Starting a new journey towards sobriety from drugs or alcohol is a courageous step that requires a lot of strength and perseverance.

And the path to recovery is more challenging than the initial hangover and withdrawal phase.

Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) can create bigger obstacles for your sobriety and you may not even know it's happening. 

We're getting into the world of Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome, what it is, how it affects you, and effective ways to navigate the challenge.

What is Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS)?

Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome, often abbreviated as PAWS, is a prolonged withdrawal syndrome that some people experience after the initial withdrawal or detox stage. 

While the acute (immediate) withdrawal phase typically lasts for a few days to a couple of weeks, PAWS can persist for several months, even up to a year. 

PAWS happens because of neurological changes caused by substance abuse.

With continued substance use, the brain changes because...

For those of us who love to constantly improve ourselves it's good to know there is no shortage of information on the internet to keep us busy getting healthy. Mentally, and physically. 

In my blog and article research one day I came across this fantastic article on Medium, and decided to share it with my audience. 

If you want to listen to the podcast episode, you'll find a player right above this post 👆, or, you can find it here.

Creating a life you love doesn’t happen overnight.

Unfortunately, we are so wired for instant gratification that when we don’t get instant results we easily fall into complaining about how hard everything is and, usually, give up and stop trying.

But before you can start creating the life of your dreams, you have to get some clarity on what you want your life to look like.

• Who do you want to be?
• How do you want to feel?
• What do you want your work to look like?
• What do you want to do in your free time?
• What type of life do you want to provide f
...

I have been a Life Coach for many years. 

I've  worked with people for all kinds of things, setting job goals and creating strategy around that, recovering from a divorce and starting life over, recovering from significant weight loss and building self esteem in that new life, empty nesters recovering from children and adapting to a new way of life and figuring out what that's going to look like... all of it is a process of recovery, growth and change.

And right now, especially because of this pandemic, we're all having to do a lot of adapting to a new lifestyle.

Through all of the work I've done, with myself and my clients, I consistently see the same mistake.

You wonder why your choices aren't working out for you.

You start to second guess your every decision because it seems like you are always wrong or screwing things up.

It feels like nothing will go your way.

The good news is... you're not crazy. There's nothing wrong with you and you aren't bad at making decisions.

The...

Like the warrior she is, she survived one day at a time feeling like she was just hanging on by a thread. Sobriety doesn’t come with ‘knowing’ what to do. Sobriety comes with DOING what you know to do.

Jen Elizabeth shares her story of the worst of worst. Homelessness, cults, trauma, eating out of dumpsters. And, while in jail, she had her light bulb moment that brought it all together.

Now, 9 years sober, a mom, a homeowner, author, and a true survivor- when you think you’ve got it bad, think again.

When you think sobriety is hard, you don’t know what to do minute to minute, your brain is working overtime reminding you of all the crazy, effed up, stupid sh*t you did in your addiction and you want to run away and numb it all in the bottom of a bottle- stop. And listen.

Join the Inner Circle Membership here:  https://www.myrecoverytoolbox.com/innercircle

Get a free consult with Angela here:  https://www.myrecoverytoolbox.com

Follow me on Insta:  https://www.instagram.com/addicti...

Dear Relapse,

I am not afraid to honestly tell you, I hate you.  I do not hate many things in my life and it is not a word or emotion that I use recklessly, but for you it is appropriate.

You are a predator.  You lurk around preying on the slightest moment of vulnerability in myself and the people I love.  You are dirty and under-handed, and you should be ashamed.

I pray each day that I never meet you myself.  And I pray even more for the sake of those that do meet you.  I pray for their safe return to a safe place.  I pray for them to have the strength to come back, the strength to reach out, and the strength to be loved back into one piece.

Tonight I pray for my friend who met you yesterday.  I am sending him every ounce of fight I have, hoping that he will have the power to take his sobriety back, and hoping that he sees you have nothing to offer him.   Your promises are of a lifetime of pain and discomfort, insecurity and hopelessness.  And nobody wants you.

Sobriety offers ...

Hey everybody! Welcome to episode 83 of the Addiction Unlimited Podcast, I’m your coach Angela Pugh- thank you for hanging out with me today and listening to the pod, I’m really happy to be spending some time with you and getting my schedule back to normal.

Last week, I was a speaker at Global Entrepreneurship Week, and not only did I do my own speaking gig there, but I was also asked to be on a panel talking about being a sober entrepreneur and how being sober has changed my business, or me as a business person. It was pretty amazing, honestly.

You know I do a lot of public speaking, usually about personal development and empowerment, creating change and all of those things I love, but as my businesses grow, I’m getting asked to do more things in the entrepreneurship arena and digital marketing and social media. I love all that stuff too, so it’s been really fun.

But I spent a lot of time last week at the Global Entrepreneurship conference so I spent the weekend getting caught...

When you feel bad or feel down and you think nothing is working- that doesn’t mean it’s not working- it’s totally working!

I want you to think about your sobriety and imagine it as an actual bank account- and, at the beginning, because you haven’t made any deposits, it’s totally empty.

Now, your number one job is to make deposits in this account. And look at this like an investment account- it’s not instant gratification, but it’s for your future. And you may be less motivated some days because it doesn’t feel like you are getting great rewards from the work you are putting in- you really do get instant gratification in the way that you are staying sober, but sober, especially in the beginning, doesn’t always feel good. You may be tired a lot, have problems sleeping, your anxiety may be super high- and all these things make it even more challenging to make sure you are making deposits in your sober bank.

We talk a lot about being of service- doing service work which is voluntee...

We all understand when we quit drinking the goal is to not have another drink. But what do you do after that? What do you do to occupy your time or deal with your crazy anxiety? That’s the hard part of quitting drinking.

In the episode, we talk about Post Acute Withdrawal, what it is, what to be aware of, and strategies to make early sobriety a little easier. You need relief, and you deserve to have it.

No need to feel like you are crazy or losing your mind, most of us go through the same things and, with a little guidance, you can get through it, too. Get tools and strategies here- AND there’s a special offer toward the end that you will love!

Tons of resources and tools:  myrecoverytoolbox.com

Use the special offer code (in the episode!) here:  Recovery Starter Kit

Join the Facebook Group

Follow me on Instagram!!

There is a lot of information out there to help someone identify if they are an alcoholic or addict. And many of the criteria fit me perfectly, but some do not. I wanted to take a minute to go through some of the things I thought about in my own journey that brought me to understand that my drinking was a problem.  I just didn’t do it the way other people did.

Many of the symptoms you read about on checklists across the internet are very accurate and I want to cover some of those also. But in my head, noticing that my drinking was different from other people was a long process and it was just a small detail here and there that got my attention.

I’ll tell you the things that really make sense to me:

1. Do you sometimes feel guilty after drinking?

This is a big one for me. It is so simple when you think about it; when you feel badly about something you did, the implication is whatever you did was not ‘right’. And I can apply this to many different areas of my  life. If I am thinking ...