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How do you know what to accuse drinking if of?

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Old 06-29-2015, 07:49 PM
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How do you know what to accuse drinking if of?

For me it's easy to know when the withdrawals give away and etc since they are extreme. But I've seen some people talk about concentration problems months after stopping or sleep problems or anxiety. I think many of these problems can happen regardless, it's just difficult to understand how since it's been so long with drinking
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Old 06-29-2015, 08:52 PM
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Post-acute withdrawal can go on for two years, Post-Acute Withdrawal Symptoms - Relapse Prevention Strategies So once you're through acute withdrawal and you stop shaking and sweating and vomiting and being unable to walk or sleep (in some of the bad cases), you have a new set of post-acute withdrawal issues to deal with. It all gets better and better and eventually goes away.
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Old 06-29-2015, 08:57 PM
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But I mean like, people without ever drinking have anxiety, trouble sleeping etc. Aren't most chances that they are unrelated? Basically I'm saying all PAWS symptoms can be acquired by a non drinker as well. How do I know after a few months sobriety that I'm not just lazy instead of "tired all the time"
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Old 06-29-2015, 09:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Jaxsyer84 View Post
How do I know after a few months sobriety that I'm not just lazy instead of "tired all the time"
Have you ever had a few months sobriety to find out? Why not do an experiment and see?
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Old 06-29-2015, 09:43 PM
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I look back at my 8 years sober and there's a definite trajectory of improvement, Jaxsyer84.

It would be foolish of me not to acknowledge that alcohol played a part in how awful I felt 8 years ago.

It took a long time sober for me to get to a point where I felt 'normal' and good again.

The possibility of that being a coincidence unrelated to alcohol is pretty remote....

It would be unwise too I think to say that the improvements in me since I stopped drinking would have happened anyway.

D
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Old 06-30-2015, 04:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Jaxsyer84 View Post
But I mean like, people without ever drinking have anxiety, trouble sleeping etc. Aren't most chances that they are unrelated? Basically I'm saying all PAWS symptoms can be acquired by a non drinker as well. How do I know after a few months sobriety that I'm not just lazy instead of "tired all the time"
PAWS are symptoms of Post Acute Withdrawl from alcohol. People that don't drink don't acquire them. There are symptoms of PAWS that are also symptoms of other mental and emotional disorders/ problems.

My car was running rough. I needed to replace the plugs and wires.
My friends car was running rough. He needed a new fuel pump.
My nephews truck was running rough. He needed new cap and rotor.
Same symptoms. Different repairs. Same results,too. Smooth running vehicles afterwards.
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Old 06-30-2015, 04:55 AM
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The rehab I attended said it can even be about one month for every year we drank, so for me, about 3 years.....

At 4 years, my memory is not great, but it could also be age......
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Old 06-30-2015, 04:56 AM
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That's exactly my point actually. How do people know it's a symptom of PAWS, and if they don't, how will they repair it. If I'm depressed after stopping drinking, how do I know it'll just get better eventually or that my depression stems from another place?
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Old 06-30-2015, 05:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Jaxsyer84 View Post
If I'm depressed after stopping drinking, how do I know it'll just get better eventually or that my depression stems from another place?
You won't know until you stop drinking. If your depression continues then you see a therapist.
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Old 06-30-2015, 05:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Jaxsyer84 View Post
That's exactly my point actually. How do people know it's a symptom of PAWS, and if they don't, how will they repair it. If I'm depressed after stopping drinking, how do I know it'll just get better eventually or that my depression stems from another place?
There were many,many things caused by alcohol, which is a depressant.
I was sober a year and working on me before seeing a doctor and learning about depression.
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Old 06-30-2015, 08:48 AM
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My experience with PAWS were definitely symptoms that were not something I would have experienced otherwise. I had terrible memory issues, aphasia, and I would zone out frequently. The last was so bad I almost gave up driving when I had to many close calls.

If you are suffering from anxiety, depression, or insomnia I definitely recommend seeing your doctor to get help for those symptoms. You can always wean off of them in a year or two.
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Old 07-02-2015, 09:56 AM
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See a doctor if you're concerned. Guessing as to whether or not alcohol is the cause won't resolve the issues. But drinking certainly isn't going to improve anything.
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Old 07-04-2015, 12:26 AM
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I've always heard that to figure out what is causing something, you eliminate possible causes. I tried every possible which, way, and how to feel better to protect my drinking and deny that drinking was causing my daily headaches, inability to concentrate, lethargy, irritability, unease, depression, and feelings of doom.

Some of my remedies were always carrying a water bottle and drinking lots of water every day, fish oil, multivitamins, calcium (I read that alcoholics are often lacking calcium). I also tried eating vegetables, drinking V8 juice every day, eating breakfast, and going to gym to get rid of hangovers.

Guess what? Nothing worked. The alcohol was the cause of all of my health problems. That made it easy though to solve all my problems. I could have sat on the couch eating candy all day and drinking soda SOBER and have felt 99% better than when I was drinking.

When people come on here and ask about vitamin supplements or whatever to feel better, I always want to tell them that vitamins are great, but the alcohol has to go away completely. That takes away 99 percent of the problems and the vitamins help maybe 1 percent. These are just my very unscientific observations, but they are based on my own experiment with myself.
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