10 months in ..PAWS or GAD?

When i was at 9 and 10 months I was still getting a lot of anxiety. You could have PAWS (in which case your anxiety will eventually cease) or you may have an anxiety order now that was triggered by your long term use of pot. Stick with your quit and youll know for sure. 9 months is still early.

.. I do have a whole lot of stressors to deal with at the current time...depressed wife, father with dementia, Covid etc..

These factors are probably more likely if pot was a coping mechanism for life stressors. Now you don't have it, you're having to manage them raw. Worse in the morning would suggest the same as you realise what's ahead for the day? Perhaps try and focus on what you can do and get support for what you struggle with. I hope things work out for you, just stay off pot as it's not an answer.

I have a very similar background to yours, currently in month 13. My first 3 months were horrendous, feeling 1-20% of being normal. Months 4-6 were bad, running at 30-50%. Months 7-9 were tolerable at 50-80% with nasty waves of PAWS. Since month 10 I can't really complain, I am more and more frequently over 90% and sometimes even forget about the whole ordeal for 2-3 weeks. But every now and then I get a delicate reminder by Mr Paws that things are not quite over just yet. The lows peak at bedtime and there is absolutely nothing I can do about them. I simply assume my place for the night on the living room couch and try to weather through the night with as little agony as possible. You are probably more severely affected than me it seems. Don't give in mate, you'll get over it.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I haven't had any days without anxiety. There are hours when i feel completely normal, but not the whole day.

Any opinions on SSRI's. Apparently for treating anxiety SSRI's and CBT/physcothrapy are the best options.

Reading things like Anxiety can never be cured and you just learn to live with it makes me even more anxious. But then i read posts here of people that no longer have any anxieties after letting their brain recover. I was never an anxious or depressed person. Quite the opposite.

Anxiety is a response to a stimuli and it can be managed and eliminated. The key is how you perceive what's going on at the time. If you don't react, you won't experience anxiety as it can't exist on it's own. Pain is similar.. you can only have pain when something is causing it.

Can you elaborate a bit more.

Tips/clues on how to manage/eliminate it?

I have read a book ( hope and help for you nerves by clair weeks ) were you just need to accept the anxiety and move on. Know what its doing to you but don't be afraid of it...had to do when you feel like crap

When you feel the anxiety wave coming on, don't fight it! Let it wash over you. If you do it well, you'll feel as if you were high/stoned. Paradoxical as it may sound, that can stop you from escalating panic. Well, at least this is how I kept anxiety at bay when I had this problem. Give it a try!

katok wrote:Can you elaborate a bit more.

Tips/clues on how to manage/eliminate it?

I have read a book ( hope and help for you nerves by clair weeks ) were you just need to accept the anxiety and move on. Know what its doing to you but don't be afraid of it...had to do when you feel like crap

Each person is different, but remember when you were young and perhaps afraid of the dark? No matter how many times you were told there's nothing to be afraid of etc etc, a part of you thought... but what if there is? Anxiety is often about what if. Have I damaged my brain, libido, life, me!!! So we focus on tagging any symptoms or feelings to those things. This then loops so you believe you have or why the symptoms and it repeats. As with the child who's afraid of the dark, you suddenly stopped believing it because you know there isn't anything in the dark but lack of light. With anxiety you need to change how you process your worries.. have you damaged yourself because you only sleep 5 hours instead of 10? No, you're just sleeping less. Have I damaged my brain because I don't feel the same? You mean, you no longer have a feeling induced drug in your system and you wonder why you feel different now you don't? Really??? When I've eaten I no longer feel hungry.... wonder why?
Try and stop feeding the loop and accept you do feel different, think and act different and it's a good thing because it's you being unmedicated. All things pass in time, as this will if you stop keeping it in front of you instead of behind you.
Best wishes

Medication is half the job, the other half is steps you take and confrontation of these issues. Anxiety, etc. You need to confront the issues.

Hey Katok-any updates? My doctor also is pushing me to use an SSRI to help me along and then I plan to get off ASAP. Did you have any success?