drumstick

I am having some really bad episodes of feeling down right low and having a hard time coming out of it.

The PAWS has me a bit scared because I tend to have a nap every few days and when I wake up, I have this complete low level of energy and feelings of dispair and guilt like I did something wrong. I used to wake up from naps energized.

Also, the concentration comes and goes along with being irritable at times without and real reason for it.

After reading some content on PAWS, it seems this could drag on for 6 months to 2 years and in some cases pop up unexpected for the remainder of your life when you least expect it.

Just curious to see what others experiences have been like with PAWS symptoms during their recovery.

Thanks!

CarolD

Sorry to hear that...
Have you checked with your doctor?

I went thru early sobriety without knowing about PAWS.....
so If I had it....I sure don't know.

By the end of 2 months of AA sobreity....I was back in
physical and mental balance.

I was doing things good for me....walking daily to AA meetings
eating very healthy....drinking a lot of water...taking a
daily multi vitamin + a B complex

Hope you feel better soon...

Impurrfect

(((Drumstick))) - I'm a recovering crack addict, and though I didn't know about PAWS, like Carol, I know it took me a while to get my energy back, get past the befuddled thinking, etc.

I agree in checking with your dr. He/she may have some recommendations that would help. I threw myself into recovery, was on here all the time, and had to work 2 jobs, out of necessity. Simple things like going for a walk, listening to music I liked (had to avoid some triggering songs, at first, but not any more), going for a drive and enjoying the scenery helped. I take vitamins, when I can remember...for someone who used to pop pills like crazy, amazing that I can't remember to take the ones GOOD for me. Eating healthier, trying to set up a regular sleep schedule...all of this doesn't seem like much, but baby steps go a long way.

The feelings of despair took a while to get past, and I still have them at times, but so do people I know who have no addiction issues. Life isn't always easy, but it's way better when we're clean and sober. As time has gone one, I've realized that though I can be in the pits, one day, I'm almost always out of it within a day or two. My friends in recovery help to remind me of that.

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

Ghostly

Yeah...check with a Dr. and get a support system. I don't know if I went through PAWS. I don't know if I am going through it now. If I did, and if I am, it was (and is) better than going through getting drunk every day.

Also 2 years seems to be a lot longer than anything I've read about people going through it. Not sayin people don't though.

I hope things get better for you.

least

I'm a year sober and glad to say that PAWS isn't the bother it used to be. My brain has 'evened out' and my moods are much more stable than they were. I'd recommend checking with your doctor to see if there's a physical cause for the confusion and irritability. Other than that, just take good care of yourself; eat healthy, good exercise, enough sleep, and eventually your body and mind should smooth out and function 'normally' again.

ZZworldontheweb

Mine started at about 6 weeks sober. Feelings of despair, anhedonia, purposelessness, etc. Weeping on a couple of occasions. My doc put me on Sertraline but it didn't seem to help at all. I spent a lot of time in bed when not at work, and lost about 30 lbs from not eating. Oddly, I think all the complements I got on my weight loss helped snap me out of it! It got dramatically better at about 12 weeks, but re-surfaced for a day or so every couple of weeks until about 6 months. Not sure if it totally went away then, or if I just got good at seeing it coming, and directing my thoughts in a more productive direction. Exercise helped, treating myself to some ice cream once in a while, etc.

loveon2legs

I'm coming up to 11 months (tomorrow) and find those symptoms have lessoned quite abit.....getting proper sleep,eating well, and just taking care of your mental health has worked wonders..... hang in there it does get better

goldengirl3

What is PAWS?

Mark75

Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome. Someone will be along to post a link... or just google it.

IDK... I guess I had it... but I don't know how one wouldn't be all agitated and uncertain and confused after putting the cup down, especially after living with addiction for years. I just kinda accepted it...

My own experience was that music, especially meditation music, was very helpful when things kinda boiled over. Also, exercise was helpful too... I ride a lot of miles on my bicycle...

Whatever it was... PAWS, whatever, it got better... took me about 4-6 months.

Try what I did, it helped.

Ghostly

Dee has posted this link in the past:

PAWS « Digital Dharma

DayTrader

Yeah, I dunno drumstick..... I think it's really difficult to differentiate PAWS from the "spiritual malady" that's discussed in the AA book. From what I've read, PAWS can go away on it's own my my experience with the spiritual malady is that it just keeps getting worse until the real alcoholic goes back to drinking or starts working on and addressing the spiritual side of their recovery.

Mark75

What DayTrader mentions has relevance in my own experience...

but I did have this "noise" in my head all the time for awhile... like ringing in my ears... It didn't fit the strict definition of PAWS... if in fact there is one ... but it was seemingly organic... the spiritual work I did was of significant importance, but it didn't really start to take off until that "noise" went away...

That's was my experience, thanx DT, I was gonna mention that too, glad you did.

uncle holmes

PAWS can pop up on me at anytime in sobriety if I'm not paying attention to my recovery and/or not taking care of myself. Mine seems to come and go (intermittent paw) even after 18 years of sobriety. It will probably be that way for the rest of my life. But at one time the symptoms got worse the longer I stayed sober (degenerative paw) when I used to be a relapse prone alcoholic, even while following the AA program.

The wholistic approach that Gorski talks about in "Staying Sober" is rarely talked about in AA because his work is not AA approved. But it made sense to me and if I did not apply his methods, especially in early sobriety, I highly doubt I would have made it this long.

If a person is going to many meetings, has a spiritual experience in order to stay sober, is working the steps...but is skipping breakfast, drinking a pot of regular coffee in the morning, eating McDonald's for lunch, smoking cigarettes, not exercising, not getting much sleep...they're probably going to be very dysfunctional in recovery and have a greater chance of relapsing even though they're doing AA.

I also want to emphasise that relapse prevention planning that is in Gorski's work is not meant to take the place of AA and the 12 steps. Relapse prevention planning is meant to complement AA and the 12 steps.

ZZworldontheweb

Hmmm.. Not sure if I agree or not. I was totally OK with the spiritual aspect of AA from day one, since I was a practicing Christian previously. Yet I still had extreme feelings of despair for an interval. The fact that my feelings were SO different from my confessed worldview, and were obviously unwarranted given my rather advantaged life situation, was one of the things that made me think it was nothing but a chemical issue that would eventually subside.

I'm betting that drumstick will feel a LOT better in a few weeks.

NYCDoglvr

I didn't know what PAWS is so I just Googled it. Oh yea, I was a wreck the first six months. It was like 24 hour/day PMS in a full moon. But I promise you you get much better. People kept telling me I was detoxing and that it would pass. It sure did.

Merry Christmas

Paulos

PAWS was practically my middle name when I quit in the past, I couldn't sleep too well in the beginning but my main problem *plus I'm a hypochondriac* is also that mentally ... I felt incorrect, wrong, and felt as if I had brain damage. I still do, that's my paranoia. I hope you get better.

drumstick

Hi,

Thanks very much for all the replies and insight. I do attend AA and do stepwork, dabble in SMART recovery and practive as many of the recovery tools as I can (exercise, healthy eating, good sleep, prayer, meditation...).

I do feel better for sure and more leveled out in terms of mood, sleep, anxiety, depression but I just have these periods that I am attributing to the PAWS where there is a burst of the alcoholic brain firing on all cyclinders (like I said, it does pass) in terms of low mood, lack of motivation, gloomy outlook, inability to concentrate.

I will just try to be more aware when I am feeling this way and make sure to pick up the phone.

Thanks!

Dee74

The link Ghostly posted has some great tips for dealing with the condition - there are things we can do - it's not like we have to grit our teeth and get through it

In my experience my episodes were periodic and measured in days rather than weeks. If anyone is feeling a constant malaise I'd recommend they see a doctor.

I'm with ZZ - in my experience it was something above and beyond the 'normal' ups and downs of alcoholic insanity.

D