# Alcohol & Cigarettes...cause or relief?



## GoldenGirl69 (Dec 7, 2007)

Hi everyone! This is my first post and I am so glad I have found this site because I hope someone can help me and I could possibly be of help to others too. I am nowhere near cured. I have worn out therapists, doctors, medications. Its so hard for me to even get to a one hour session with a therapist that I just gave up. But to my point....

I drink alcohol (probably 5-6 beers a night) because when I am drunk I feel so much better and have some relief from my dp. I also smoke about a pack an a half a day and have for 3 years now? I am 21 years old and was wondering if the cigs could have made my dp worse or if anyone else smokes and drinks religiously.

The day after hangover is the worst because my dp is 10 times worse but then I pop my xanax (which I am out of right now :twisted: ) and try to get out and at least run an errand. I am also on 20 mg of lexapro which I am trying to ween off because it doesnt seem to be helping and Ive gained 20 pounds.

Please help!


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## John_EU (Dec 2, 2007)

I drink beer mostly every friday. But now when i have DP/DR, I cannot hold my drink. Yes, all night long im fine, but next day im in bad frame of mind. So, alcohol with DP/DR is good, but only sometimes, for me... 

And alcohol with medicament is not very good thing. Alcohol ease the pain, but only moment...


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## qqeyes (Dec 30, 2007)

Hi,

This is also my first post. I'm not sure if I have DP/DR disorder, but in the past few months of combing the internet in an attempt to diagnose myself I feel like the symptoms fit me in many ways.

I started drinking a few months before my 18th birthday, and smoked my first cigarette on my 18th birthday from which on I smoke 1-2 packs a day, depending on how anxious/bothered I feel during each individual day.

Drinking always offers immediate relief. Being inebriated is the only relief I have during social situations. When drunk and around other drunk people I feel as though I am actually in a crowd among other human beings rather than feeling like I'm playing a video game. However, I often quickly become extremely paranoid of my surroundings and the people around me (especially in situations like leaving to use the restroom or going out to have a cigarette, in which cases I feel like my friends are taking the opportunity of me being gone in which to talk about me) and need to leave to go home. This often leads me to driving while extremely intoxicated, which I know is very dangerous, but always seeming preferable to having a panic attack in front of my friends.

Cigarettes are always like a pacifier for me. Something to suck on when I feel especially detached or anxious. The nicotine used to hype me up a little bit, but in the past year or so I no longer feel any effects from nicotine, caffeine, cocaine, or any other kind of upper. I don't know if this is relative to the advancement of my condition or increased tolerance from long-term use.

In conclusion; although alcohol serves me as a temporary relief in some occasions and a required social lubricant, it often serves to make me feel more detached from reality during the hours between drinking binges. I can't say for sure, but I am fairly certain that at least in my case alcohol only exasperates my condition. Cigarettes, on the other hand, I can go days without if I am low on money or feeling too anxious or detached to leave the house. I feel that for me smoking is neither helpful nor detrimental to my DP/DR.

I hope that is helpful.

p.s. I couldn't dream of entering social situations without a pack of cigarettes. A cigarette provides a good 5 minutes of precious alone-time, which I need in social situations, without people wondering where I've gone to or what I'm doing.

edit: I'm also 21, as of a month ago.


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