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PAWS?
I think I'm going through paws. It's only been 5 weeks but I'm sweating, body aches and diarrhea. No I do not think I'm sick with the flu. This feels different. How long will this last?
COMMUNITY LEADER
Great post as usual CATUF!! Congrats on that clean time!
Nice to see your name on the forum~
Nice to see your name on the forum~
Why is PAWS controversial?
My experience with PAWS was like a great malaise. I didn't feel physically bad (none of the acute withdrawal symptoms), but i just felt so FLAT and so restless, irritable and discontent. It left me with the feeling that "if this is what being clean is like, i'd rather be using" (just maybe not so much, and also that "i cant go on like this - i've hit a brick wall and it's going to suck forever." So, time after time i'd talk myself into using again just to get over the wall, but of course that always ended up with me whining a week or 10 days later " how did this happen again," when i found myself as bad as ever.
Once i learned that PAWS was simply to be expected in early recovery (for me about every 30 days), AND THAT IT WOULD ONLY LAST 24-48 HOURS, it was a game-changer. I suddenly knew that the feeling that i would be MISERABLE FOREVER, was just a lie and that i only needed to push through the next day or so .... I could do that short time and save my recovery.
It helped me to think that every time PAWS came bace it meant my addiction was getting pushed off me just a little farther, with the PAWS being the beast's efforts to hang on. But each bout of PAWS without using meant that i was closer to sustained recovery.
CATUF
3813
My experience with PAWS was like a great malaise. I didn't feel physically bad (none of the acute withdrawal symptoms), but i just felt so FLAT and so restless, irritable and discontent. It left me with the feeling that "if this is what being clean is like, i'd rather be using" (just maybe not so much, and also that "i cant go on like this - i've hit a brick wall and it's going to suck forever." So, time after time i'd talk myself into using again just to get over the wall, but of course that always ended up with me whining a week or 10 days later " how did this happen again," when i found myself as bad as ever.
Once i learned that PAWS was simply to be expected in early recovery (for me about every 30 days), AND THAT IT WOULD ONLY LAST 24-48 HOURS, it was a game-changer. I suddenly knew that the feeling that i would be MISERABLE FOREVER, was just a lie and that i only needed to push through the next day or so .... I could do that short time and save my recovery.
It helped me to think that every time PAWS came bace it meant my addiction was getting pushed off me just a little farther, with the PAWS being the beast's efforts to hang on. But each bout of PAWS without using meant that i was closer to sustained recovery.
CATUF
3813
I have to DITTO CIK.
The post is the mental, as your brain is balancing back and firing up. It is the time when we have to re-learn everything again and deal with Life without running and hiding under any substance. Life will not always be a piece of cake and many things can send us back out using. This is why support is a must.
PAW-Post acute withdraws. After a person has become adjusted to a certain level of the drug/experience removal of it affects the Emotional/Biochemical balance that has been established. The PERSON has to Readjust to living without the previous level of Stimulation, etc. Post acute withdraws can last yr or yrs. It has a Emotional and Physiological aspects that can be very difficult to endure.
It did take me a lil over 2yrs to find my balance between the Mental, Physical and Spiritual..However, I had been using off & on for a Very Long time too.
YOU have come so far now. I will keep Praying that you will balance out soon. Just remember, that it was like you came of of 2 meds and not one. Both CIK and I came off of a cocktail of meds, so this makes it a bit harder and longer. Stay Focused on Recovery. Very Proud of YOU!!
Bless
Vickie
The post is the mental, as your brain is balancing back and firing up. It is the time when we have to re-learn everything again and deal with Life without running and hiding under any substance. Life will not always be a piece of cake and many things can send us back out using. This is why support is a must.
PAW-Post acute withdraws. After a person has become adjusted to a certain level of the drug/experience removal of it affects the Emotional/Biochemical balance that has been established. The PERSON has to Readjust to living without the previous level of Stimulation, etc. Post acute withdraws can last yr or yrs. It has a Emotional and Physiological aspects that can be very difficult to endure.
It did take me a lil over 2yrs to find my balance between the Mental, Physical and Spiritual..However, I had been using off & on for a Very Long time too.
YOU have come so far now. I will keep Praying that you will balance out soon. Just remember, that it was like you came of of 2 meds and not one. Both CIK and I came off of a cocktail of meds, so this makes it a bit harder and longer. Stay Focused on Recovery. Very Proud of YOU!!
Bless
Vickie
If you don't think you are sick with the flu, sweating, body aches and diarrhea are STILL signs of acute withdrawal...not post (after) acute w/drawals. Remember, tramadol is SYNTHETIC and stays around longer in the body. At 10 pills/day for 2 years it may take longer than you originally expected to heal thru this acute stage.
How is outpatient group going? Have you talked to your group or your counselor about how you are still feeling? What do they tell you?
PAWS is a controversial topic on this forum....but I will tell you that Post means AFTER the acute stages (the expert addiction doctors tell us the symptoms peak from 3 to 6 months after we get clean). Here are some of those symptoms:
Trouble thinking clearly
Emotional overreaction
Memory problems
Sleep disturbances
Physical coordination problems
After I had been clean for some months, I was totally convinced I had permanently damaged my brain. THEN, I read all I could from experts in the addiction field and learned what I did indeed have was PAWS. (I can't tell you how relieved I was to find an answer for how I was still feeling!) But they weren't "physical" things like diarrhea or body aches or sweating. They were:
An inability to solve problems
Inability to think clearly
Inability to concentrate
Rigid, repetitive thinking
Memory problems
Emotional overreaction or numbness
You WILL heal.....don't get discouraged. Make yourself as comfortable as you can; take some Liquid Advil if you can for the body aches; and some Imodium for the diarrhea. Talk to your counselor and your group.....there is SO much to learn about addiction and the damage we do to ourselves....and you are on your way~ CONGRATS on 5 WEEKS!!!!
How is outpatient group going? Have you talked to your group or your counselor about how you are still feeling? What do they tell you?
PAWS is a controversial topic on this forum....but I will tell you that Post means AFTER the acute stages (the expert addiction doctors tell us the symptoms peak from 3 to 6 months after we get clean). Here are some of those symptoms:
Trouble thinking clearly
Emotional overreaction
Memory problems
Sleep disturbances
Physical coordination problems
After I had been clean for some months, I was totally convinced I had permanently damaged my brain. THEN, I read all I could from experts in the addiction field and learned what I did indeed have was PAWS. (I can't tell you how relieved I was to find an answer for how I was still feeling!) But they weren't "physical" things like diarrhea or body aches or sweating. They were:
An inability to solve problems
Inability to think clearly
Inability to concentrate
Rigid, repetitive thinking
Memory problems
Emotional overreaction or numbness
You WILL heal.....don't get discouraged. Make yourself as comfortable as you can; take some Liquid Advil if you can for the body aches; and some Imodium for the diarrhea. Talk to your counselor and your group.....there is SO much to learn about addiction and the damage we do to ourselves....and you are on your way~ CONGRATS on 5 WEEKS!!!!
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