Jacob

I call foul!

I made it thru detox and the pink cloud... YAYYY! ... then the PAWS set in. Nobody told me about PAWS!

- Inability to make decisions
- Memory and learning problems
- Insomnia
- Total lack of motivation
- Worst of all: Unknown timeline for recovery

Is there somewhere in this forum where people are discussing PAWS and ways of managing the symptoms?

I've been clean for about four months and right now actually I feel pretty good... but I read that PAWS comes in waves and I'm pretty sure it will be back. Thanks in advance!

jazz66

If there is i carnt find it jacob'
10 monthes out of detox and still getting all the symtoms you listed
the insomnia has got a lot better same with the motivation
but decision making and memory learning problems are still hitting me hard from time to time.
if you do find somewhere were this is being discussed please let me now.

Dee74

There's many threads on PAWs Jacob - particularly in the Alcoholism and Newcomers forums

If you haven't read this, this is a good round up on the whole thing
Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) — Why we don’t get better immediately) Digital Dharma

D

snowman76

Very good article Dee, thanks for sharing.

SugarScars

I made it almost four months off of suboxone before I used oxycodone again ... exercise is the only thing that ever helped me to deal with the physical effects of withdrawal and PAWS.

I highly recommend taking up an exercise regimen if you haven't done so already.

Now, back to taking my own advice ....

But really, it works.

how much were you using before you quit cold turkey?

if you didn't taper low enough, then PAWS will be brutal. the first time i quit using, i went to rehab where they didn't believe in methadone/suboxone. i quit using at one to two bags of pretty clean H a day. I became sick as a dog and my brain didn't work for over a year.

i recommend a sloooooooow taper. gives your brain time to heal before you jump.

good luck!

Jacob

At my highest dose I was probably doing 100-200 mg a day.

I've quit three times:

The first time I tapered by switching to Vicodin for three weeks then quitting cold turkey, it was actually pretty easy.

The second time I tapered using [black market] suboxone-- that stuff really works! I didn't even notice when I stopped.

The third time I quit cold turkey-- maybe some mj to make the hours pass-- and it was really really difficult.

But it was the reality of the crappy detox that made me determined to quit for good. Every time I think about using I think about those two weeks of pure hell.

PAWS-- if I have it-- really isn't fun-- I can't even tell for sure if I have it or I'm just being a lazy piece of crap with a victim complex. Last week actually was pretty good (I'm clean 90 days) but today I'm feeling down again I hear this thing comes in waves but then again couldn't it just be mood swings?

SugarScars

It could just be mood swings, but then, mood swings are part of healing, too. It takes awhile to heal the, ahem, brain damage we've given ourselves. It really is brain damage, which is embarrassing, but if we're ever to stop self-destructing, we need to face the truth.

For me, PAWS involved serious confusion and a "foggy" feeling in my head. I was "spacey" and couldn't concentrate. I had NO sense of humor. This was also depression ... but it was induced by PAWS and just plain old-fashioned healing the cabeza.

This last time was easy. I tapered from Suboxone for a year and a half and I quit the drug with a clear mind. I didn't even have to miss much work. Heavenly.

Hope you're feeling better!

pinkgurl87

I still get cravings and stuff, and feeling depressed and stuff and it's been a year sine I've used. It's all so weird and stuff. I wonder if that feeling will ever go away.