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No pause from PAWS (cheesiest title ever) Hello, all and thank you for having me. I'm 39, sober for two months with nary an aspirin. I drank on NYE, but was sober for four months before that. My drinking career is as follows: drank every night (7-10 standard drinks) from ages 18-24 with marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, LSD, mushrooms, crack, and benzos mixed sporadically in there. I'd been drinking 3-4 nights a week average for the past 15 years, with no less than 10 standard drinks per night. So, I started to hate hangovers, and felt alcohol was ruining my life. I've always had immaculate health checks, but was developing some really undesirable symptoms. But since I quit, my body has been going nuts. I had no real acute withdrawal symptoms to speak of. No shakes, no nausea, no diarrhea, etc. But after the first week, it all hit me. Here is a list of my symptoms: Persistent tiredness that turns into feeling like I just mainlined an espresso. Anxiety every morning on my way to work, then crippling anxiety for the first hour or so. Dizzy spells that usually end when I get home. Horrible bouts of nausea without throwing up or diarrhea. Some occasional paranoia that somebody has poisoned me, that I'm having a stroke, or an asthma attack (none of the above is true). I experience muscle rigidity at times, and bouts of anger. I can cry over nothing, or I can feel nothing. I often sleep terribly and have dreams of falling off the wagon and hating myself, and I wake up feeling I've been hit by a truck. I'm very photophobic at times, and can feel overwhelmed in open spaces, when many objects in my field of vision are moving simultaneously, or when talking to anybody who isn't my wife or kids. I have no history of mental illness and have been evaluated physically and mentally as my job requires it every year. Besides the occasional moments of clarity, life is one massive challenge. Thankfully, I don't crave alcohol. Basically, I would like to know how long you had to deal with PAWS and was it anything like this? Did you have nausea going into your sixth month? Longer? It's the worst symptom for me, besides the anxiety. If you have any experiences, I'd be happy if you could share. Thank you all again for this, and hope everybody is well. |
I'm right there with you. I just posted something similar. The anxiety can be a killer. Sometimes I don't like leaving the house when it's really bad. I'm at 61 days. They say at 3 months your brain levels out a litte and some of the extreme stuff gets better. Stick with it. I have a feeling we're through the worst of it. |
Hi there - I'm not having all the same things but some of them and more mild. Dizzy definately, stomach upset and pain, feeling nothing (this on is annoying) and really tired sometimes where if I don't just lay down I'm going to fall asleep standing up. I'm on antidepressants so maybe that's why I'm not having as much anxiety as others are. I'm at 2 months and I hear it lasts 3 to 6 months - hard to say |
Thanks for your replies. I'm white-knuckling it through this. Thankfully, I have the next six weeks off work (I'm a teacher), so I hope to make some progress. But the thought of starting work again being this bad, or worse, is pretty disconcerting. Anyway, keep your heads up and I'll do the same. Cheers. |
Geesh, from what I've read here lately, I've had paws all my life. I eat right, drink water..sometimes and am really contemplating getting back on the treadmill. That being said, I'm feeling absolutely great today at 8.71 months. I suspect it will get better. I don't know if I'm more excited about the coming snowstorm or my kids. All I know is we need some more gloves and cocoa. Onward and well...downward? (we have a badass hill right across the street for sledding). Of course one must trudge up to go down. Peaceout. |
One thing I hang on to is the idea that having continued on the same path, things would have got worser than what I am experiencing now. So even if things don't end up "great" it's better than the hell I was in. |
I'm at over 3 months now and some days are good and some days are still hard. Some days I feel like my usual self, but then there are other days where everything feels like a struggle (thinking, expressing myself, etc.). It comes and goes though. I never experienced nausea or anxiety though. Keep on concentrating on moving forward. I agree with Patman that being sober and dealing with some of these issues is better than the hell I was in when drinking. I am grateful to be out of that cycle and never want to have to go through this again. |
Welcome to the Forum Ttamelbon!! :wave: |
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I'm approaching 5 months sober and there has definitely been noticeable improvement, especially at the 3 month mark. However, there are still days when I'm foggy, dizzy/wobbly, or have anxiety, although the duration of time they last is shorter. Hang in there; steady overall progress is the key! :) |
Day 45 for me. Feeling the PAWS:( thanks for the info gang! Helps me to know I'm not alone. |
Originally Posted by ttamelbon;[url=tel:5229705 5229705[/url]]Hello, all and thank you for having me. I'm 39, sober for two months with nary an aspirin. I drank on NYE, but was sober for four months before that. My drinking career is as follows: drank every night (7-10 standard drinks) from ages 18-24 with marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, LSD, mushrooms, crack, and benzos mixed sporadically in there. I'd been drinking 3-4 nights a week average for the past 15 years, with no less than 10 standard drinks per night. So, I started to hate hangovers, and felt alcohol was ruining my life. I've always had immaculate health checks, but was developing some really undesirable symptoms. But since I quit, my body has been going nuts. I had no real acute withdrawal symptoms to speak of. No shakes, no nausea, no diarrhea, etc. But after the first week, it all hit me. Here is a list of my symptoms: Persistent tiredness that turns into feeling like I just mainlined an espresso. Anxiety every morning on my way to work, then crippling anxiety for the first hour or so. Dizzy spells that usually end when I get home. Horrible bouts of nausea without throwing up or diarrhea. Some occasional paranoia that somebody has poisoned me, that I'm having a stroke, or an asthma attack (none of the above is true). I experience muscle rigidity at times, and bouts of anger. I can cry over nothing, or I can feel nothing. I often sleep terribly and have dreams of falling off the wagon and hating myself, and I wake up feeling I've been hit by a truck. I'm very photophobic at times, and can feel overwhelmed in open spaces, when many objects in my field of vision are moving simultaneously, or when talking to anybody who isn't my wife or kids. I have no history of mental illness and have been evaluated physically and mentally as my job requires it every year. Besides the occasional moments of clarity, life is one massive challenge. Thankfully, I don't crave alcohol. Basically, I would like to know how long you had to deal with PAWS and was it anything like this? Did you have nausea going into your sixth month? Longer? It's the worst symptom for me, besides the anxiety. If you have any experiences, I'd be happy if you could share. Thank you all again for this, and hope everybody is well. Thanks for your posts....your description of PAWS is very similar to what I’ve been going through lately....especially at my 30 and 60 day marks....Palpitations were (and still are) the worst and my biggest bothersome symptoms....Right up there with panic attacks and anxiety.....Strangely enough, they are slowly getting better...less intense, less frequent, and they don’t last as long which surprised me very much in my early recovery.... I came here to SR looking for somebody with similar experiences and you decribed things very close to how I felt (and still feeling) sometimes... Thanks and I look forward to coming here and reading more posts from people that encourage me to stay the course... Intro |
Nausea after 5 months really does not strike me as normal, have you considered getting blood tests to rule out other causes? Edit: ok just realised that this is an old thread. |
Originally Posted by Rufftime719
(Post 5463995)
Day 45 for me. Feeling the PAWS:( thanks for the info gang! Helps me to know I'm not alone. |
Everything you are experiencing I have experienced with benzo paws. And other mental shite, I don't want to talk about here. It has been awful. Getting there. Some say benzos take longer. I don't know. Just want you to know it definitely gets better. Hard to believe, I know. |
Oh! Old thread. |
My paws got progressively better and better but I still have some paws/ptsd or something. Nothing weird and more than anything it reminds me I better never drink again or I will go insane for sure. I consider my paws/ptsd permanent brain damage from my drug abuse (booze). My brain didn't heal, I got used to it and then it went away ftmp. I was in hell on earth, off and on, for the better part of 3 years. But, I could feel it getting better. The cool thing is that now I feel sooooooo amazing most of the time, I will never never never ever ever ever let a drop of booze near my lips. I was cleansed by the fires of hell on earth and I am not going down that road again. They tell me climbing out next time will be even harder. If it was any harder, I don't think I could make it out without some serious meds. I am currently med free except for 10 mg/day of Lisinopril. I got called out a few times for being paranoid, but otherwise my mental healing was between me, God, and SR. Love love love. Thanks. |
That's sort of been my progression D122y. Manageable. Improving. Still not conviced on permanency, but can see where you are coming from now. You did well D122y. |
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