PhaseTwo

I'm coming up on 7 months sober and I have periods of feeling great interspersed with feelings of anxiety. It's not stress so could this be PAWS? And is there a non addictive treatment for this I obviously don't think Xanax is a good idea.

bigsombrero

I suffered from extreme highs and lows in my first year, and have only recently begun to level off at 1.5 years sober. For me, I had thought about running to a doctor for xanax, but decided to power through and just deal with it. It was really hard, but looking back there were only a few bad days. The solution is basically to give yourself an exit plan for most situations, and keep close to a safe place where you can relax comfortably when anxiety hits. Get plenty of sleep, take it easy on the coffee. Another thing that helped me was buying Vitamin B12 complex vitamins from the local drug store.

I think you need to remember not to push yourself. 7 months sober doesn't mean you're completely healed. You are still in recovery, and will be feeling "hot-and-cold", if you're like me, for a long time. Again, I stayed away from benzos or addictive pills because I would probably use them inappropriately. I know myself too well.

That said, obviously you need to consult your doctor for any medication options, etc.

Nighthawk8820

The highs and lows in that first 2 years of recovery are a rollercoaster, but all you can do is educate yourself on PAWS and ride it out. It wont last forever. Its unfortunate, but the anxiety isnt as bad as when you were hungover, right? This too shall pass, have faith in that.

PhaseTwo

No the anxiety isn't as bad as I was hungover, only thing is I used to drink to make it go away. When I wrote this earlier I felt on the verge of a panic attack but I ate a big sub took a nap and I'm good now. Yeah big sombrero I'm probably just gonna end up powering through this too because I bet I would over indulge medication I would get.