Waves

As a useful resource…

Here is a 2021 article that suggests various ways to manage cannabis use disorder (CUD).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8655458/

And this link is to several ways CUD is being addressed…

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl ... objectonly

Second link was not working…

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl ... objectonly

Anyone else getting symptom waves that happen due to a trigger or maybe routinely? Just trying to compare with others to see if Id be normal. They seem so long and hard (month and a half). Then a few weeks ok.

I guess Im the only one getting waves of symptoms then.

I also smoked 15 years. I am 11 month in and still struggling. I am assuming it is anxiety related because I feel I am constantly in a state of anxiety. I get a lot of physical symptoms but they have eased up since around the 6th month. I am now able to force myself through situations when before I was literally hiding in my house to avoid all triggers. I got hit with a wave a week ago and have been feeling pretty shitty. Head pressure, headaches, some nausea, and feeling as if I am on a boat a lot of the day. I had a few good weeks prior to that and was hoping to get better. This wave however does seem to be a lot more bearable. I felt decent yesterday but got into a fight with my SO and the symptoms hit hard for a few hours. We talked about it and my symptoms eased up a lot. I have come to a biased conclusion that physical symptoms stem from anxiety even when we do not feel anxious.

I feel lucky I dont have a lot of the emotional ill effects. But boy the physical ones are a killer. Im in bed for up to 6 weeks from each wave.

11 months and still struggling sounds difficult. I was hoping at 7 months Id be all good again. Some days it feels much worse then when I first started (before PAWS started).

Its amazing how the body works. Feel good one day and shocking the next.
Im surprised Drs are so useless at identifying PAWs.
Maybe they dont identify it as not many people get it? I cant even find a lot about it on the internet. Which just makes you feel even more weird and crazy when trying to get medical or even social help
Its a hard one to deal with on many levels.

Blinkers wrote:I thought it would be good to have a thread where people detail their stages of PAWS they experienced.
So far for me
Initial Detox= 2 weeks
At 2weeks= Felt a million bucks for a few days
2 weeks on slipped into chronic PAWs.
2 months. Slowly started to improve very gradually.
4 months where the waves began
Waves (Ive had two so far going 4-6 weeks).
Symptoms gradually get worse over 4-5 weeks until bed debilitatingly painful. Then suddenly wake up and Im feeling fine for a few weeks before the next wave starts
Im at 7 months now. Smoked for 15 years

Hi Mate,

I've smoked for 12+ years and daily for most of those years and i've stopped smoking 5 months ago.
I've kind identified 2 types of waves - the small ones when can last 10 minutes up to a few hours but they don't affect as much. And the big waves which for me it's anxiety to the highest level, the fear like something bad is constantly going to happen, intrusive thoughts that feel real. But thankfully the wave only seem to last a week - however this particular wave feels like the first couple of months which is not ideal and very scary for me. I think it was the best few weeks i've had since it all started so probably why this wave has really taking me by surprise and killed my optimism.

Just need to keep going and get past this !

Hey Elpino91
Thats intense. Do you get many bodily symptoms as well?

Ive noticed even within a wave timeframe that sleep worsens it considerably. Like Ill awake with a shocking headaches and all other issues. Which reduce over the day and may or may not keep me in bed for all of it.

Dude sleep is major. I have good sleep my symptoms are so minimal. I sleep like sh** I wake up with a headache, dizzy, and just shitty physically feeling. It's gotten better where I have days that are actually decent. Like today was good I just got some physical symptoms when I had to do something that put me under a little pressure. Got done and went outside and felt so much better. I also feel better at night. For me I think it's being home and having a comfortable and stress free environment. Even slight stress can throw me into physical symptoms. Sucks donkey buck I feel like I'm 6 months I will be doing so much better since 6 months ago I was way worse then now. How are your symptoms and do you have triggers?

Thats interesting
I seem to have varying sleeping patterns but always wake up the same way. Belted.
I avoid stress and dont work right now. Its never really changed much. But then I dont really stress and when I do I often feel better.
Im thinking of getting to bed earlier than 10pm. So its odd you said this. I will take it as a sign and give it a shot and see how it turns out.
Caffiene, coke and sugar seem to trigger me big time.Then Im in bed for weeks. Just half a tspn of green tea and the next day its like Ive been out all night on the booze (I dont drink now either)
But other times I dont know what triggers the waves. They just seem to have a mind of their own.
Ive noticed drinking a liter of water at a time helps. Half a liter doesnt really.

I’m 2 weeks shy of 1 year sober and I’ve also experienced waves throughout my recovery process. I thought I was crazy for awhile and would actually make a note on my calendar when each wave would start and end. They lasted anywhere from 2-4 weeks. In the beginning I was only going 1-2 weeks in between waves. I felt like I was drowning in feeling like physical and mental crap. And in between waves it gave me enough time to come up for air just to be dragged back down when another wave hits. Literally like drowning. I hope that makes sense. If it’s any consolation it does get better.

1 year congratulations!
Thanks for this update. Its very helpful. It sounds much inline with me. I was wondering weather this may be early onset Parkinson's or something. But your description has reassured me.
How long are the breaks between waves for you now at nearly the year mark?