is PAWS real?

[paulywogg]

This shits real! A peak in anxiety, worse sleep,preoccupation with drink thoughts(not wanting to drink but thinking about the old days) irritated, brain fog,some dizziness, blue mood(won't call it depression cuz that word gets stamped on every down mood and makes real depression seem less important) intrusive thoughts,food cravings? I made my family dinner last night but cooked me a frozen pizza on the side haha,headaches, muscle pain,etc,I'm buckling up my seatbelt and holding on for dear life

[available]

Its very real Pauly but i thought of it as a test of my strength and determination. I would not let the fecker al win, i couldnt start again. It passes like everything else with al but it takes time. I felt so angry at life and deprived and tired and all of what you said but i felt that when drinking. Go with it, drag every positive out of every day, feel grateful and keep that al door firmly shut. We cannot bargain with al, its all or nothing for us. Its what we choose that matters.

It gets better if thats any consolation which to me at the time counted for zero!

[paulywogg]

Ava,I am just going with the flow,I didn't damage my brain overnight, its not gonna repair overnight either (although that would be awesome) I guess its just a reminder of why I'm doing this,this too shall pass

[Lizann]

Pauly, could it be seasonal affect disorder? Did you try upping your Vitamin D3? Maybe it's just as simple as that. I don't know if there's sunshine by you right now, but can you get outside for a few minutes each day? I'm grasping at straws here and trying to find something to help you!

[paulywogg]

Nah Liz,I get plenty of vitamins, I'll be ok just takes a little or a lot of time and I've got lots of that

[Guitarista]

Hey Pauly,

Sorry you're not feeling the greatest. It is indeed a big adjustment living booze free for our minds and bodies. I'm wondering if diet, nutrition and what you eat every day is playing any part in you feeling off? It makes a big difference to me when I cut out the cookies and junk. Not easy to do when we are used to having some sort of crutch/comfort to fall back on when stressed or worried.

I can often trace my low mood to either some rubbish I ate yesterday, or, some rubbish I am thinking. Thoughts and diet.

It may or may not be that simple for you. Hope you're feeling better real soon buddy. :happy2:

[NoraC]

Good points Liz & G. I'm going to think of those things in my everyday life.

Pauly - you are doing great recognizing it for what it is. Great job. I know this time of month makes everything so much worse.

[TJAF]

I can say for an absolute fact that in my case it was very real. I've read a ton about it and the research also supports the reality of the syndrome. Byrdie I do hear you. You have hung around this thread for a long time, (congratulations again BTW) I know you understand how tenuous recovery can be and I understand how you can fear that any negative like PAWS can derail the light grip most of us have on our sobriety when first starting out. I disagree with you though in that for those of us that do experience PAWs, not understanding the biology of the symptoms would take all of the wind out of our sails. There were days where, after feeling great for days on end, I would wake up and feel like a truck hit me. The good news is that these episodes are few and far between.

[TJAF]

Before some of you beat me to the punch I know PAWS hasn't been heavily researched and isn't recognized by any medical organization. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist it just hasn't been clinically proven.