Day 14 here. Was feeling absolutely great at day 11 besides my sleep falling apart.
But then suddenly out of nowhere on day 13 I became the grumpiest, grouchiest, annoying-iest person in the entire world. PAWS attacks!
Im not really a grumpy person but I just couldnt stop being irritable at absolutey everything. My poor partner is nothing but supportive but could barely keep up with how quickly my mood changed.
I kept this part to myself because I didnt want to unduly worry my partner, but my mind also swung to hyper drastic thoughts - that i should just walk out of my very happy life (other than the alcohol of course!) And never come back or should kill myself. I have had suicidal thoughts since I was a kid so theyre fairly normal for me and Im on medication and used to dealing with them, but usually they come in the lows of a depressive streak rather than just pop out of nowhere in a day!
And now Ive woken up today and feel fine again?!
Ive quit before for a month at a time as recently as last october and never had irritability like this before.
It would have been very easy to relapse to drown out the PAWS symptoms. Im proud that I didnt.
I can relate to this. I’m on 14 days now from weekly binge drinking and I had a simmilar mood but it has since lifted. Are you aware of the kindling effect?
PAWS is DEFINATLY real! I had terrible problems with it for quite a while. Just knowing what it was and why made all the difference for me. There were times where I would walk into my therapists office and just say, “PAWS, it’s a thing right?” And she would say yes and I would feel better.
Validation is a very real thing too. You have been validated.
Was searching through old posts because I am suffering crazy bad from PAWS with severe fatigue, insomnia and thumping headaches and found…a post I made two years ago.
Oh bother
Still, onwards and upwards. 31 days sober this time.
PAWS was my worst enemy for about a year. Then one day I turned around and it was gone for good. Keep taking it day by day and before you know it you won’t remember it even existed. I didn’t until you brought this thread back.
PAWS can hit at any time in the 2 years after quitting or not at all, but it does go. I hit it at about a year or so last time. It’s a real bugger if you fall off the pink cloud at the same time.
That is the killer with PAWS. I used to get soooo discouraged when it would come back, but come back it did. Adjust your expectations a little, enjoy when it’s not got you but always remember that it’s there somewhere. It is very hard, and I’m glad you are reaching out rather than just drinking when it comes back.
PAWS is quite common, I had to do some research on why I thought I was going insane after quitting for 4 months I was still getting withdrawal symptoms, they have gotten less, most people get over PAWS 6 months to a year but some people can go to 2 years, it all depends on years of abuse age gender, theres a few things that go into it. It gets easier just keep going you can do it
Stay focused, it’s terrible and it will slowly get better, one day at a time. Focus on hydrating, make sure you’re keeping up on your nutrition as well that can help