also running dangerously close to hypoglcemia due to the amount of carbs you consumed. Hypoglycemia has almost the same symptoms of panic and anxiety dissorder and therefore can cause a person with anxiety dissorder to have more panic and anxiety. This makes the person with anxiety dissorder have another drink. You can see how this can become a problem. Plus it is just plain bad for your liver.

Smoking is just a horrible habit. For me it was very relaxing, but as I grew more and more addicted I started smoking more and more to alleviate my anxiety. I ended up smoking 2 packs per day. I was always sick and I was always coughing and just generally unhealthy. So I quit because I wanted to rid my body of all the toxins that I had been throwing into it for so many years so I had a clear picture of my anxiety problem.

I am not going to lie, it gets a lot harder before it gets better. Quitting smoking is the hardest thing I have ever done. I used the patch for like 4 days but it was too strong for me so I did it cold turkey. I was taking no medication at the time and it was tough. Like I said, I could not drink for months without a cigarette, so I had to quit drinking as well. Now I will have an occasional drink depending on the situation, but I never have more than a couple drinks in an evening and I still feel crappy the next day. I drink at best a couple times a year now.

I follow a quazi Buddhist philosophy of healthy body healthy mind and I believe that is very true to a point. I know that no matter what I will always battle my anxiety issue, but at least now I am staring the problem in the face instead of hiding behind cigarettes and alcohol. You really need to get a good look at your enemy in order to defeat him.

I hope you do decide to quit. It will not only help you mentally in the long run, but definitely physically. I am a much healthier person now than I was while I was drinking and smoking.

Another one you didn't mention, but I think is one of the worst antogonists of anxiety is caffeine! If you drink coffee or Coke at all , you should quit asap. Caffeine is a stimulant and directly causes anxiety. The more you drink the more anxious you get. It is also the easiest of the three to quit. You will have a headache that will probably really suck for about week and then you will be done. Just keep some Advil handy. I quit the caffeine way earlier and the alcohol and cigs about 2 years ago. Just and FYI Sprite and Rootbeer traditionally are caffeine free, so if you like either of the two it is a great substitute for the Coke or Pepsi that you may have originally drank. Make sure you read the can though, some rootbeers and some lemon lime drinks do contain caffeine.

Good luck,
OE