lastcallsunday

Starting day nine today and couldn't be happier with my decision to end my drinking.
The one thing that makes me a little nervous is the threads I've read about post acute withdrawal syndrome. The idea that I can have issues related to my drinking months from now even though I've quit is scary.
I had very little issues with any acute withdrawal symptoms so I guess the question I'm asking is for those of you that didnt have initial withdrawal symptoms, did you experience PAWS?
Outside of that concern the only other worry I have is how I'm going to spend all my free time now that I'm not zoned out all evening. Torn between learning guitar, taking karate lessons or maybe learning French! But I think I can work that one out!
Thanks for any input on PAWS you can provide!

IOAA2

Hi, no PAWs here but what I did when I started to attend AA, which was the only show in town for years, was to put a lot of time into meetings. That turned into self-improvement and a lot of time was spent on the reasons I drank, which were not to become a drunk. Anyone thinking getting and staying sober for the long run is easy is usually very wrong as this disease is patient and will wallop us when we are unprepared. This ailment tells us we are normal and have no problem with it anymore. Too many people are dead because of that thinking I'm very sorry to say. GOOD LUCK

least

PAWS symptoms vary from one person to another. It's just your brain and body getting used to living without alcohol. With time it will pass.


Post-Acute Withdrawal Symptoms - Relapse Prevention Strategies

joygirl

Hey, lastcallsunday!
Welcome! Don't fear PAWS. It's just a sign that you're back in the game!

ImperfectlyMe

I've experienced what I believe to be a few PAWS episodes. The first one scared me made me question my sanity, but at that time the only reference I had to PAWS were on my dog.

They do cone from time to time and have strangly found they work on a 30 day cycle. Do not be fearful of them if you should get one. Now even though they may be uncomfortable I look at them as blessings, physical proof my body is healing on many levels.
There are some excellent links on this site for info

Be well

james872

You really can't know in advance, but I think the fact that you had very little issues with the initial withdrawal symptoms is a good sign. Maybe it means that your addiction wasn't that heavy on your system, which I suppose would make the occurrence of PAWS less likely.

BalinChane

"You know you got to go through Hell
before you get to Heaven."
Steve Miller Band - Jet Airliner lyrics

Hopefully you won't have to go thru Hell, maybe just a short drive on the New Jersey Turnpike in traffic until you get to the beach.

Anyway, here's a good link describing more symptoms and stuff about PAWS. BTW, I'm going thru it now and look at it like each episode is just my body healing from all the abuse I threw at it.

http://www.postacutewithdrawal.org/p...awal-symptoms/

AllieB

The above sounds pretty logical to me, but I don't have any addiction training or medical training to back up my hunch.

Personally, I had only mood issues (which are hard to separate out from my usual mercurial moods) and sugar cravings during acute withdrawal. In other words, I'd qualify my withdrawal as extremely light; I've yet to have any PAWS symptoms. Some days I'm klutzier or ditzier than others, but I had klutzy and ditzy days before I ever picked up a drink, so I don't attribute that to PAWS.

As I (admittedly superficially) understand it, PAWS is a bigger obstacle to people recovering from opiates than from alcohol. Not that it doesn't significantly affect some/many recovering alcoholics, but I think the extreme cases are supposed to be more likely for people recovering from heavy opiate use than from heavy alcohol abuse, if that's any comfort.

(Also, I vote for taking karate lessons in French accompanied by classical acoustic guitar music.)

I love learning languages, but when I play the if-I-could-do-it-all-again game, do-over pre-teen me always takes akido or karate classes instead of piano and ballet lessons. I think that knowing I could defend myself in a pinch would have made me more confident in all aspects of my life. Not sure if the same is true for you, but I think a lot of women would be happier if they could say to themselves "I can handle myself, need be," instead of "ok, how can I plan my evening to avoid having to ask someone to walk me home, and who can I count on to protect me if things get dicey?" Not to get all What-Would-Buffy-Do, but sometimes violence is empowering.

CaseyW

60 days here. I was so financially broke the last couple of months of my drinking that I didn't have many of the initial physical withdrawal symptoms. I'd say the main PAWS symptoms I've experienced is about one out of every five or six days, I'll just want to sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep. In fact, last night was one of those nights. I slept eleven hours and felt like I could have slept five or six more when I did finally wake up this morning.

Congrats on day nine. SR is a wonderful recovery tool, glad you're here to help me with my recovery.