Feelings of anxiety, fearfulness or anger.Stressful and/or frustrating situations.Any of the following situations may trigger a temporary return to, or worsening of, the symptoms of post-acute withdrawal syndrome: They may last for a short period of time or for a long time. Symptoms are made worse by stress or other triggers and may arise at unexpected times and for no apparent reason. Symptoms are not always present - they occur intermittently. Anhedonia – technical term for the inability to feel pleasure.Mood swings – from depression to euphoria.Sleep disturbances – insomnia, hypersomnia (too much sleep) or vivid dreams.The following list presents some of the most prominent: The list of the various symptoms of PAWS is quite long! It includes 20 symptoms. Like urges, they decrease in frequency and intensity with time. The good news however is that, barring relapse, the symptoms will go away. PAWS can last for varying periods of time and be of varying intensity with the duration usually being measured in months – occasionally over a year. Intense urges are a big part of PAWS and some consider this to be the number one cause of relapse within the first year. However, in some people the symptoms can be extremely bothersome, to the point of people thinking that they are losing it. Mind you, usually the symptoms of PAWS are mild and not too troublesome. The number affected depended upon what the substance of abuse was: about 70% of former alcohol users and as high as 90% for former opiate users. In a recent study of a large number of patients it was discovered that between 70% and 90% of people experience symptoms of PAWS. Here we will discuss PAWS in some detail because understanding it can aid in successful recovery. Weeks to months into recovery, a variety of symptoms can occur such as described above. After the initial acute withdrawal, one can enter a second phase of withdrawal symptoms. We know that recovery progresses in stages. Unfortunately, as noted above, we don’t often hear much about it in the recovery community even though it is an extremely common experience. You are suffering from what is known as PAWS (Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome). You are having trouble sleeping, you’re sleeping too much, or you’re having very vivid dreams.
You are experiencing mood swings that range from being on a pink cloud to feeling down in the dumps. Suddenly, you start to realize that you’re feeling edgy and antsy. You’ve been through detox and all of the withdrawal symptoms and you are doing pretty well for perhaps a month or two. The following scenario can illustrate it: It is a not yet widely known problematic syndrome (syndrome is a medical term which describes a grouping of varying symptoms) of addiction recovery. Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) is something that perhaps unfortunately, we haven’t discussed much in SMART Recovery®. By Bill Abbott & Suzy W., SMART Recovery Meeting Facilitators
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