PAWS and Anxiety

muskolo

Bluelighter
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May 8, 2011
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USA
I've heard a lot of different things about PAWS following Suboxone. Is it a condition that happens post-Suboxone? I've been off for 40 some days and my physical problems are gone but the anxiety can be unbearable.

I can deal with the cloudy thinking and some mood swings but at times it is very difficult to even do anything at all. The only thing I have been taking is St. John's Wort because I heard that helps with depression. So far, I've been good with that. Whether or not it has anything to do with SJW is another discussion.

I had tried Valerian Root but it did nothing for me. My question is, does this last for months or is it something that should be basically gone by the 2 month mark? Believe me, I'm not a whiner; the anxiety has been a big problem for me and I don't have insurance or anything to go to a Dr.

Any help would be appreciated!
 
Hey muskolo!


From what Ive read, it can last for normally up to 1 or 2 months and occasionaly more; depending on how long you have been taking Sub's. However it shouldnt last any more than a couple of months and imagine the PAWS symptoms will taper off, within that period.

How long have you been experiencing it for, so far?

Taking care of your diet and aerobic excercise should also help with the Lethargy, mood swings etc
 
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Hey muskolo that is normal yes but I personally wouldn't deal with it if it was me.

That is paws that you are refering too and apparently suboxone can have an extended PAWs phase in people. Well I just hear that although the wds tend to be more moderate, because of the extremely slow dissolution from the receptors everything is extended with sub.

So the anxiety could last a few more months, or depending on how long you were on sub it can last almost a year.

There are things you can take to crush the anxiety though. Lyrica for one is great for that. But then you will just find yourself focusing on your depression and inability to be productive. So once the anxiety is gone you still have that to deal with.

So I'll tell you what I tell everyone.

First, a low dose of tramadol is great for paws. Its a strong antidepressant and will stimulate you and give you energy. But don't exceed 50-100mg a day and don't take it for more than a couple of months. It will give you a couple months where you can function, then stopping it you shouldn't have any wds. Tram just takes a long time for the body to get use to I noticed. But thats one thing that will reverse sub paws w/out adding too much of its own bs. It has to be controlled though like I said and maintained at the lowest dose possible. 50mg a day would likely be enough just to get you going and doing things.

Another med that is great for paws is adderal. Again you would take a very low dose though. It will get rid of that anxiety and give you energy to function while your opiate receptors can still heal. Adderal I would prefer over tram if you can get it.

With the exception of tram the idea would be to hijack other areas of your brain that you haven't yet raped like your opiate receptors, take a small "loan" from those receptors to cover the short term deficiencies that opiates left you with. Combinations of certain meds can work too. But ideally ou are not going to find a lot of OTC supplement/vitamins that will actually help.

There are the 3 T protiens L-Tyrosine, L-Taurine and L-Theanine which you want to take with B-6 which will make them work more efficiently.
But depending on where your brain actually is in recovering, those could potentially help you 100% or they could potentially do very little to nothing for you.

You also have kratom which would likely work great too. Its a great anti depressant, gives you energy, but also has wds. Still though if you rarely use kratom, its one of those drugs that takes some time to grow a tolerance too. I know I've taken it myself for months and stopped w/out any wds. So again it might give you a good bit of relief for few months and you can stop it or taper down.

You can experiment with a mixture of kanna leaf and stimulants. ECA mixes (ephedrine/caffiene/aspirin) can be bought online along with clenbuterol. I won't mention any places where to get them but they may offer you enough stimulation to want to get up and move around do shit. Kanna itself (good kanna leaf and make sure its the authentic strain) is extremely powerful for anxiety and if you find good leaf there is personally no anxiety it can't stand up against. I view kanna leaf like an immediate ssri except I find it stronger, cleaner, and all around better due to having no wds. It also gives you its own little bit of stimulation and motivation to get up and do things.


<Juvenile comment deleted, not relevant to OP>

PM me if you have any more questions as paws is a bitch and I hate to see people suffering from it.
 
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Thanks everyone!

I've been on Suboxone for 2 years. Up until September of last year, I took around 2mg or less daily. I then went on Subutex I took between 4-8mg a day (i know). I jumped at 8mg and used Kratom to get through the acute phase and have been on nothing aside from last week when I took a small amount of Kratom.

I would like to avoid medicating it if I can as I don't want any setbacks. Speaking of which, does anyone know if Kratom would do that? It is highly debated whether or not it is an opioid derivative. Just curious. Thanks again for all your advice and kindness.
 
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bojangles-bad advice man..you are recommending someone going thru Paws to take an opiod and then to take a very potent stimulant to help deal with anxiety!?!?!?!did i read that right??sure, adderall will make you feel better for awhile but once u crash your anxiety will be 10 times worse!!not only that but your depression will be worse as well...if anything, if you feel you must depserately need something to get you going, take low doses of caffeine...eventhough there are studies that show caffeine will aggravate Paws in many people i found that wheh i first started back working after kicking methadone i just had no energy..low doses of caffeine helped a little..

not many opiate addicts will be able to keep their tramadol use to strict doses every day..it sure would help mood and motivation though but its unlikely u can stay on course...

this is the toughest question to answer..i went thru months and months of anxiety and depression after kicking opiates, seemed like it would never end..i still go thru bouts of mad anxiety/depression/lethargy but not as often..i basically just toughed it out with exercise and hoping it would end..there is no magical solution to end it....
 
Dude, you are not whining...This shit is tough. PAWS I think can last up to a YEAR, depending on your situation.
 
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