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How long does PAWS tend to last

T

treezy z

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I've been sober since may 16 and I'm still restless, agitated and generally a nervous wreck. I'm hoping it's PAWs since it hasn't even been 2 months yet.

How long does PAWs usually last?
 
It depends on how heavily you abused drugs, I think...for example, I've heard of recovery from heavy methamphetamine abuse taking years for the resulting depression to significantly improve. And the cognitive impairment from heavy abuse of alcohol and/or tranquilizers often takes a hell of a long time, too.

Also, here's something to consider: I was a nervous wreck before I even touched drugs. So being sober and a nervous wreck is just a natural state of being for me :) (it's gotten better as I've gotten older, though...at least in some respects)
 
I'm getting close to 2 years. PAWS is still a real thing for me. I was using buprenorphine every day for a long time. Opiates are the worst.

Were you using 3-meo-PCP or PCP daily? What was your frequency?

How often would you take alcohol?

How often/what kind/dosages of pain killers? Heroin?
 
weeks or months man... but it gets better as time passes. Remember to exercise a lot. good luck - you can do it!
 
PAWS can last months - it all depends on how long you were using and how much.
Try to keep your mind busy, watch movies, read, if AA/NA meetings work for you, like myself, do that!
Just keep busy my friend, it gets better each day.
 
Captain.Heroin said:
I'm getting close to 2 years. PAWS is still a real thing for me. I was using buprenorphine every day for a long time. Opiates are the worst.

Were you using 3-meo-PCP or PCP daily? What was your frequency?

How often would you take alcohol?

How often/what kind/dosages of pain killers? Heroin?
Click to expand...

At the end I was using dissociatives and weed daily, benzos most days, alcohol every couple weeks, amphetamines daily, had just relapsed on pain pills after 4 months no opiates, and psychedelics 1-3 times a week.
 
For opiates it can take up to two years to get back to baseline. It is the same with benzos.

The most important thing you have to think of is that day by day it gets better. It didn't take you just one day to become an addict, and it won't take just one day to heal. Trust me it does get better. There is a saying "The water you crossed on the river yesterday, is not the same water you are crossing today." What it means that you are a learning, emotional being, and you change day by day. When using, you could be changing for the worse everyday...when sober and actively working on your "character defects" you are changing for the better.

Just keep at it, and work hard, and one day you will wakeup and realize that you are a hell of a lot improved from the beginning.
 
There's a theory about people who have used and been dependent on heroin for over a decade, and it implies that PAWS never ends.

It should max out about 2 years for people who haven't been dependent for so very long.
 
Burnt Offerings said:
It depends on how heavily you abused drugs, I think...for example, I've heard of recovery from heavy methamphetamine abuse taking years for the resulting depression to significantly improve. And the cognitive impairment from heavy abuse of alcohol and/or tranquilizers often takes a hell of a long time, too.

Also, here's something to consider: I was a nervous wreck before I even touched drugs. So being sober and a nervous wreck is just a natural state of being for me :) (it's gotten better as I've gotten older, though...at least in some respects)
Click to expand...

yeah same here, i was anhedonic, anxious and not fuunctioning before drugs but after 15 of using them, when i quit im a complete mess..

i was clean from meadthaone for 16 months but stil had paws and felt shitty..no way someone could endure that or years without losing their sanity..
 
w0w0mg said:
PAWS can last months - it all depends on how long you were using and how much.
Try to keep your mind busy, watch movies, read, if AA/NA meetings work for you, like myself, do that!
Just keep busy my friend, it gets better each day.
Click to expand...

good advice but when you are lethargic, anxious and your mood is in the gutter, doing these things is a hard task only to just do them all over again te next day..
 
belfort said:
good advice but when you are lethargic, anxious and your mood is in the gutter, doing these things is a hard task only to just do them all over again te next day..
Click to expand...

Indeed, but we still do what we can. I never gave up reading, it's the one thing that has always brought me joy. :)

Writing, music, and sleeping in can help too. Exercise is amazing.

There's always going to be days where we don't feel capable of doing anything. It's all about the days where we rise above it and get stuff done and enjoy our lives. :)

Hope you're doing well man.
 
Depending on the drug and the duration of use, PAWS can last significantly longer than two years, though I'm talking about use extending past a decade.
 
belfort said:
good advice but when you are lethargic, anxious and your mood is in the gutter, doing these things is a hard task only to just do them all over again te next day..
Click to expand...

I still have paws. It manifests itself in a resurgence of my ocd symptoms. It is like my addiction knows what buttons to push to make me crave.

The lethargy will get much better with time. Try taking a b complex vitamin in the morning...then get some things done. Activity helps it.
 
manboychef said:
For opiates it can take up to two years to get back to baseline. It is the same with benzos.

The most important thing you have to think of is that day by day it gets better. It didn't take you just one day to become an addict, and it won't take just one day to heal. Trust me it does get better. There is a saying "The water you crossed on the river yesterday, is not the same water you are crossing today." What it means that you are a learning, emotional being, and you change day by day. When using, you could be changing for the worse everyday...when sober and actively working on your "character defects" you are changing for the better.

Just keep at it, and work hard, and one day you will wakeup and realize that you are a hell of a lot improved from the beginning.
Click to expand...

Remarkably true words.

I can especially vouch for the final sentence here in bold, for this is precisely how it happened to me.

My own heroin habit spanned the length and breadth of six years before I signed up to MMT for what would amount to a further two years from May 2013-February 2015. In late March of 2015 I took what was to be my final dose of my prescribed Methadone, coming off at 5mls. The first two weeks were certainly not without difficulty however approaching the end of April I noticed bouts of happy spells, and one morning just before May had actually begun - I woke up and felt the best I had in years.

I can and would very much like to expand upon this if anyone has any questions. Ultimately I remained happily sober for 6 months, couldnt find employment, did however find prescription codeine pills and would relapse into an (albeit) relatively light habit of chasing the dragon. I've recently just quit that after several failed attempts since November of 2015. Tomorrow marks 1 week. I used very low dose methadone for the initial five days which is a method I've tried to some success in the past and will write of this journey in another thread which I can link to tomorrow, but I dont wish to hijack this posters thread.

Remember, if you wish to move mountains tomorrow - you must move rocks today. Start slow; the less trauma the body and mind suffer during this time the faster you will recover. And you will recover. Message me anytime.
 
endlessnameless said:
Remarkably true words.

I can especially vouch for the final sentence here in bold, for this is precisely how it happened to me.

My own heroin habit spanned the length and breadth of six years before I signed up to MMT for what would amount to a further two years from May 2013-February 2015. In late March of 2015 I took what was to be my final dose of my prescribed Methadone, coming off at 5mls. The first two weeks were certainly not without difficulty however approaching the end of April I noticed bouts of happy spells, and one morning just before May had actually begun - I woke up and felt the best I had in years.

I can and would very much like to expand upon this if anyone has any questions. Ultimately I remained happily sober for 6 months, couldnt find employment, did however find prescription codeine pills and would relapse into an (albeit) relatively light habit of chasing the dragon. I've recently just quit that after several failed attempts since November of 2015. Tomorrow marks 1 week. I used very low dose methadone for the initial five days which is a method I've tried to some success in the past and will write of this journey in another thread which I can link to tomorrow, but I dont wish to hijack this posters thread.

Remember, if you wish to move mountains tomorrow - you must move rocks today. Start slow; the less trauma the body and mind suffer during this time the faster you will recover. And you will recover. Message me anytime.
Click to expand...

I like the saying even boulders eventually become sand. Rivers will eventually meander into the ocean.
 
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