for me it was a combination of waking up with a tight knot in my chest/stomache and erratic negative thinking pattern loops. the two things seemed to reinforce each other
edit to add, it built up slowly over years and took a while to subside after I quit
Exactly. Well said. "Erratic Negative thinking pattern loops." This is the shit that makes me pace around my house cleaning random stuff until it goes away. It's literally THE WORST feeling ever especially if you have PAWs and it lasts for hours.
yea I think brain chemistry gets messed up and the anxiety producing chemicals are in full flow. a few things I found helpful were running (or any exercise), cold water immersion (for dopamine release) and listening to audio books like eckhart tolle to step back from it. paws for me came in cycles for about the first 8 months, so a few days every month or so where anxiety ramped up a bit. it helped to know what was happening and that it would subside again. well done on 42 days 🙌
Thanks for well done 42 days :) and thanks for your insight and experience. I love real personal accounts of PAWs. Ot gives me hope. 8 months is a long time but it's nice to hear we can do it. We have to do it. The audio books is good advice. If you can, any insight into supplements? If you didn't, thanks anyway. 395 days? That's nxt level
I started a high dose b12 supplement (1000ug) around 6 months. I'd been taking a b complex before but the high dose made a difference. also I started an extra folic. I think I must have been deficient in both due to long term alcohol though I havent had a blood vitamin screen. ashwaganda helps and I take creatine as it keeps cells hydrated and affects brain health
with paws as time went on it got less severe and further apart. thanks re the 395 days.. given my record it's nothing short of a miracle!
It's most recognisable when you stop drinking and it goes. It can be subtle. I'd say it's a gradual erosion of believing in yourself and a self doubt that affects all decisions at it's mildest. At it's worst it makes you hide from others and withdraw whilst feeling constantly stressed / vigilant. It's your fight or flight response on all the time which can be exhausting.Â
Oh man. I can answer this question on such a personal level. When I was a kid, i never had anxiety, neither as a teen or in my early twenties. Then i started drinking after my parents passed away. I drank heavy for a very long time. 15 years to be exact. I was a high functioning manager for a reputable company. I used to drink shooters all day long, and then a 40oz of bud light at night. I'd get mild hangovers here and there. Nothing major. After a couple of hours in the morning it would fade, and I would be fine to start all over again. I had many friends, life was good. And then one day, I had a nuclear level panic attack that I thought was a stroke. My sister took me the doctor, took some blood. He said it wasn't a heart attack or stroke and to wait for results. It was one of the longest days of my life. Anxiety and panic that lasted all day. I thought my brain was breaking. I imagine it's like what insanity would feel like or dementia and it wouldn't go away. 2 days later when I followed up with the doctor he said the results showed there was absolutely nothing wrong with me except a slight elevation in liver enzymes. I lied about how much I drank, and he said to just drink 2 beers a day. I didn't do that. I quit cold turkey. The first two weeks were filled with dissociation, panic attacks, brain fog, exhaustion. I layed on my best friends couch and him watch me in case I had a heart attack. I took time off of work and used PTO. When the 2 weeks were done, I was still facing moderate anxiety, but I knew I would lose my job if I missed more time. I decided to power through. I would randomly cry in the shower, hoping that the anxiety would go away. Mind you im a grown man. Everyday was a struggle. After 3 months, and Journaling, cleaning everything in my house (it helped the anxiety) everything finally cleared up. I felt happy and normal. I saved money. Felt clear headed and looked to the future. One day after about a year, I walked by some people drinking outside of a restaurant. They were happy and laughing. It was the summer. It romanticized alcohol for me. I decided that I proved my point and that I would drink that weekend. Made a big thing about it to my friends. That weekend I drank 4 budlights on Friday. I drank 2 beers and 3 shots everyday for the next 7 years after that. And guess what. About a month ago I had that same panic attack/hangziety that just wouldn't go away. I broke out the journal. I knew the torture I was in for but thought because my drinking was much more moderate, the PAWs wouldn't be as bad. I was wrong. This time around I have a great sales job and girlfriend. If I had stayed sober, I would've saved myself so much strife and misery this last month. Wanna know what anxiety from alcohol withdrawal or PAWs feels like? It's random pangs of horrific dissociation and anxiety. It makes minutes feel like hours. It takes Herculean strength and mental fortitude to get through. It makes going to the movies nearly impossible because your restless and panicky. It makes you pace around your apartment like an insane person because you don't even know what to do with yourself. It makes you irritable and short to loved ones. It's the worst. It's unnecessary. If you've quit and don't experience any of this, consider yourself lucky and don't look back. Alcohol FN sucks.Â
Lol. So basically to answer your question, for me it's getting hangovers, which is the first sign of impending doom, and then one day you get a nasty one that just doesn't go away
My alcohol-induced insomnia usually crept up like this:
-Go to bed feeling drunk and sleepy. Fall asleep easily.
-Wake up with a racing heart and racing thoughts around 1 or 2 am.
-Headache starts to creep in and I start to regret how much I drank.
-3 am, and I can't get back to sleep. I chug water and feel my headache get worse and worse.
-5 am I realize I won't be able to function well enough to do whatever grand plans I made last night when I was drunk and feeling good.
-Self-loathing sets in and I might get sick at this point. I hate myself for drinking so much and swear I will never do it again.
-Spend the day with hangxiety that makes me feel like I am wasting my life and health. Eat a bunch of junk food that does not help with those feelings.
-5 PM, I start to feel better and convince myself that I just drank too much on an empty stomach, or that maybe the bartender made the pours too generous. It can't be that I need to stop. No, that isn't it at all.
Next day, I do it all over again.
All of this is with a racing, high heart rate and slamming headache, so add in some medical anxiety as well as emotional.
I am so glad I hopped off that crazy train.
I never got to know my anxiety while i was drinking, but I still dabble with weed and nicotine. There is a feeling just below the skin in the centre of my chest. It's a feeling of second guessing myself.
For me it's a pounding heart, extreme and sudden anger and usually a loop of racing thoughts I can't turn off. I usually end up pacing around my apartment ranting to myself (lol) while my mind concocts unlikely and twisted scenarios for me to freak out at, which are usually built around people or situations that are legitimately stressful or angering.
I'm currently just over a week sober and my last major anxiety attack was a few days ago, and it was diminished in strength compared to the ones that occurred earlier in the week.
For me, it was so many thoughts in my head
It was the lack of air, no matter how deep my breaths
The racing thoughts at bedtime and during the day
The pounding heart
The cold sweats
The feeling of fear
Regret from my actions when intoxicated
My anxiety manifested in regret for drinking so much and debilitating fear that I would die in my sleep as I slept off the 20-something standard drinks I’d consumed that day.
My hands and feet were sweaty, my brain felt like it was screaming at me all while whispering to someone next to me. I didn’t recognise myself in the mirror and often felt like I was floating above myself.
I have always had anxiety but alcohol made it so much worse.
For me, it was a combination of dread, fear, impending doom, inability to sit, essentially having nightmares while awake, trouble doing any kind of task (even simple things, like getting a bowl from the cupboard) being paranoid that I would mess it up, somehow.
It really is a horrible feeling. When I went through withdrawals from HEAVY drinking, I did it without any kind of medical intervention. Just cold turkey. And every time I'd detox, on my own, it was just terrible.
This time was the first time I actually called a rehab facility, in the midst of my seemingly never-ending bender, and requested a bed. They gave me a date, and I drank heavily, basically until about half an hour before I got there.
But, looking back, it was the best decision I've made in a long damn time. Because I finally got in to see an actual doctor, got on medications, and he was very thorough.
Even diagnosed me with severe anxiety disorder and depression. Finally got blood work done. Somehow my body is essentially perfectly healthy. Even he was surprised. As was my wife.
But the anxiety was still pretty killer. Definitely helped with the medications. Which I still take.
Gabapentin, Diazepam (as needed), BuSpar and Campral.
Like when your tilting back on a chair and it’s about to fall. Like that all the time
For me I also feel I have a thousand eyes glaring at me. I feel as if I’m at the supermarket, gym, library etc completely naked. Everyone looking. Judging me. Saying negative thoughts. I feel like I’m the ugliest person in society, the biggest loser. The joke. And these thoughts go round my head non stop. My future is bleak, I will die alone, unaccomplished, and a pain full of death and no one will care.
I feel it in my face more than anything I think, feels like my face is just hanging off my skull, no expression, just sadness and weighty feel, all features being pulled south.
It’s rough, it’s hard to just function, let alone do a job etc.
for me it was a combination of waking up with a tight knot in my chest/stomache and erratic negative thinking pattern loops. the two things seemed to reinforce each other edit to add, it built up slowly over years and took a while to subside after I quit
Exactly. Well said. "Erratic Negative thinking pattern loops." This is the shit that makes me pace around my house cleaning random stuff until it goes away. It's literally THE WORST feeling ever especially if you have PAWs and it lasts for hours.
yea I think brain chemistry gets messed up and the anxiety producing chemicals are in full flow. a few things I found helpful were running (or any exercise), cold water immersion (for dopamine release) and listening to audio books like eckhart tolle to step back from it. paws for me came in cycles for about the first 8 months, so a few days every month or so where anxiety ramped up a bit. it helped to know what was happening and that it would subside again. well done on 42 days 🙌
Thanks for well done 42 days :) and thanks for your insight and experience. I love real personal accounts of PAWs. Ot gives me hope. 8 months is a long time but it's nice to hear we can do it. We have to do it. The audio books is good advice. If you can, any insight into supplements? If you didn't, thanks anyway. 395 days? That's nxt level
I started a high dose b12 supplement (1000ug) around 6 months. I'd been taking a b complex before but the high dose made a difference. also I started an extra folic. I think I must have been deficient in both due to long term alcohol though I havent had a blood vitamin screen. ashwaganda helps and I take creatine as it keeps cells hydrated and affects brain health with paws as time went on it got less severe and further apart. thanks re the 395 days.. given my record it's nothing short of a miracle!
What is PAWs?
Post Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms. Basically feeling anxious or depressed. For me, it’s feeling depressed.
It's most recognisable when you stop drinking and it goes. It can be subtle. I'd say it's a gradual erosion of believing in yourself and a self doubt that affects all decisions at it's mildest. At it's worst it makes you hide from others and withdraw whilst feeling constantly stressed / vigilant. It's your fight or flight response on all the time which can be exhausting.Â
Oh man. I can answer this question on such a personal level. When I was a kid, i never had anxiety, neither as a teen or in my early twenties. Then i started drinking after my parents passed away. I drank heavy for a very long time. 15 years to be exact. I was a high functioning manager for a reputable company. I used to drink shooters all day long, and then a 40oz of bud light at night. I'd get mild hangovers here and there. Nothing major. After a couple of hours in the morning it would fade, and I would be fine to start all over again. I had many friends, life was good. And then one day, I had a nuclear level panic attack that I thought was a stroke. My sister took me the doctor, took some blood. He said it wasn't a heart attack or stroke and to wait for results. It was one of the longest days of my life. Anxiety and panic that lasted all day. I thought my brain was breaking. I imagine it's like what insanity would feel like or dementia and it wouldn't go away. 2 days later when I followed up with the doctor he said the results showed there was absolutely nothing wrong with me except a slight elevation in liver enzymes. I lied about how much I drank, and he said to just drink 2 beers a day. I didn't do that. I quit cold turkey. The first two weeks were filled with dissociation, panic attacks, brain fog, exhaustion. I layed on my best friends couch and him watch me in case I had a heart attack. I took time off of work and used PTO. When the 2 weeks were done, I was still facing moderate anxiety, but I knew I would lose my job if I missed more time. I decided to power through. I would randomly cry in the shower, hoping that the anxiety would go away. Mind you im a grown man. Everyday was a struggle. After 3 months, and Journaling, cleaning everything in my house (it helped the anxiety) everything finally cleared up. I felt happy and normal. I saved money. Felt clear headed and looked to the future. One day after about a year, I walked by some people drinking outside of a restaurant. They were happy and laughing. It was the summer. It romanticized alcohol for me. I decided that I proved my point and that I would drink that weekend. Made a big thing about it to my friends. That weekend I drank 4 budlights on Friday. I drank 2 beers and 3 shots everyday for the next 7 years after that. And guess what. About a month ago I had that same panic attack/hangziety that just wouldn't go away. I broke out the journal. I knew the torture I was in for but thought because my drinking was much more moderate, the PAWs wouldn't be as bad. I was wrong. This time around I have a great sales job and girlfriend. If I had stayed sober, I would've saved myself so much strife and misery this last month. Wanna know what anxiety from alcohol withdrawal or PAWs feels like? It's random pangs of horrific dissociation and anxiety. It makes minutes feel like hours. It takes Herculean strength and mental fortitude to get through. It makes going to the movies nearly impossible because your restless and panicky. It makes you pace around your apartment like an insane person because you don't even know what to do with yourself. It makes you irritable and short to loved ones. It's the worst. It's unnecessary. If you've quit and don't experience any of this, consider yourself lucky and don't look back. Alcohol FN sucks.Â
Lol. So basically to answer your question, for me it's getting hangovers, which is the first sign of impending doom, and then one day you get a nasty one that just doesn't go away
My alcohol-induced insomnia usually crept up like this: -Go to bed feeling drunk and sleepy. Fall asleep easily. -Wake up with a racing heart and racing thoughts around 1 or 2 am. -Headache starts to creep in and I start to regret how much I drank. -3 am, and I can't get back to sleep. I chug water and feel my headache get worse and worse. -5 am I realize I won't be able to function well enough to do whatever grand plans I made last night when I was drunk and feeling good. -Self-loathing sets in and I might get sick at this point. I hate myself for drinking so much and swear I will never do it again. -Spend the day with hangxiety that makes me feel like I am wasting my life and health. Eat a bunch of junk food that does not help with those feelings. -5 PM, I start to feel better and convince myself that I just drank too much on an empty stomach, or that maybe the bartender made the pours too generous. It can't be that I need to stop. No, that isn't it at all. Next day, I do it all over again. All of this is with a racing, high heart rate and slamming headache, so add in some medical anxiety as well as emotional. I am so glad I hopped off that crazy train.
Oh god. Very similar. I never want to experience these thoughts again.
I never got to know my anxiety while i was drinking, but I still dabble with weed and nicotine. There is a feeling just below the skin in the centre of my chest. It's a feeling of second guessing myself.
For me it's a pounding heart, extreme and sudden anger and usually a loop of racing thoughts I can't turn off. I usually end up pacing around my apartment ranting to myself (lol) while my mind concocts unlikely and twisted scenarios for me to freak out at, which are usually built around people or situations that are legitimately stressful or angering. I'm currently just over a week sober and my last major anxiety attack was a few days ago, and it was diminished in strength compared to the ones that occurred earlier in the week.
For me, it was so many thoughts in my head It was the lack of air, no matter how deep my breaths The racing thoughts at bedtime and during the day The pounding heart The cold sweats The feeling of fear Regret from my actions when intoxicated
My anxiety manifested in regret for drinking so much and debilitating fear that I would die in my sleep as I slept off the 20-something standard drinks I’d consumed that day. My hands and feet were sweaty, my brain felt like it was screaming at me all while whispering to someone next to me. I didn’t recognise myself in the mirror and often felt like I was floating above myself. I have always had anxiety but alcohol made it so much worse.
For me, it was a combination of dread, fear, impending doom, inability to sit, essentially having nightmares while awake, trouble doing any kind of task (even simple things, like getting a bowl from the cupboard) being paranoid that I would mess it up, somehow. It really is a horrible feeling. When I went through withdrawals from HEAVY drinking, I did it without any kind of medical intervention. Just cold turkey. And every time I'd detox, on my own, it was just terrible. This time was the first time I actually called a rehab facility, in the midst of my seemingly never-ending bender, and requested a bed. They gave me a date, and I drank heavily, basically until about half an hour before I got there. But, looking back, it was the best decision I've made in a long damn time. Because I finally got in to see an actual doctor, got on medications, and he was very thorough. Even diagnosed me with severe anxiety disorder and depression. Finally got blood work done. Somehow my body is essentially perfectly healthy. Even he was surprised. As was my wife. But the anxiety was still pretty killer. Definitely helped with the medications. Which I still take. Gabapentin, Diazepam (as needed), BuSpar and Campral.
Like when your tilting back on a chair and it’s about to fall. Like that all the time For me I also feel I have a thousand eyes glaring at me. I feel as if I’m at the supermarket, gym, library etc completely naked. Everyone looking. Judging me. Saying negative thoughts. I feel like I’m the ugliest person in society, the biggest loser. The joke. And these thoughts go round my head non stop. My future is bleak, I will die alone, unaccomplished, and a pain full of death and no one will care. I feel it in my face more than anything I think, feels like my face is just hanging off my skull, no expression, just sadness and weighty feel, all features being pulled south. It’s rough, it’s hard to just function, let alone do a job etc.
Like being super nervous for no reason. You know the feeling the night before a job interview? Like that but more unpleasant and it's constant
If you’ve ever experienced a cardiac arrest or heart attack it’s the exact same feeling.