BlackoutFear

Hi everyone! I'm 77 days sober. I have 18 years old, probably i have ocd, i took my first sip when i was 14, when i was 15 i drank like 2 times per month for 6 months and then stopped for 1 year untill i was 16 years old, then i drank for 1 year and half almost every weekend and sometimes 3 or 4 times per week. Atleast 2 times per month i used to binge. Many times i drank alone.
This year i stopped drinking after a blackout, my brain fog started after 4 or 5 weeks sober, my ocd is much more worse now than 4 months ago.
Is it possible to have PAWS and be physical depedent to alcohol at this age?
Having memory issues, brain fog and ocd is sucks, i can't trust in my memory so its making my ocd worse.

Sorry for my english, english is not my native language.

otter

Too many variables we don't know about:

Family history
Health
Drinking history
...and about a 50 more

See a doctor. I'm not trying to be standoffish but anyone here would be guessing.

BlackoutFear

my grandfather's brother was an alcoholic, my father was a social drinker(some beer on weekends). In my mother's side no one drinks.
From january 2015 to march 2016 i can't remember a wekeend that i didn't drink. As i said, sometimes i drink a lot(half bottle of vodka), and sometimes just 3 or 4 beers.

In the last 2 months i went to 2 doctors, one thought that i have depression and anxiety, the other doctor thought that i have some kind of psychosis, but i don't have crazy delutions like schizophrenic persons, and i don't even have hallucinations, i just have a lot of paranoia. My symptoms looks more like OCD. I had some little paranoia before stopping drinking, but it was my only mental sympthom and it was much less intense than now, now i have brain fog and panic attacks

I never felt this bad before, i just want to know if anyone have this symptoms after stopping drinking, and i'm asking yours opinions if someone with my age and this short period of alcohol use can cause this damage on the brain.
I answered an AA test and i said yes for 9 questions of 12. But i don't really feel like i'm addicted to alcohol, but i have all symptoms of PAWS.

Berrybean

Well, I suppose one way of finding out if you're an alcoholic would be to try some moderate drinking and see what happens. If you're unable to moderate, and the idea of stopping fills you with fear, then chances are that will answer your question for you.

Have you read this article about PAWS? I found it very useful.
https://digital-dharma.net/post-acut...r-immediately/
To be honest, all the tips for lessening the effects of PAWS in the article are ones that would stand any of us in good stead, alcoholic or not, so you'd have nothing to lose from creating an action plan, and trying these things to see if they do help out.

There is also some useful AA leaflets specifically about young people in AA. There have been younger alcoholics in AA than yourself, so these things are definitely possible. When I look back, the signs were there for me at 18 if I'd chosen to see them. To think I could have saves myself over 20 years of ridiculousness!! Doh!
Alcoholics Anonymous Northeastern Ontario Area 84 ? Young People and AA

Berrybean

PS. On relatives that NEVER drink. It's sometimes worth asking them WHY they never drink. I asked my grandmother this, as she would never touch a drop. Apparently when she was a kid /young teen, she was sent to pick up the alcohol supply for a party (they could do that then). On the way home, in the heat of the day, she stopped and decided to take a sip to see what it was like. Several hours later her brother came to find her. She'd drunk til she passed out. He carried her home. She said she knew that was likely to happen again if she took a drink.

I was the same as her, minus the insight about it would keep happening.

Gottalife

I don't know anything about PAWS. It hadn't been invented when I recovered. I was an out of control chronic alcoholic at 18, and I didn't get sober until I was 22. So it sure is possible for someone so young to be alcholic.

What would be interesting to know is: can a non-alcoholic get PAWS?

I had to laught at the 9 out of 12. Those were the only tests I scored highly in. It probably says if you ansered yes to three or more, you are probably alcoholic. But of course, that is not the result you want.

Berrybean

I did those tests as well. Lots of different ones, hoping to find one that gave me more pleasing results. Of course they all turned out the same. And of course I hung on to the 'no' answers and huffed and puffed that everyone I knew would have said yes to the ones I said yes to. Of course, now I don't spend all my social time with Drunk people and ACTIVE alcoholics I realise that the fact that everyone I knew was like this was more indicative of the company I chose (and perhaps was left with, as who else would have put up with me?) than the ineptitude of the test or my own sanity.

Thing is, we all have different rock bottoms, and if someone can see their problem and get out sooner than later, then that truly is great. The only requirement for membership in AA is a desire to stop drinking. Those questions are just to help us consider the areas of our lives that are being affected by alcohol. Why not stop now? I suppose the other option is to keep on until your life and drinking are such that the other three are true of you as well, but why not do yourself (and anyone who cares for you) a favour, and make 9/12 your bottom?

sugarbear1

PAWS is how the medical community, those without the direct experience of being an alcoholic, explain what happens during detox/first year or so of recovery to themselves and others.

tomsteve

"Is it possible to have PAWS and be physical depedent to alcohol at this age?"

many years ago, back in my 20's, i knew aman that died from chirrosis( and i didnt even think that could happen to me).
he was 21.
i heard an as speaker once who was 42 at the time and just celebrated 28 years of sobriety.
so,imo, yes, it is posdible.

zjw

i've heard stories of peopel having simply 1 martini socially each day at about 4pm then missing it one day and having the DT's and not knowing wtf is going on. I dont think it takes much to end up with PAWS. I just think alcoholic or not your break your cycle / pattern of drinking theres going to be issues. You may or may not notice these issues or know why your having these issues so there may be many folks that have em an never even realize hey this is PAWS etc..

I didnt know it then. but at 14 I drank alcoholicly but not regularly. whenever i drank prior to the legal drinking age it was always a binge fest or i was a little too in love with my drink. It just seemed like good fun at the time. In hindsight however my god it just screamed alcoholic.

ScottFromWI

It's certainly possible BlackoutFear, but as you can probably see from the responses, PAWS is simply a collection on symptoms common to people after withdrawal. There is no medical or psychological "diagnoses" of PAWS. And there is no common "cure" other than dealing with the symptoms themselves and letting them pass or treating them if they become problematic.

Memory loss/brain "fog" is a common issue for weeks, sometimes even months after quitting, but again - if you feel it's an issue that concerns you please see a doctor.

Andante

I'm not sure why it matters whether or not it's possible for you to have PAWS. If you think alcohol abuse could be responsible in any way for your memory and brain fog symptoms, then the simple answer is to stop drinking.

Db1105

I too sobered up before PAWS. My last drink was one month short of my 18th birthday back in 1977. My withdraw from alcohol was several moths before when I came out of a blackout with my legs on fire and spent some time in at the hospital. The week after getting out of the hospital I went back to court for other alcohol related crimes and found myself in rehab, after that a halfway house, and then slipping going to AA meetings and drinking.

Don't let others bull bleep you, you can be young and an alcoholic. Most of us don't live long enough to become "old" or older alcoholics. This is a deadly disease. I seen to many people die because they though they were "too young". I've lost a few good friends because they though it was just a phase or were convinced they could stop if they wanted.

I found help through the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. I suggest you give them a call.

Anna

Congratulations on 77 days sober!

Your English is very good. Many of us use alcohol to self-medicate mental issues such as depression and anxiety. It's possible that your ocd is more obvious now because you are not dulling your senses. Keep talking to your dr about your ocd symptoms and keep working on your recovery.

BlackoutFear

Thank you all for your replies!
I don't want to drink again, i never had much control about alcohol and i can't see any positive effect from alcohol, also i forgot to mention that sometimes i used to drink in my lunch at work.
I have another appointment next week, i will talk to my doctor about my OCD, my life is being very difficult with OCD, i don't even work anymore, but i have hope that i will get better.

Thank you all!