am i experiencing mild withdrawal symptoms everytime i drink?

[10001110101]

hey guys...

i used to love alcohol, would say it was DOC from 21-24. i remember i used to drink a 6-pack a night and would get blackout drunk on weekends, which seemed typical college binge drinking to me.

now back then (6-pack a night) i'd notice that if i stopped drinking, two days after my last drink i'd have this incredibly powerful insomnia, it wasn't anxiety per se, but just a tense wide awake feeling that was unstoppable by any otc means (benadryl, melatonin, 5-htp, good sleep hygiene).

after about 4-5 days i'd notice that i'd start sleeping again and that the tense, wired, robotic feeling would fade away and i'd get a rush of emotion and "life" (read, warm fuzzy emotions) and be able to sleep again. i would also notice hand tremors, and weakness and shakiness upon physical exertion. paleness, muscle cramps

since then i've had intermittent insomnia problems due to a variety of reasons, i had a script for ambien which is stopped taking because of night terrors and side effects when i wouldn't take it. (this was about 1 yr ago)

since about a yr ago swim started using cannabis more and alcohol less and less, and found that life was better in general the longer he went w/o a drink, in the sense that he felt stronger, more alive, calmer and warmer in an emotional sense.

then swim went back to school and had to cut back on his cannabis use to focus more. so he gradually just got more sober and it was more or less great once he got used to it. but by this point he was starting to become socially isolated b/c of his sobriety.

so in order just to kick back and be able to hang out with people and not get weird looks when he refused a drink or two, he started having a few beers on a fri or sat night. (this was after about 30-40 days completely alcohol free, with only a few beers total consumed in the 3 months previous to that point, at which point he was sleeping great and felt more or less invincible, but socially a bit lonely)

so for the past three weeks he's been drinking on the weekends, and this last weekend he had about 3 beers and maybe 2 shots and was floored of course. then before he even fell asleep he started getting that wired feeling again. it's almost like a numb ADHD feeling, he feels constantly distracted and anxious, but not in a fear way (a la panic attack), more like just a constantly annoyed/tense way. his thought patterns become compulsive and he feels like he can't keep his head straight, loses all motivation towards his goals, it isn't obvious to anyone around him and they always tell him he's just making it up, but it's consistent, reliable and real if not somewhat subtle. it's the oddest thing yet on the planet to swim.

he also notices that even low doses of xanax cause rebound anxiety shortly after use.

so WTF is up? swim hardly drink enough to constitute w/d's but he does have a strong history and pattern of alcoholism in his family.

he'd just like to be able to have a few beers (get buzzed) and have fun with other humans without having to feel like he's detoxing for the next work-week.

this is really frustrating, i know this is a long post but if someone who knows a lot about alcohol addiction can help me out please take the time to really thoroughly read this.

+rep to anyone who does.

[snapper]

Yes these are withdrawals. alcohol is in part a gaba agonist, and the withdrawals you describe are characteristic of gaba agonists (some others included are xanax and friends, GHB and barbituates to name a few). These all have a rebound effect which starts as soon as they wear off when used regularly. SWIM has suffered withdrawals from all of the above and they all were similar with severe anxiety, insomnia, hypertension, a horrible oversensory, electrocution feeling, seiures, delusions, paranoia and obviously decreased interest and ability to be social. Once someone is sensitied to these withdrwl effects, they occur much more rapidly. SWIM feels them after taking a valium or xanax or night of hevy drinking. Note that also part of the effects of a hangover are considered withdrawal symptoms.
SWIM would recommend being very careful since it sounds like SWIY is already sensitive to these symptoms.

[rhcpeppers1234]

Swim knows exactly what swiy feels like. Swim stopped drinking for a good 4 months then went back to college for a while and started going out drinking only because that was the ONLY thing to do. Swim would get wasted off of like 6 beers, come home, and not be able to sleep. Swim doesnt know if he can help swiy with this but sometimes it helps to know someone is going thru what swiy is going thru. Swims only advice, and im sure swiy doesnt want to hear it, would be to stop drinking completely. Or maybe not drinkin more than 2 drinks when swiy goes out.

Good luck!