Paws??
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Join Date: Jul 2007
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Paws??
my husband works at a drug and alcohol rehab center, but he cant usually help me, (too close to the flame he says) anywho, i was wondering what anyone knows about PAWS,? he told me what it stands for, post, something, withdrawel syndrom??? so does anyone agree with this? and might this be why i am craving at 13 mo.??
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Post Acute Withdrawl Syndrome.
Okay, you're craving after 13 months... and now there's a fancy term for it.
No offense, and all joking aside - does it make your situation any different in any way?
Congrats on your 13 months! Keep doing whatever it is you are doing to stay clean/sober, and, continue to seek new ways and means to stay clean/sober.
Okay, you're craving after 13 months... and now there's a fancy term for it.
No offense, and all joking aside - does it make your situation any different in any way?
Congrats on your 13 months! Keep doing whatever it is you are doing to stay clean/sober, and, continue to seek new ways and means to stay clean/sober.
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,243
Hi,
I really do not know much about it other than what I have read and it seemed that I had a lot of the symptoms in my recovery. Actually my toughest time has been just after getting a year. I got extremely depressed and could not get myself out of it for a couple of months. I was so distracted that I literally seemed to be going around in circles. I had to work really hard to get myself out of it by changing my entire routine. I focused on gratitude and positive thinking. It passed in a couple of months.
Oddly enough I literally have never had cravings or desires for alcohol but negative thinking can be so destructive.
And I just hit 18 months but everything seems fine. Phew!
I really do not know much about it other than what I have read and it seemed that I had a lot of the symptoms in my recovery. Actually my toughest time has been just after getting a year. I got extremely depressed and could not get myself out of it for a couple of months. I was so distracted that I literally seemed to be going around in circles. I had to work really hard to get myself out of it by changing my entire routine. I focused on gratitude and positive thinking. It passed in a couple of months.
Oddly enough I literally have never had cravings or desires for alcohol but negative thinking can be so destructive.
And I just hit 18 months but everything seems fine. Phew!
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 320
Originally Posted by tommyk 
Post Acute Withdrawl Syndrome.
Okay, you're craving after 13 months... and now there's a fancy term for it.
No offense, and all joking aside - does it make your situation any different in any way?
Congrats on your 13 months! Keep doing whatever it is you are doing to stay clean/sober, and, continue to seek new ways and means to stay clean/sober.
Okay, you're craving after 13 months... and now there's a fancy term for it.
No offense, and all joking aside - does it make your situation any different in any way?
Congrats on your 13 months! Keep doing whatever it is you are doing to stay clean/sober, and, continue to seek new ways and means to stay clean/sober.
problem with authority
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 870
Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome.
The way it was explained to me, after the "initial" withdrawal from alcohol (the one that can kill you from seizures, etc.), the body/brain begins to heal, which can take awhile.
It was pointed out to me that your body takes 90 days to make a new brain cell. So, once your brain realizes that it's no longer being pummeled by a depressant on a regular basis, it starts to change - to heal and to form new pathways and to arrive at a new equilibrium. And, sort of like a wound, it "itches". There are also physical issues.
For me it was mood and blood sugar issues during my first year - fatigue, sudden bouts of horrendous depression or anxiety, hopelessness. A general inability to take on very much, other than going to meetings, going to work, and getting my laundry done.
All this time I was extremely active in A.A. and was doing step work with my sponsor. I finished the steps at around 6-7 months. I have almost always had some sort of A.A. commitment - whether it was making coffee, chairing a meeting, or serving as treasurer of a group.
For me, it wasn't so much a "craving" (a craving is what happens when you put alcohol into your body) as much as an inability to visualize life without alcohol - or with it. The book calls it "the jumping off" spot. This is where faith in a higher power carried me through. If I had based my actions on my current mood, I never would have moved forward with the suggested actions. But I saw you people doing it, and so I kept going.
Today I find that, when I am confronted with a situation, I need to reach a sort of desperation point with it. Doing the inventory work doesn't always lead to instant results. I need to arrive at the point where I can't live with the problem yet I can't seem to solve it myself.
I hope this makes some sense. It does to me today.
The way it was explained to me, after the "initial" withdrawal from alcohol (the one that can kill you from seizures, etc.), the body/brain begins to heal, which can take awhile.
It was pointed out to me that your body takes 90 days to make a new brain cell. So, once your brain realizes that it's no longer being pummeled by a depressant on a regular basis, it starts to change - to heal and to form new pathways and to arrive at a new equilibrium. And, sort of like a wound, it "itches". There are also physical issues.
For me it was mood and blood sugar issues during my first year - fatigue, sudden bouts of horrendous depression or anxiety, hopelessness. A general inability to take on very much, other than going to meetings, going to work, and getting my laundry done.
All this time I was extremely active in A.A. and was doing step work with my sponsor. I finished the steps at around 6-7 months. I have almost always had some sort of A.A. commitment - whether it was making coffee, chairing a meeting, or serving as treasurer of a group.
For me, it wasn't so much a "craving" (a craving is what happens when you put alcohol into your body) as much as an inability to visualize life without alcohol - or with it. The book calls it "the jumping off" spot. This is where faith in a higher power carried me through. If I had based my actions on my current mood, I never would have moved forward with the suggested actions. But I saw you people doing it, and so I kept going.
Today I find that, when I am confronted with a situation, I need to reach a sort of desperation point with it. Doing the inventory work doesn't always lead to instant results. I need to arrive at the point where I can't live with the problem yet I can't seem to solve it myself.
I hope this makes some sense. It does to me today.
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 88
I think there is a difference between "craving" and "obsessing."
In rehab they teach you that "craving" is the physical reaction your body has during detox. Once the detox is complete, the "physical craving" is technically over.
Then comes the worst part: the mental obsession of wanting to drink. I experience this every day. I know people that have been sober for 10 years and still obsess about drinking, yet their bodies do not crave it.
Obsession is your mind wanting to drink. Too often, what the mind wants, the mind gets.
This video of Craig Ferguson of the CBS's Late Late Show talks about this in the linked monologue. Watch the entire video if you can. He talks about his obsession with alcohol after 14 years sober.
As he says: "I don't have a drinking problem; I have a thinking problem."
YouTube - Ferguson Speaks From The Heart
In rehab they teach you that "craving" is the physical reaction your body has during detox. Once the detox is complete, the "physical craving" is technically over.
Then comes the worst part: the mental obsession of wanting to drink. I experience this every day. I know people that have been sober for 10 years and still obsess about drinking, yet their bodies do not crave it.
Obsession is your mind wanting to drink. Too often, what the mind wants, the mind gets.
This video of Craig Ferguson of the CBS's Late Late Show talks about this in the linked monologue. Watch the entire video if you can. He talks about his obsession with alcohol after 14 years sober.
As he says: "I don't have a drinking problem; I have a thinking problem."
YouTube - Ferguson Speaks From The Heart
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Southern Colorado
Posts: 1,167
That's how I understand it too. In fact, it's my experience.
But... there are a few people who describe what Crzy is saying and also what Dr Bob said. It's not my experience, so how can I argue it? Maybe there is something going on in their brain or perception that's different from most.
In any case, Dr Bob got over it... in 2.5 years! Hopefully Crzy will get through it in less. If ever there was something that could help, I wish others in her with that same thing can speak up here. Maybe looking at nuitrion and stuff... like hypoglycemia and stuff.
What do you all think of Under The Influence ( in the sticky link above ^) and some of the teachings in that book about nutrition and stuff? Any ES&H with it?
But... there are a few people who describe what Crzy is saying and also what Dr Bob said. It's not my experience, so how can I argue it? Maybe there is something going on in their brain or perception that's different from most.
In any case, Dr Bob got over it... in 2.5 years! Hopefully Crzy will get through it in less. If ever there was something that could help, I wish others in her with that same thing can speak up here. Maybe looking at nuitrion and stuff... like hypoglycemia and stuff.
What do you all think of Under The Influence ( in the sticky link above ^) and some of the teachings in that book about nutrition and stuff? Any ES&H with it?
Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 26,425
I have diabedics, and had pancreatitis from drinking. It took more than a year for my body to heal I think...it seems that way...
I associate craving with what happens after i drink..the physical change but...
I am 21 mos sober, and i still occationally have the thought of drinking pop up in my head to the extent that i can't let it go....??? obssession i guess...
Sometimes the thought pops up and floats away no bother at all...
I associate the obsessive compulsion for alchohol that strikes me as something that happens because i do not see the insanity of my thinking returning until i am too far into it to easliy get out. There is a process that precedes the obsession to drink for me.
Working the steps, talking with other alchoholics and being honest with my self and others to the best of my ability will keep me from the obsession...but...being human i don't always manage that perfection...but i haven't drank over it yet (hug)
I associate craving with what happens after i drink..the physical change but...
I am 21 mos sober, and i still occationally have the thought of drinking pop up in my head to the extent that i can't let it go....??? obssession i guess...
Sometimes the thought pops up and floats away no bother at all...
I associate the obsessive compulsion for alchohol that strikes me as something that happens because i do not see the insanity of my thinking returning until i am too far into it to easliy get out. There is a process that precedes the obsession to drink for me.
Working the steps, talking with other alchoholics and being honest with my self and others to the best of my ability will keep me from the obsession...but...being human i don't always manage that perfection...but i haven't drank over it yet (hug)
Thriving sober since 12/18/08
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 3,115
Post Acute Withdrawl - Relapse Prevention Specialists - TLC The Living Center
That's in one of the stickies "Quitting.. what to expect.. what we did" on the main "Alcoholism" page, info about PAWS.
That's in one of the stickies "Quitting.. what to expect.. what we did" on the main "Alcoholism" page, info about PAWS.
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 88
McGowdog -- "Under the Influence" is my favorite book on alcoholism.
BTW, you seem to know a lot about the history of AA. Didn't Dr. Bob relapse before he died? Or was is Ebby from the Oxford Group? I know one of the two relapsed and never recovered prior to their passing. I think it was Dr. Bob.
Anyway, if it was Dr. Bob, it would further explain this thread.
BTW, you seem to know a lot about the history of AA. Didn't Dr. Bob relapse before he died? Or was is Ebby from the Oxford Group? I know one of the two relapsed and never recovered prior to their passing. I think it was Dr. Bob.
Anyway, if it was Dr. Bob, it would further explain this thread.
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