AD whilst in PAWS
Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Lakeside, Arizona
Posts: 1,138
No, I'm not seeing anyone outside of my neurologist and primary dr. I will have 16 months sober from alcohol tomorrow though. I'm really feeling good these days but the first year was rough.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 26
So my round up of this thread.
Alcohol mimics GABA in the brain. Its produces a calming effect. After years of filling your brain with alcohol, your brain stops working by itself and it relies on alcohol to provide a calming effect and activate the reward centre. When you remove alcohol after years of bingeing on alcohol the brain has become dependant.
This is were nuerotransmitters come in. Once the alcohol has gone, your receptors remain in a dampened down state and require time to begin working like they once used to. I.e providing you with cognitive functions, memory, anxiety, fatigue etc etc. ALL the symptoms of what we call PAWS.
Its exactly the same with any drug that gets through the blood brain barrier. Which ever receptors the drugs binds to it will eventually down regulate after continued use of the drug. Once the drug is gone the receptors remain down regulated for a period of time, until normal functioning returns.
Antidepressants been a good example of this process.
Alcohol mimics GABA in the brain. Its produces a calming effect. After years of filling your brain with alcohol, your brain stops working by itself and it relies on alcohol to provide a calming effect and activate the reward centre. When you remove alcohol after years of bingeing on alcohol the brain has become dependant.
This is were nuerotransmitters come in. Once the alcohol has gone, your receptors remain in a dampened down state and require time to begin working like they once used to. I.e providing you with cognitive functions, memory, anxiety, fatigue etc etc. ALL the symptoms of what we call PAWS.
Its exactly the same with any drug that gets through the blood brain barrier. Which ever receptors the drugs binds to it will eventually down regulate after continued use of the drug. Once the drug is gone the receptors remain down regulated for a period of time, until normal functioning returns.
Antidepressants been a good example of this process.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Lakeside, Arizona
Posts: 1,138
Originally Posted by Leo1984 
So my round up of this thread.
Alcohol mimics GABA in the brain. Its produces a calming effect. After years of filling your brain with alcohol, your brain stops working by itself and it relies on alcohol to provide a calming effect and activate the reward centre. When you remove alcohol after years of bingeing on alcohol the brain has become dependant.
This is were nuerotransmitters come in. Once the alcohol has gone, your receptors remain in a dampened down state and require time to begin working like they once used to. I.e providing you with cognitive functions, memory, anxiety, fatigue etc etc. ALL the symptoms of what we call PAWS.
Its exactly the same with any drug that gets through the blood brain barrier. Which ever receptors the drugs binds to it will eventually down regulate after continued use of the drug. Once the drug is gone the receptors remain down regulated for a period of time, until normal functioning returns.
Antidepressants been a good example of this process.
Alcohol mimics GABA in the brain. Its produces a calming effect. After years of filling your brain with alcohol, your brain stops working by itself and it relies on alcohol to provide a calming effect and activate the reward centre. When you remove alcohol after years of bingeing on alcohol the brain has become dependant.
This is were nuerotransmitters come in. Once the alcohol has gone, your receptors remain in a dampened down state and require time to begin working like they once used to. I.e providing you with cognitive functions, memory, anxiety, fatigue etc etc. ALL the symptoms of what we call PAWS.
Its exactly the same with any drug that gets through the blood brain barrier. Which ever receptors the drugs binds to it will eventually down regulate after continued use of the drug. Once the drug is gone the receptors remain down regulated for a period of time, until normal functioning returns.
Antidepressants been a good example of this process.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Lakeside, Arizona
Posts: 1,138
Originally Posted by Leo1984
How long is a guide to start feeling like your brain is working again and not clouded.
That varies for everyone, the clouded brain is troubling but I learned to deal with it. For me it was like I feel the thought forming but then it's just gone it never makes it to my consciousness.
Personally for me things really changed around the 13-14 month mark.
It started lessening around 9 months but in the last few months there's a clearity in my head that I've not felt since I was young before starting down the path that lead me to this place. It's amazing and well worth the struggle. Today marks 16 months for me. I made this thread at my 1 year mark and touch on PAWS a little bit there:
https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...ber-today.html (1 Year Sober Today :))
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
