Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS)

My advice is to not use benzos so much. I only took like once a month, something like that. I got that kind of anxiety too just add to the other feelings the feeling of suffocation ) the nausea makes it even harder to breathe. It dissapeard a month ago. I still have anxiety but it doesn't feel like that anymore.

Well, there are people that have no problem with weed, yes they exist. My bf for example: stopped along with me for 6 7 months, and he was perfectly fine all the time. Like nothing happened. I was in hell vomiting, not sleeping, crying, loosing weight, looking like a corpse and he was exactly the opposite. He now smokes from time to time, once a month maybe because he likes it. But doesn't have a problem with it like i do. So yeah, there are different kinds of people

P.s: your english is fine it's not my native either, i'm from Romania

helenadoc wrote:

olskoolru wrote:Hi Dhae,

If I had known, while in my 10th month, that i would be feeling the way I do now, it would have made it ten times easier. But I didn’t and that was the blessing. It may sound a bit strange, but the only way I was ever going to make it out without relapsing was to endure pain and agony beyond what I thought I could endure. If it was easy, I’d probably be brain dead and smoking right now.

Stay strong!

Ru

Hi OSR! I wanted to say that your posts are so inspirational and it gives me hope to carry on with this nightmare. Your words are like a balm to my soul

I am at 9 months and a half and i feel like sh**, like i'm stagnating in this state of mind, but when i read your posts and answers to peoples questions is like a breath of fresh air.

You are a true example of victory in this battle with addiction and i thank you for coming back every now and then and keep our spirit up.

All the best,
DD!

Hi Helena,

I am so happy that my posts have given you some inspiration. Yes, you are going though a very similar withdrawal and PAWS process that I did. It is very true that some people have no issues at all when quitting, and some of us get shot straight to hell on Earth. That is just the nature of addiction.

It is very important that you see progress and recognize it as such. Anxiety makes us dwell on the negative. Sometimes our progress is so gradual that it is impossible to see until you get a very bad episode that becomes a point of comparison. Your brain is doing two things right now: healing and trying to get you to smoke again. You have been so strong that you've come this far. I know exactly what you are going through and I know that you will come out of this a stronger, happier, and healthier person. I couldn't believe it at the stage you are in, but low and behold, I made it to where I am today.

Initially, I was completely OBSESSED with every little symptom I got. I was also obsessed with this forum. Even though it is a godsend and really the only place in the world that you can find people that are suffering through the same thing. You are blessed to have made it this far and to have found this community for support.

if you ever have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me through a message. I will try to check back regularly.

Also, visit the Dopamine Dialogues site, w"Withdrawal" thread. tThere you'll find some of my earliest posts and the moderators AMAZING replies to me.

Stay strong and be good to yourself!

OSR

]
Thank you, OSR. I will visit the site. Since i am a new member on this forum i cannot send you a message.
Being good to myself is the hardest thing to do. And yes, i am obssesed with getting better and with this forum. I visit it several times a day and i read all over again good experiences.

I send you my regards!

Just keeping hope (and this thread) alive!

This thread was the first thing that gave me any hope at the beginning of my quit.I don't know what I would have done if I didn't find out about marijuana cessation induced PAWS from this thread. A lot of people quit, deal with discomfort for a couple of weeks and then are fine, and deny protracted withdrawal and point the finger at "underlying conditions".

I'm a couple of weeks past 6 months sober, and am still dealing with PAWS, but it's getting better over time. I dealt with all manner of symptoms for the first few months. Burning/tingling/numb hands, arms, feet, wildly loud tinnitus, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, no appetite, tremendous health anxiety.

Now I have trouble getting a full 8 hours of sleep and every so often, go a night without sleeping, but most of the other stuff has passed. I'm confident that this will get better over time. Hopefully within a few months, likely within 1 year of quitting, maybe within 2 years. The key is that I will recover.

Hey leavepawsbehind, is your tinnitus better now?

It's much less intrusive than after I quit marijuana six months ago. I still hear it in silence or when my ear is plugged. It's louder in my right ear. I have very faint ringing in my left ear that is almost imperceptible even in silence. When I am anxious or am going through a wave of paws, it gets a bit louder. Its volume is usually in step with other anxiety symptoms. I can go through a day forgetting about it and only be reminded when I go to turn on my sound machines and fans at night before I go to bed.
I've had a few periods for a couple of days where it's gone completely, so I am optimistic that it may go away completely once my anxiety and insomnia are completely under control. It really hasn't effected my quality of life for months though. CBT and mindfulness have helped me with it along with many other things.

Thank you for the great information olskoolru.
Even this site is such a helping gift.
Im in for 10 months and still having waves of anxiety, negativ thoughts, slight hallucinations, fatigue, no sleep... Im afraid I will never get normal. It give me so much hope.
Thank you ❣️

Hang in there, Lucy! You’ll make it to the other side soon. Update us on how you are doing.

OSR

19 Months clean from weed here. And boy has it been a ride. There were times as a man I came home crying to my wife not knowing what was happening to me. It effected my work, my social life; even relationships with family and those I’ve known for years! Paws effected every aspect of my life. I understood people didn’t understand. As humans of the world do, they tend to come to their own conclusions about what I was feeling; which were completely wrong. My wife was the only one who understood to a degree.

I am finally seeing a change for the first time in almost 2 years. There is still a bit of anxiety there throughout the day. But it’s short lived. My confidence is peaking again, my since of self worth is returning. It’s amazing how the brain works and how we destroy it without even realizing what we are doing. Never again will I touch another drug in my LIFE! I’m an all natural man of God now. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Prayer works Guys. God knows what you are going through. But needs you to go through this so you can understand that all the bliss and happiness you desire is already preprogrammed into our hearts and minds. We don’t need a drug to bring it out. I’m a witness to this PAWS thing. It will subside over time. Be patient and be good to yourselves. And never ever allow another drug in your system again.

God bless you all

Any of you guys experience rumination as part of PAWS?

Hi weedbaddrug,

I think almost everyone are facing rumination of PAWS.

Last night after 87 days clean I hada vivid dream where I smoked, then realized I had ruined my streak; and just feared the PAWS symptoms that were to come. Not Rumination but certainly my brain dwelling on and fretting possible episodes of PAWS.

Hey everyone. I just wanted to share my experience with what I believe and hope is PAWs. I was a daily weed smoker for about one and a half years. I used tree, concentrates (vape pens), and edibles. It’s been almost 2 months since I quit cold turkey. The first week or so was definitely the worst with terrible anxiety and insomnia. Then I had a good week with minimum symptoms and thought I was over it. Then I got hit with terrible mood swings and depression. The anxiety also came back. However this time the anxiety was not as bad. But the main thing that has been bothering me for the past month is having irrational thoughts that my mind cant seem to stop thinking about. This in turn causes me to have anxiety. I’m guessing the anxiety is causing my mind to have irrational thoughts. These irrational thoughts have made me feel as though I’m developing irrational phobias as well. For example the main irrational thought that keeps running through my mind is that a bowling ball is going to be dropped from a plane and hit me. Now i know and tell myself that this is an irrational thought, but my mind keeps going back to this thought and I cant seem to get it out of my mind. Could this be part of the anixety from PAWS? I can tell that my symptoms are getting in terms decreasing severity, but the PAWS definitely make you believe otherwise. Anyways thanks for listening and hope to hear from someone.

Hi guys I've been lurking here for a while. This is the only place I've found where PAWS folks seem to hang out and know what they're talking about, and it's a relief to hear I'm not alone.

I developed PAWS after taking low dose naltrexone for CFS. It made me feel anxious and elated while on it, but was suddenly ten times worse when I quit the medication after 6 months of treatment. I've had many episodes of terrible anxiety and dread and nervous tension, waking up feeling upset for no reason and the slightest stressor seems almost unbearable, with PTSD symptoms.

I've just moved out of a shared house to get away from the triggers but I'm still having terrible anxiety living with someone and don't know how I'm going to get through the next 6 months tenancy contract, feeling like I desperately need to get away a lot of the time. It's been 18 months so far. I'm really hoping at 24 months this problem will magically vanish. Can anyone relate to this?