OddOneIn

No I do not. What tekink says is true for opiate users. For alcoholics, alcohol blocks one's ability to absorb and utilize certain nutrients which your brain and body need in order function properly.

This article explains it

https://www.texinstitute.com/wordpre...0_Friedman.pdf

stillpooh19

Not AT ALL! I don't know a person who could think up the symptoms that occur in PAWS. In fact, when it hits, its so devastating to even accept that the brain and body could possibly be causing such havoc. I know for me, and probably for the millions of others who go through PAWS, it's just unbelievable. Sadly, many health professionals are unaware of PAWS and attribute symptoms to a mental illness. As a mental health professional, I can say I was not aware of PAWS until now. This experience has taught me first hand that PAWS is real and may be what keeps addicts in addiction. It's sorta like trying to explain to a man what it feels like to have a baby; he will never understand because the feeling is indescribably painful. Plus alcohol is not the only substance that causes PAWS, withdrawal from other substances produce similar symptoms, especially benzos.

stillpooh19

Send him a PM. He was VERY gracious in responding to me. Last I heard, he was steadily improving.

ttamelbon

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for keeping this thread alive. It must mean that some people need it, and I'm thankful for that.

I've had a PM or two and another poster seemed interested to know how I'm progressing.

The short answer is that I'm doing well. The longer answer is that I still have symptoms at least once a month and often more frequently, but they are usually forgiving and manageable.

I used to be the type of person that worked the extra hours and slept less, and almost never called in sick. Then PAWS made me the opposite of those things: days spent in bed, absentee calls to work, not fulfilling my family responsibilities, etc. I felt terminally ill, and without the support system I have, I might have been suicidal: can't deal with drinking, can't deal with the withdrawal. Thankfully I had someone to pick up the slack. I couldn't be luckier in that way.

I'm almost back to being that person I was before. I can come in on a Saturday and make some extra money, or do my side job (tutoring and voiceover work), and still pick up the kids and cook dinner. I'm no longer deflated and flattened by the end of the day with cinder blocks for feet. But it ain't gone yet.

About ten days ago, it started as it always does with a twinge in my right eyelid. It's not a spasm as much as it's a full eyelid cramp where it clenches at half mast and refuses to move. It looks like I've had a stroke. And then the usual suspects show up: nausea, pain and spasming through my whole digestive tract, fear that I've been poisoned, anxiety, photophobia, stronger smells, louder sounds (hyperacusis), bad dreams of using, sleep disturbances, aggression, and cognitive deficits.

Nowadays, these symptoms rarely come in combination, but that last bout was almost the whole lot. It sucked, but I only missed one class of teaching, and I could still scrape through my responsibilities. I still felt like I was dying, but I felt like I was dying a lot less than before.

Nowadays, I can put my symptoms in perspective. A year ago, every bout of PAWS used to be new, unfamiliar, and was an emergency. PAWS is a strange bedfellow that I've grown accustomed to, who's now snoring and hogging the blanket less and less. I sometimes don't even notice he's there.

Anyway, thanks to anybody interested in my condition, and good luck to anybody stumbling upon this in early recovery or otherwise. I see these responses and I wonder about a PAWS youtube channel or a blog to fill the void. I'm pretty busy, but it's an idea I kick around from time to time. Let me know what you think.

Cheers,


Matt

redmerc

Sounds a good idea Matt.

Im at 13 months a lot better but still having like one or two days a week anxious/fuzzy/twitchy fatigued after the day, im not sure how much more I can go on like it, I'm considering the SSRI route.

Hows everyone else fairing?

August252015

Thank you for describing your situation and experience in just this way. This is exactly what I have been going through the past few weeks- the last couple of 8- and am just now into 9. I have noticed frequent forgetfulness of immediate things (did I take that pill a few minutes ago? what was I coming to the kitchen for? Absolutely can't remember and have to make educated guesses!), sudden irrational behavior and p*ssy mood, ice cream craving (and eating) every day (including the middle of the night), indecisiveness, and definitely "recovery fatigue."

Hopefully my experience will follow a similar trajectory- I have seen ebbs and flows already- and I'll with progress out of these here in the next little while. I am doing my best to stick close to my (AA) program which is detailed and deep, and just keep going. Rewards to follow (and to which I need to acknowledge as ones there right now despite the symptoms I have).

Thanks again.

ramennoodles

I just crossed over the 1-year sober mark a few days ago. Things definitely do get better as time passes, but I know I'm not 100% yet. Here's where I am now:

- My restless legs are completely better now.

- My insomnia has returned to baseline. (I had some insomnia before I quit drinking)

- My depression has mostly cleared up. I got so depressed for a while that I pretty much had no interest in things I used to enjoy. Like...nothing. I was just down in the dumps all the time. My depression is much better and I find myself thinking about hobbies/interests again.

- My anxiety has cleared up a lot, but I'm still having some problems with it. I had to have a family member cut my hair a few days ago because I'm afraid of having an anxiety attack in the barber's chair (which has happened twice already).

I guess I'm actually doing fairly well with the exception of the anxiety. But I'm feeling optimistic that it will continue to get better as time passes.

Madnellie

Great thread! I'm at just over 7 months sober now at around the 6 month mark what I now know to be PAWS hit me really hard. I had a rough time for the first month or so and a few difficulties and bad days for the first 6 months but almost immediately after I picked up my 6 month chip I felt like I'd been blindsided by a truck, and it's not improved much since. I talked to others about this and although there is very little written about it and no one seems to talk about it much in meetings apparently it is very common. My therapist was quick to reassure me that what I'm feeling is just a part of the recovery process, and that it will pass. That made sense to me since my brain is used to functioning with alcohol it has no idea how to work properly without it yet, and it takes time for new behaviours and habits to form.
Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this thread (and the forum in general) it's good to know I'm not alone and that we will all make it though and out the other side

stillpooh19

Matt,

PLEASE do a youtube channel! There are so many people who can benefit from your information. I looked for help on youtube but many of the videos were about withdrawals from other substances or people who are cross addicted. Because PAWS is not talked about nearly enough, it would really help others who are trying to figure out what the heck is going on! Thanks!

KiwiJack

Great post, great thread, great feedback. I'm just 10 days into this but feel the same way you do ttamelbon. Your post is a bullseye for me. PAWS or whatever name people want to put on it, appears to be part of my life, at least for now. I have no desire to drink, I'm fully committed to at least a 1 year break, maybe forever, maybe these PAWS like symptoms are proving to me it should be forever. I've taken several breaks before for 2-4 weeks with no issues, but now it appears to be different, perhaps it's a cumulative thing. I'm amazed how I can feel fine 1 minute, throwing up the next, and then back to normal. I'm not happy to know that could last for 3-12 months or more, but it's good to have this knowledge so I can deal with it responsibly, and it is all my responsibility. I guess we're all different so no one size fits all. I have exercise intolerance too. I think exercise is a force multiplier in terms of recovery, so if I can just get past that symptom things could get better quicker, I think. I was a marathon runner and miss running very very much. Thanks for your post, very helpful!!!

ramennoodles

I just wanted to let everyone know that I discovered a way to dramatically decrease the anxiety with PAWS -- cut all of the sugar out of your diet.

Seriously. It works.

I got the idea from a new book that came out about how bad sugar is for you. Because of what I read in this book I decided to cut sugar out of my diet for general health purposes. To my surprise, most of my PAWS anxiety cleared up within a couple of weeks of cutting the sugar. After eliminating the sugar, I'd say I'm about 90% back to normal. I still have just a little hint of anxiety here and there. That should clear up in time.

SeaOfSerenity

when you sugar what foods do you mean?

Dee74

I went no sugar in gung ho fashion and got very sick. Turns out I was hypoglycemic.

If you're like I was with a high sugar diet full of crap foods I suggest, based on my experience that seeing a Dr first, or at least stepping down the sugar over a period of time is a better way to do it.

Andante

In the course of my lengthy bout with symptoms I attributed to PAWS, I tried every dietary permutation possible, including no sugar. Nothing had any significant or lasting effect on the frequency or intensity of PAWS symptoms. I'm glad you found something that works FOR YOU.

ramennoodles

Yes, it has worked very well for me. I didn't even know it would help my PAWS when I cut the sugar. It just did.

Strength37

Hello D. I found his post absolutely helpful to me as I am dealing with PAWS symptoms myself. These last two months have been very hard for me, 4 months
and two weeks sober. You don't speak
for all of us D. This post has really given me hope to know I'm not going crazy and alone at this point. I think your criticism belongs elsewhere.
QUOTE4 felt 'woefully inadequate' was a bit unfair, to be honest.

If you don't want to be misunderstood, less emotive phrases might serve you better.


My point was - we can only share our experience.

D[/QUOTE]

stillpooh19

This post is the ONE thing that helped me through the worst PAWS symptoms EVER. I did not think I would make it through the symptoms I was experiencing. Now, a year later, I can smile! I am on the other side of all the physical and mental withdrawal symptoms. I have occasional waves of PAWS, but I know what it is and it usually departs as quickly as it came. The only thing I can honestly say that helped was TIME. Each day it got a little better. Some days I could barely get out of bed, then other days I felt recovered only to be hit with the symptoms again. I read this post at least a hundred times and each time it gave me the strength to hold on. At almost 18 months sober, I feel about 95% well. No cravings, no desire to drink. So for every one who reads this and experienced PAWS, just hold on, healing does happen. You, too, will make it through!

Doug39

This is also my experience with PAWS.

Tomorrow I will be 8 months sober and I feel normal 90% of the time. Any lingering PAWS symptoms are sometimes around first thing in the mornings but as the day goes on I feel better.

As for sugar, I was eating a lot of sweets in my early months of sobriety and I believe it made me feel worse. I turned to a healthier diet about a month ago - I feel better and have lost 12 pounds.

Now I am drinking a little too much coffee though. It seems I always have to be addicted to something!!

stillpooh19

Doug,

Morning are STILL my roughest time of day but once I get going, things get better and better! I , too, have recently developed a caffeine habit. Soooo, I have decided to become a tea connoisseur! This time last year I didn't think I was gonna make it, but today I am just fine, alcohol free and living life. I really try to encourage people in recovery to hold on, healing does happen.

ThatWasTheOldMe

Just remember what it felt like to not be able to stop drinking for fear of withdrawals.

Choking down alcohol and trying not to puke it right back up because you HAVE TO is not fun.

I feel for those suffering with PAWS. Being in very early sobriety, I just wanted to remind people what it's like. It's fresh in my mind.