can quitting weed make you more tired then you felt before hand?

Just stopped a daily habit of around 16 years and I'm having the exact same issue. I feel better now that i know im not on my own.

I thought that maybe the tiredness might be because my body was producing something to counteract the bud and help me stay awake and now that iv'e stopped smoking i'm having withdrawl from that chemical too. I'm no scientist but i definately know how i feel and it isn't energetic.

Either way i'm going to stick it out, at least until i finish my god damn dissertation and find myself a nice job. My productivity levels are significantly better than before and i feel a lot more motivated. I had a moment of weakness yesterday when a car drove past me and it smelt like Cheech and Chong were passengers but other than that iv'e not had any issues.

I hate the gym but im going to try and get back at it, i tend to feel more a lot more energetic around an hour after iv'e worked out.  

Hey guys, I stopped in quickly because I quit blazing 3 days ago and I was looking for some community support. When I found this thread I stuck around and read it all. I'd like to add my 2 cents here as a 10 year smoker with 2 ~6 month breaks. I was smoking about 7 grams a week (2 eighths). Having gone through the two 6 month no smoking periods I have experienced my own withdrawal/detox symptoms completely through twice. People's reactions will differ, but in my case I experienced many of the issues raised here. Each time my body experienced identical symptoms. I don't know scientific explanations but I can share my experiences. Tiredness was the biggest thing. It sets in almost immediately and for me I experienced it in the following ways: Difficulty remaining awake in the middle of the day. If for instance I had class or work until noon and then went home or on a lunch break, it would be very difficult to not succumb to napping. In addition, it is more difficult to fall asleep at night, on average taking 1-2 hours to reach unconsciousness. If I did nap, it could be for up to 3 hours, and I often experienced extreme sweats (not usual for me ordinarily). In addition I would be bombarded with dreams during my nightly rest. (Although people react differently I have a hard time accepting the previous poster's claim that he dreams during the night even when actively smoking. I know many other smokers and dream suppression is universal to them). The next biggest symptom I experience when quitting is an upset stomach. I am only able to eat/drink small portions before my stomach has a queezy reaction. Now, on to the encouraging news! The mid afternoon fatigue cleared up for me within 1-3 weeks, and during that time it became more normal urges. In the first few days it feels nearly impossible to stay awake no matter your activity for the last few days, but by the end it only occurred after nights of little sleep or after an activity you'd expect to result in a nap (ie long morning hike followed by a nice lunch). The sweats also cleared up as the napping behavior cleared up. The stomach issues also cleared on the same timeline. I certainly never returned to digesting the same # of calories as I had while smoking, (thank goodness) but my appetite returned to normal and I was able to eat without an upset stomach. (As others have mentioned my... bathroom habits also were a bit weird during this time). I won't make claims on whether quitting is the right decision for you; however, if you have decided to stop, I can say from personal experience that the symptoms may be inconvenient and unpleasant, but they do clear out! Keep hope! Help your body through this period as much as you can. Eat well, exercise, keep a standard sleep schedule at night (even if you can't fall asleep), and be proud of yourself! It's not an easy decision to keep to. You will have to work hard to keep yourself clean especially if your friends are still active in it, so tell yourself good job! I personally find it helpful to stand in front of a mirror and out loud say "Good ****ing work man. I'm proud of me." (The mirror is especially helpful for me as I immediately start shedding extra pounds and my face thins up making me look more handsome!) Communities are powerful, and without having met any of you I still feel a kinship as well as pride. Here's to healing and helping! Cheers!

Hey guys, I've read most of the posts and have had the same symptoms as many of the people posting here.  I have been smoking for over 10 yeas and haven't smoked for about 6 weeks.  I'm still feeling really tired at times through the day with very little energy.  There have been many posts related to this lasting upto three months but not many indicating their own experiences with the length of time they experienced this before their energy levels returned to level.  i've also stopped smoking cigarettes for a month.  Any feedback on your experiences with low energy would be greatly appreciated and whay you did to over come this.  thanks again and keep up the great posts and continue the fight.  Dreaming again is also amazing.  I can't believe I paid to surpress this. 

  Quitting weed can produce anxiety and restlessness. But, if you've noticed when smoking you don't dream or don't remember them. This is because marijuana interferes with your REM cycle were you dream the most. It gives your brain a dose of serotonin (a neurotransmitter in the brain) and helps you sleep deeper. When you quit, your brain produces extra serotonin to make up for the loss. So the answer is YES. For 2 to 4 weeks you will feel extra sleepy. Ironically when you lay down to sleep you wake frequently, mostly because you are dreaming again. So insomnia and fatigue can coexist.

I'm 16 days into quitting a 6 year daily habit--stoned morning to night, my 'normal'-- and I checked in here around Day 6 because I was having the same problems as everyone else... waking up in the middle of the night with sweats, severe mood swings, excess energy in my body that made me want to jump out of my skin, and so damn tired!  This forum helped me so much to know that this was part of the process and it gave me strength to keep going.  Most of all, I want to know HOW LONG WILL THIS LAST!?!  I felt like if I knew that this would go away and I would start to feel alive again, then I could buck up and stick it out.  After all, who wants to have to go through this withdrawal process again!  While I heard things like 1-3 months for the symptoms to go away, it was from other people who had heard this... not from people who had experienced it.  I was hoping that when people finally did get through the process, they were just  too busy and happy living their new, bigger lives that they didn't come back here again.  

I came back here on Day 10-12....mood swings had lessened, depression and tearful jags would still happen but not nearly as much-- but this tiredness!  I needed more encouragement.. needed to know 'When will THIS go away!?'  Again, I felt better just know that others were sticking it out too... 

I finally took some of the advise that I found here and elsewhere...

1.  drink LOTS AND LOTS of water (warm water is easiest for your body to absorb),

2.  eat a diet with lots of protein (which I could do in the afternoon-- the morning I'm still too nauseated),

3. take multi vitamins daily and Melatonin at night to help with the sleeping,

4.  take walks when you can and BREATH deeply

5. and most of all, be patient with myself and my body in healing itself-- and keep going.  

These actions seemed like they were just too simple to make much difference but I wanted to check back in and report some good news-- after only 2-3 days with this new routine of water/breathing/healthy eating/self-kindness, I've now had 2 pretty good days in a row!  I don't know if it's these new actions, but  I've felt some peace and even happiness and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.    I want to be careful not to think that there won't be hard days ahead...I'm still nauseated, mostly in the mornings, and I still want naps throughout the day... but it's been enough of a relief to know that this won't go on forever.  And for me, that makes all the difference.  

I'll continue to check in, even when I'm too busy living my happy, bigger life, to let you know that you can do it too.  And that it is TOTALLY WORTH IT to be free.

Love and peace to you all....

hey, 40 year heavy pot smoker here....quit about 6 weeks ago.....while i've quit in the past and new what to expect, the tiredness has been a surprise.....i'm an active guy and have been concerned that it may be a heart or lack of oxygen condition. also, normally after 10 days i start hacking up some serious black luggies. but so far nada.  i think that maybe the higher thc content might have something to do with it. the desire to light up hasn't been to strong this time, not sure why. i live close to colorado that has recently legalized pot. i personally think that knowing that i can get the pot anytime i want has had an emotional effect that i never considered. it is a well established fact that we as humans want what we can't have. the fact that i don't have to look for it and don't have to buy in large quantities for the cash savings and the thought of running out has been a HUGH benifit. when i think of lighting up i just think about being able to buy it at the store soon and the anxiety goes away. while i think pot is NOT a good habit, legalizing it makes sense when compared to what bozz does. good luck to all you tring to quit....something that i haven't read in these post is how my desire to get closer to God is when i quit....that's my story.   vc

I smoked for approx 17 years constantly and quit for about 6 months 4 years ago. I have since stopped again and am up to day 65. The tiredness is horrible, and my skin still feels itchy, an itch that you cant scratch because its internal withdrawal related. Dreams are happening every night and are usually bad, I am also getting tension headaches/nausea. Can only manage to exercise for about 2 days in a row then I stop, I just don't have it in me to do it. Appetite and diet is fine. Have been through all the other withdrawal related symptoms and I am just sick and tired of all this, but I wont go back to smoking. 65 days is a long time to deal with this c**p. The only thing that has improved a little is my memory and sometimes I can focus on one thing for much longer (e.g. a hobby related activity). I have also reduced my anti depressant medication by 25mg with permission from my doctor, that stuff is not good long term and I have been on it for 25 years (since I was 9) bad. I really hope to see the light at the end of the tunnel soon because this c**p is driving me nuts.

Hi all, I quit 3 weeks ago and now have huge sore glands in my neck like glandular fever. Last time I quit 2 years ago I had the same effect and was told I had glandular fever which the tired symptoms lasted around 9 months.. Does anyone know if there is a link of quitting smoking and glandular fever or a similar illness??

Hi, I've been smoking weed since I was about 18. I also have smoked cigarettes since about 16 years old. I'll be 36 this October. I quit smoking weed due to having phlegm problems arise since spring started, especially in the morning, along with days of shortness of breath and chest tightness. Now, during this time with shortness of breath/chest tightness I was thinking I had some major health issue and went to the doctor and had blood test run but everything came back ok. After these symptoms started occurring I started eating healthier and exercising more. I've lived a sedentary lifestyle for most of my adult life and ate fast food a lot. Not every meal mind you, and I watched the amount I took in so I didn't get too overweight. I lost about 10 pounds in around a month after changing diet and exercising more. I still wasn't convinced there wasn't anything wrong with me and have been worrying about my health and searching the Internet for answers (giving myself anxiety in the process). I've stopped smoking weed for about a week now. I'm thinking the shortness of breath/chest tightness was due to a reaction to something in the weed along with seasonal allergies. The type of weed I've been getting for a while now is high grade hydro. After quitting, the shortness of breath, chest tightness, and phlegm has dissipated. But for the past 3 days, in the afternoon while at work, I've had major fatigue come on suddenly. Each time it's happened I've drank a soda and about 10 - 15 minutes later the fatigue would start to subside. I'm still a little worried I might have a medical condition (I actually left work today due to having fatigue right after lunch) and was even going to scheduled a doctor's appointment for tomorrow. Other then the sudden onset of fatigue that has plagued me for 3 days now no other symptoms have occurred. I get regular amounts of sleep at night so I'm not having these fatigue symptoms from not getting enough sleep. Although I have noticed I'm a bit sleepy when waking up in the morning before going to work. But after I take a show, have my morning coffee and cigarettes I feel awake until the early afternoon fatigue hits me. I must say I'm a bit relieved to see others having the same issues. Some people here are saying they have fatigue during the day due to not sleeping at night but there are also some that say they do get regular sleep at night and are still fatigued sporadically during the day. This makes me happy that I'm not the only one and is the possible cause of my early afternoon / mid-day fatigue occurrences that I've been having. There's not much on the Internet that say these things happen due to withdrawal from weed. But perhaps there's just not enough studies and it seems to me, after reading the different withdrawal symptoms that vary between people in this thread, it is different for each individual. I haven't exercised much since I stopped smoking weed but perhaps I should start again. Some here are saying that the exercise is helping with the issues.

Like most of you on here, I am really happy to find this site/thread.  When I started smoking weed it was a few times a week.. before I knew it I was getting high for every movie, every meal, every trip to the grocery store (which is not a good idea hahah).. then it was every weekend (morning to night) and then everyday morning to night.. even when I was at work.  At my peak I was smoking about an eighth a week.  I knew it was an issue I had to squash so I stopped at the end of April (10 days now).

My symptoms are pretty much as follows:  Tired and lethargic all day, queezy stomach and nausea (find it hard to eat much), mild mood swings (generally kinda depressed), body feels kinda like the flu is a day away, find it hard to keep my head in the game and focus on anything, cannot sleep through the night completely (couldn't fall asleep at all for the first few days), night sweats, loss of sexual drive, and lets just say some bathroom issues.  Generally I just feel uncomfortable in a multitude of ways throughout the day/night.

Most of the symptoms I described above are not severe and they come and go day to day.  I was full of energy the first couple days after quitting, but the last 8 have been completely different.  I know these will all eventually pass in time, but its a b***h right now.  Its always good to know that there are others out there going through/or that have gone through this and can point out the light at the end of the tunnel.  

Thanks to everyone that has posted and I wish the best to those who read this post in the future.

 

 

 

Sure am glad to find this site. 55 year old on day 28 without smoking. Been using since I was 17. Always tired but it really hits me about noontime and lasts the rest of the day. Was beginning to think I had cancer or some other ailment. Happy to hear this is normal but not happy to hear some still have symptoms after 60+ days. Eyes always feel heavy even after waking up. Was thinking about starting up again just to get over these symptoms but knowing others are going thru the same thing gives me strength to carry on.

Omg u guys really made me feel better. Today is my 10th day not smoking and I can literally sleep off and on all day long.

I smoked for 13 years and dreamed every night, and so did all my smoking friends, though my dreams have been more vivid and weird since quitting. Some people may be too stoned to remember their dreams but that does not mean they don't have them, pot smokers definitely can and do dream!

Im glad I read the above comments! I quite 15 day's ago and have been concerned about how tried I have become. But when I looked up on the internet it told me that opposite was true and that I wouldn't sleep. So seeing this has put my mind more at ease. I have smoked for about 15 years and my habits over those years have gone from constant use through the day to 1 to 3 a night to help me sleep. I also find I have real headaches. I would just like to wish every one luck in their quest to a smoke free life style and here's to us x x

Sweet, another user who quit around the same time as me. Its day 6 for sure and the tiredness is starting a lott today. Im healthy and active, and even when I was a pothead I was. So it was kinda freaking me out>I think its the shift in the mind though so your brain is tired because your mind is shifting thoughts to thoughts. It wouldve been eleven years for me in October. I plan on quitting for ATLEAST one year but I want it to me more like two or three....the once I have control I want to be able to smoke a nice joint with friends because it is awesome being high....just got to gain that control again and not let it control me