Author: tearj3rker
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:35 am
| laddertipper wrote: |
| I’m now having some PAWS symptoms and have been on and off. It took me a while to understand that they were actually PAWS. I’ve read up on PAWS and they mostly address things like depression, inability to focus, etc. Maybe I have some of that, but my biggest issue now is the physical side. I’m still getting chills pretty much everyday. Some days are so minimal that I barely notice it. Other days are worse and I get other things, like cold hands, cold sweating, and a weird smell in my nose. This all seems worse in the mornings when I first wake up. |
This is normal coming off any opioid with a long half life. Traces of buprenorphine & methadone linger in the body for months after, and those intermittent withdrawals I’d like to view as "purging / flushing the last bits of bupe / methadone outta my body". It reminded me that it was a part of my recovery, rather than a movement backwards.
| Quote: |
| I firmly believe taking pain meds after that surgery set me back. I did not take an excessive amount or take them for an excessive length of time. However, my body reacted so intensely to them. I finally felt warm, for one. It felt like my system was recognizing something it had been missing and started throwing symptoms at me in between doses. |
That’s how it works for us opioid addicts sadly. It’s the reason why it’s so hard for us to use occasionally once we’ve been addicted. The moment our receptors get introduced to an opioid again, all the old ones from our addiction fire up again pretty quickly, and the recovery takes time as well. It didn’t set you back though. It may have slowed it down a bit, but you’re still moving forward, yes?
| Quote: |
| If you read online about PAWS, there is such a huge time frame, and that’s where the mental game starts. I’d like to think I won’t have chills & diarrhea for two years every time I eat too much sugar or dairy. How long do you guys think this physical stuff will last? Right now, I’m setting dates, like one month, two months, etc. and telling myself it will be gone by then. This keeps me positive. |
This is where I think the whole PAWS concept can be negative to dwell on. It’s good to be aware that the feelings of uncomfortability and weirdness are a part of a normal recovery process, and that it’s temporary, otherwise people might think it’s just how life is without drugs… and go "stuff that, I’d rather be using".
But it is temporary. That being said, I wouldn’t play any waiting game. That’s a mistake I made for so long, waiting to be out of early recovery (or post-PAWS) before I could live properly, before I’d be me again and could live. For one, PAWS doesn’t have an end date. PAWS is so gradual its recovery is almost unnoticeable. I only noticed it when I looked back from 6 months clean at how nuts I was at 1 month, same went for 12 months looking back at 6. It’s almost like growing up and maturing in its own way. Life is what happens when we wait for our destination. I find it better to view it as the early recovery period. It’s important to not dwell on the sickness, but on the recovery.
I have some doubts as to whether a really slow taper would help much for PAWS for me, just based on some experience in the past.
Fuck vitamins, kratom, marijuana, supplements. The only real cure for PAWS is time, and a bit of hard work. 
