Howdy! And PAWS
 

Hi everyone, I've lurked for a couple of years, but getting on a home stretch finally made me join.

A quick background: I'm 31, drank "socially" since 21, pushed my luck for 2 years (8-14 beers/night, often more if I got bored and started early), then realizing I had a problem, cut it back to just weekends for 6 months, then just Saturday nights for another 6 months, with a few attempts to quit. I've come a long way, and my family & friends have said I've made huge strides.

Recently, with a crappy job out of the way, and much more exciting activities starting up, I've decided to give quitting another shot. I haven't decided if I'll ever start again, but I want to begin by stopping for longer than a few weeks. The last time I went through any real withdrawal was a little over a year ago. I never got DT's - I could still write, type, and go to work - but I did have some jitters.

So every time I've tried to stop for more than a week in the past year, I get about 3 weeks in, and start getting pretty down in the dumps here and there. This time, I'm finding it quite annoying, having a bad attitude, lack of energy, and it's really eating into my exciting new prospects in life. Like, enough that I feel it would be in my benefit to use weekly again, or risk losing my career.

Is this the fabled PAWS? What can I do? How long can I expect it to last? Everything I've read mentions 6 mo - 2 years...but tends to go hand in hand with the folks who drank harder for longer than I did.

Thanks for any input, and thanks for all the great reading you've given me in the past to bring me this far!

I hope you can hold on. It takes patience getting through the early days and it will get better.

One thing I would mention is that stopping drinking is the first step, but most of us have to make other changes in our lives too. It sounds like you have good things happening in your life, so keep a positive attitude and stay sober.

Hi and welcome Animal :)

Could be PAWs - you can check to see if this link rings any bells..

PAWS | Digital Dharma

But honestly I think when you *know* it's time to change, and you have to say goodbye to a major part of your life (even if that part is kinda dysfunctional) it leaves a hole..and it leaves us a little depressed.

Give yourself time - start building a new sober life...use all the support you have - a few months from now you won't know yourself Animal :)

D

Thank you for the support, both of you!

I've read about the symptoms, and they kinda align, but not that much. I'm normally a little hot tempered, and that's one thing I'm hoping to change.

One of the hardest things so far, is that the first week or 2 without a drink gets me REALLY active. I feel smart, full of great ideas, get a lot done, impress those I work around, etc. Living a higher performance lifestyle has been a big motivator for me to go sober. I want to experience things my non-drinking friends my age do (fortunately I have a few of these friends these days). But PAWS slowing me down and making me dumb is frustrating!

Welcome! I'm glad you finally joined us. :) We offer a lot of support here to help you stop drinking. :)

Hello there,I can seriously relate to whats up in your life right now,as in your personal inner senses. I feel some what lost sometimes,thoughts not processing as quick as they should,memory all jacked up, anxiety heavy,worries of impending doom,uhm not really knowing this new inner person,& feal kinda odd & outta place.I'm sober now for 5 months & still going thru PAWS,but all any of us can do is adjust to it,& try & handle it one day at a time.Don't hurry or over worry yourself like I catch myself doing,it only adds more tension & stress,resulting in an absolute inner bomb.JMHO

You need to remember that you have spent over 10 years getting a high from drinking alcohol. It will take more than a few weeks for you to get used to the changes that come with being completely sober. Give it time :)

Hello Animal - I certainly can relate to what you are going through. I am on day 87 of my Sobriety. And of late believe I have PAWS symptoms. Sometimes I will bring the stress from work home or the most simple thing can irritate me into a mood swing or anger me to the point of snapping. I don't like it and have noticed it happening. For me, I am so blessed. I have a wife that understands what I am going through. And I actually read these symptoms to her and the way to combat them. Concern is that these symptoms can actually trigger a relapse. I look for ways to de-stress. No-thing can be that important, even PAWS to make me pick up and drink. These symptoms usually pass with in a few moments. And the kicker is that we should actually look at these symptoms as though they are helping our brain to heal. OK - I'm up for that. I feel all newcomers to Sobriety should know about PAWS. Here is a website I have been reading. I hope it is OK to post it. Thanks for sharing - anything to Stay Sober.... Post-Acute Withdrawal Symptoms - Relapse Prevention Strategies

Thanks for all the input once again!

I'm feeling a lot better today oddly, but there were definitely a few stressful events that started to set me off. I guess my best bet is to try really hard to avoid those. Makes it tougher too when you have family that just says "why don't you just have 1 beer?" (eye roll)

Call me strange, but reading a lot last night about famous people who went sober did help a lot, including some role models. I'm frequently sucked into that image of drinking portrayed in ads, and it never helped. Every weekend night I walk back to my apartment, I see my neighbor with friends over having wine and that doesn't help - my mind starts to glorify it again. It's crazy how that works!