Originally Posted by
Tommy0311 
Hi all, i'm experiencing what i hope is the result of PAWS. I quit drinking towards the beginning of Dec 2017. When i did, i had all kinds of weird physical oddities (all of which were cleared by my doc and Neurologist). In the past five months i've relapsed three times.
While most of the physical symptoms have subsided, my mental state has been a wreck. The worst of those symptoms is derealization/depersonalization. Along with that, i also have terrible bouts of anxiety, obsessive thoughts, and hypochondria. At times i really feel like i'm going crazy. I'm currently seeking mental health treatment and they have me on an SSRI, but they don't seem to know much about PAWS.
Can relapse start the brain healing process all over again? Have any of you experienced this condition and how long did it take for you to heal from the mental side effects?
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
Bearing in mind that PAWS had not been invented when I recovered, I could relate to what you describe as what happened to me when I tried to stay sober without doing anything to treat my alcholism. I lasted several months but was completely miserable at the end of it, couldn't get out of bed, was living, as the nurse described in his report "in absolute squalor"
I ended up going back to my old solution, alcohol. When I had been beaten up a bit more, I went to AA, and those idiots told me I had been a dry drunk, i.e suffering the normal consequences of untreated alcoholism. Being fairly well stupified my self by this time I chose to accept what they said, and follow some suggestions they made.
That resulted in me making a full recovery and I did not have any of the after effects you are describing. The solution to the whole problem was much simpler than I thought it would be, and I can't understand why I resisted for so long.