Sobriety2018

Im wondering if people who have been in recovery for awhile can explain what they experienced with PAWS..and also were there still symptoms occuring around the time.of day or night that he or she drank? Thanks!

Berrybean

Hey. This article really helped me. (Gotta read and run as getting ready for work but may post again this evening.)

https://digital-dharma.net/post-acut...r-immediately/



BB

saoutchik

Speaking for myself I think low energy, difficulty in sleeping and poor memory were the most obvious signs of PAWS although I suffered from all three while I was still drinking too.

August252015

I always recommend that article, too.

This is a common topic so you might use the search function to see lots of varied responses.

IME, and I was VERY ill when I quit drinking, I went through just about every PAWS systems I've ever heard about. I'll spare you the graphic details - I thought of it as every bit of alcohol rolling out of my body from head to toe, causing the symptoms, pain and sickness as it went.

The article above shares about the first 6 mo, year, and possibly two years of healing many of us experience. No one's experience is exactly the same and as people often note here, PAWS is not a diagnosed condition, it's a cluster of symptoms.

Taking care of myself- eating again, hydrating, sleeping, essentially coming bck to life- was what I could do besides not drink; a good team of drs also helped (still do), and it took time.

The only way to never experience any of this stuff again is not to drink. I also found that as I went through all that- and I had various symptoms throughout my first year, and into my second - I have been able to identify things NOT caused by drinking, and deal with those.

Best to you.

BDTL

That was a great read and I'm right at the stage in my sobriety where I can feel some of those symptoms. Thanks for the great info!

Dee74

what kinds of things are you experiencing Sobriety2018?
D

DontRemember

From that article; “When I got sober, things didn’t get any easier, but they got real …ing clear!” So true and funny too!

August252015

^^^Don't, you made me think of a "Definition" I heard of SOBER the other day: "Son of a b*tch, everything's real!"

Yixi

Nice one August - loved that

Sobriety2018

Well, some days I am so exhausted I have to literally push myself to do anything..its terrible..then I get hot flashes from time to time..a few days ago, i was so nauseated a i literally stayed in bed all day.. I have also gotten more headaches in the last 7 months then ive had in 7 years...difficulty concentrating..then it seems come time that i would typically be drinking, im fine! Now granted some of this could be hormones..but it strikes me as so odd that im fine and wide awake when it would typically be drinking time! Sometimes i get so frustrated feeling this way...my AV says just drink and you wont feel as bad. So just wanted to see if others ever have those feelings.

DontRemember

I think it was my 2nd court ordered meeting and when an old timer said that, I whispered to the lady beside me "yup...I'm in the right place."

Dee74

It could be PAWs or other things like you say. It is bad enough to see a Dr about do you think?

D

NoahJ

I liked that original link too.

Anxiety, anger, restlessness, fatigue...those are my main recurring PAWS symptoms. I’m at 15 months and they just showed up after a 3 month absence.

My symptoms are jerks.

Sobriety2018

Yep I have an appointment on Wednesday. Just afraid this is going to go like last time...Dr is going to tell me my body is still healing and ive been abusing it for years. Yes, true...but im going to at least get her to check my vitamin levels...🙄

Berrybean

When i read that article for the first time I'd been going to AA meetings for 6 months and had managed to stay sober. People in AA had been telling me, well, meetings aren't the program of recovery, but I'd had a complete lack of willingness really. I had no desire to ask someone for help, or to get properly honest with myself. My head noise was getting louder, constant chatter really. I was angry, irritable, restless, despairing, and it was exhausting. No life at all really. I just wanted to die. I realised that while I may have been sober, I wasn't LIVING sober. Then I found that article and things started to make sense to me. I realised that what the people in my meetings said may well be the case. I needed to actually do the recovery work. That 'Not drinking' wasn't the same as 'working on my Recovery'. I could sit in as many meetings as i liked but no recovery faury was just going to fly overhead and sprinkle me with her magic dust. The meetings could give me the hope that if i did what those others I met with good recovery had done, then I could get the kind of recovery they had got. But it was a case of doing, not learning. Simple enough you might thing, but that was like a major change of mindset to me. The next meeting I went to, as I listened to How It Works being read out at the start of the meeting I really heard it for the first time. I resolved to 'thoroughly' follow the path there and then. Immediately after the meeting I approached a lady I had been impressed with over the past few months, and who seemed strong and no nonsense (who I didn't think would let me charm her, or spin her any bullcrap). She agreed to be my sponsor and I got to work the next day on my step 1 inventory. Things started getting better pretty my immediately. Of course, there are still rough days in my life, but i can deal with them now. I have learned that I can be fearlessly thoroughly honest with my sponsor. Nothing I have ever said shocked her or disgusted her (all those deep dark secrets that had kept me in pain over the years - sharing them with her and talking them through, and allowing myself to learn from them and move on - what a burden lifted).

It's funny, because if anyone had asked me in the first 6 month if I was working a program of recovery I'd have said yes, and that I was going to AA, and I was trying to eat healthy and exercise. And I'd have believed it. Thing is, I was remaining completely unconnected with it all really. I was not drinking, and I was going to AA for a distraction. Somewhere to go that I couldn't drink. And the hope that people DO get better. Of course,eating healthy and exercising are good for our bodies, but they're just things that would be good for anyone anyway. Not really part of recovery. But I had myself convinced.

Anyway. I am very thankful to that article because it caused me to actually take notice of what others were already trying to say (to me and others in the rooms of AA).

Wishing you all the best for your sobriety, and for your recovery.
BB

August252015

I experienced this too - sort of like a roller coaster, that gotten increasingly flatter, with some pop ups even as my sobriety built. At 28, almost 29 mo, I attribute that stuff to life situations and age (41) and...compared the the years I drank (alcoholically, 10 or so, 7 of them getting worse and worse til I quit) it's not unreasonable for my body to take a while to smooth out to what an essentially normal person with a past of heavy drinking experiences. In fact, I'm grateful for stuff like the back injury and current issues I have going on because it I had died, I wouldn't be lucky enough to have them.

boreas

My experience: At 45, I had many symptoms of peri menopause which have magically resolved in sobriety. My opinion is that my chronic drinking was throwing a wrench in my hormonal balance which has taken time to resolve. It was easy for my doc and myself to chalk it up to “the way things are” given my age. I still have symptoms of the changes that are a comin’, but I don’t miss the hot flashes or night sweats a bit.

That being said, I have continued to experience periods of incredible fatigue, but I know they will pass. Closing in on a year, (which coincidentally many say is a magical time for how much better you feel), these bouts with fatigue are much fewer and far between. For me, the improvements during “early” sobriety were just signs of better things to come.

I’m so glad I pushed through the low ebbs. It’s worth it.
-bora

Sobriety2018

Funny you mention perimenapause because yes that is what this seems like..although it would be early for me i am 35..but it happened early for my mom..who knows maybe its a little bit of PAWS and perimenapause..a double whammy at the same time.☹I did buy some Evening Primrose Oil yesterday..have not taken it yet..im skeptical.

boreas

I’ve got an old bottle of the stuff in the cupboard now . My doc pretty much shrugged his shoulders and said, “If you think it’ll help...”. I tried lots of things over the years, everything EXCEPT addressing the obvious, my drinking. Nothing had as profound an effect on my symptoms as stepping away from the bottle. As you already know, it's good to talk with your doc before taking supplements.

My Name Was Bette: The Life and Death of an Alcoholic is a documentary available on youtube done by Bette’s daughters. It addresses the impact of chronic alcoholism on a woman’s body. I found it interesting.

Here’s hoping you feel better soon!
-bora

Gabe1980

Thank you for starting this thread Sobriety....I've been reading around about PAWS and this is really helpful. Gabex