Paws ended at month 30

[thegreatdane]

Hey guys, long time no see.

I wanna make this short. I suffered 26 months with nearly constant social anxiety, depression, fatigue, etc. This happened after stopping smoking weed which i did daily for 4 years. Classic Paws symptoms. I was suicidal because of it, i lost myself completely.
At month 30 i just started having really good days. My brain started working again. I felt confident, colours were clearer, sounds were clearer, i could see things clearer. I felt happy in my stomach and felt like a kid again. Now at month 31 i feel like that all the time and its honestly surreal to look back on the last 2.5 years and even before that when i was smoking. I can now see that PAWS is a good thing. How can we know what light is if we dont face darkness? We learn so much during PAWS. Now nothing really bothers me. Nothing brings me down. If im getting fired? Fine. Girlfriend breaks up? Not as bad as paws. Nothing is as bad as paws. Because now i can FEEL. I can FEEL EMOTIONS. Im confident. When paws ended i just went camping for like 7 days out in the woods because i COULD. And it was amazing.
Never loose hope guys. Time is what we need!

[HopefulMe]

Yay! I don't know if you remember me. But we talked and we could relate on certain symptoms. I am so happy to hear from you and see that you're much better!

[PAWSsurvivor]

I have to admit I poked my head back here at Uncommon.

My friend, you are a hero.

You stuck out 30 months of this garbage, and now have made it out. To all of us still climbing your story is now one of beams of light. Thank you so much for sharing. I read your earlier posts, which scared me that it wasn't possible to recover, and now reading this I know we'll all be better if we keep up our healthy habits.

You are right. I'm only about 80% recovered, but as I get better, I keep coming back to the fact that nothing is as bad as PAWS. We will all be so strong after this.


Go enjoy the big beautiful world. You deserve it.

[SparkleFly12]

Thank you for posting this, GreatDane. I used to read your posts many months back, when I first quit and was just starting PAWS. Im not through it yet but am through the worst; and I get the sense that once over, I will feel I am through the worst in life. Your post really makes me think that may be true; and that I should look forward to it.

Thanks for coming back to post. I know its easy to forget about PAWS once you're through it; so really appreciate coming back to post this.

Cheers.

[Cthompson21]

TheGreatDane,

This post brings me to much joy and hope to read. I remember your posts were filled with such despair! I admit I was worried about you when you hadn't posted in so long. But now I see that you have overcome all that. You deserve all your good days after the utter hell you have been through.

You may have read I have given up uncommonforum because my PAWS have improved a lot, and I wont let myself be addicted to it anymore, haha. But I still have some of the symptoms that get me down from time to time, and your post really helps me out ! I am now at 2 years ish.

So anyway, I wish you all the happiness in the world and good health in the future. You are a true survivor. I may not know you personally, but as a famous writer I like once said, "your battles inspired me - not the obvious material battles but those that were fought and won behind your forehead." All the best to you.

[PotSmoker1]

An inspirational story....... thanks a lot for the update

[Gerre]

Congrats!, 30 months is a long time!

How old were you when you started smoking?

[leavepawsbehind]

I'm 2 years 8 months sober and all of my symptoms have gone away in the past few months except the floaters/visual snow, which is easily ignored. Feels good.

[Prycejosh1987]

Social anxiety can be solved by confronting this issues and loving yourself and believing in yourself. This will help you in social situations, learn to love yourself.