Hi,
I gave up 10 weeks ago now but i'm still suffering with anxiety and sleeping issues.
Feels like everything is hard work and the smallest challenge makes me anxious. Have to say I have been tempted recently to smoke again as I feel worse now than I did when on the weed.
Can anyone tell me if this is normal after this amount of time?
Thanks
Hey man,
Well done for doing this long, do you have things to occupy yourself with?
I take my dog out daily for a good long walk, if i feel anxiety coming on i go for a drive even, just to clear my head, im also at college 5 days a week and work full weekends in a kitchen, so maybe that is what's helping me, i keep myself busy, but i'm only a month off it by this stage, but it's the longest ive been off it in twenty years, and i sleep fine...well ok anyways considering, maybe its the last drop of "THC" left, leaving your body , I can't really tell you if what you're feeling is normal 'cause i have'nt got that far, but i sure hope i'm not feeling like that by that stage, stick with it another bit, i'm sure it can be tough, you'll be better off in the long run.
Good luck! : )
Startin to have really vivid dreams now after 3 weeks. I wake up worrying about them and have to force myself to realise that they are only a dream! Still no desire to smoke at all, enjoyin the clear head
I started When I was 16, Im 24 now. Got Laid off from My job and my new better job requires me to take a blood test...This forced me to stop using 2 wks ago... Having to smoke before gaining an appetite has been an issue since probably after the first 8 months of toking. But i want to let you all know that you are much more stronger than the drug.. When i was a kid i loved to play sports, In thinking about what can i do to defeat the urge i was gonna rely heavily on Jack Daniels Honey But this would be rhetorical . So i thought some more and figured it out..First you have to want to quit and dedicate yourself to something active in life ..I love basketball and swimming ... Try some physical activities, it gets the metabolism pumping and forces the appetite to return....as far as anxiety and the vivid dreams, thats a natural part of life ...my wife never smoked or used any drugs besides doctor prescribed drugs and she has vivid dreams and anxiety jus like you all ...Dreams are ways for your brain to discharge stress which also causes anxiety...So In the End Its All Up To YOU :) GoodLuck
...LEWIE
I have read what everyone has posted on here and I would like to just make a objective statement. It seems as though a lot of people here are assuming that the anxiety that they are faced with is directly related to the marijuana withdrawal and not to their own lives. Everyone has anxiety, using marijuana for years will change the way that your body reacts to stress/anxiety and sadness so of course when you stop using marijuana (which relaxes you) your body will start to feel things much more intensely. This is not permanent nor should it be treated with other drugs like xanax. you are replacing marijuana (which studies prove to be less harmful than alcohol) with expensive prescription drugs that have insane side effects, you might as well go back to using marijuana because it is safer and will cause you less damage. Instead, try and remember that this anxiety is normal and it will pass. Look for alternative ways to deal with your stress and anxiety and ultimately maybe there are changes in your lifestyle that need to be made in order for you to function as a healthy sober person. A lot of people use marijuana to unwind and ease tension, but remember, when you stop using marijuana you still need to find alternatives to ease the tension of the day. If you do not ease the tension in your life it can result in heavy anxiety/panic attacks or other physical symptoms.I invite everyone who is having withdrawal symptoms from marijuana to really study their symptoms and compare them to those of symptoms of stress. I found that I was blaming marijuana withdrawal for a lot of my physical and mental symptoms after quitting but this was actually not the case - my body is very stressed and in turn does not know how to deal with it. This resulted in things like headaches, vomiting, etc. BUT NOT because I wasn't smoking pot, but because I was so stressed that it physically manifested itself. When I learned to acknowledge that was what was happening and make the necessary life style changes to reduce stress, those physical symptoms went away completely.
-Rob
"No! No! No!" - Margaret Thatcher
I have been asking myself the same question for a while now... I've been smoking since I was 15 with quite short pauses. Now I am 22 years old and I am fed up with the way weed has been affecting my life. Before, it was fun, I was just a kid (teen), but since I got 20 I tried to stop for the first time and started experiencing terrible withdrawal symptoms-anxiousness, insomnia, trouble in problem solving(when I stop) because when I am high I can rethink things more clearly(sounds stupid, I know) and when I stop everything seems to fall appart! I was selling weed for about 1,5 years and through that time and after(3 years) I have smoked a lot with short times of struggle trying to stop. My record is a month a half and I started again becouse it just didn't seem to get any better. I am talking about depression and severe mood changes... Also terrible nightmares, which gave me no rest at all (when I could actually fall asleep)...
Now, I am fighting with this sh*t again. It's been three weeks now, but this time I drink wine, do karate, boxing, take sleeping pills (non-addictive) and all the symptoms seem to be more bearable. I took Olanzipine through the first week, becouse through that time the crazy thoughts that I get are just too psychopathic and this helped me a lot. I promised myself that this time I am going through all the way no matter what, because smoking pot seriously affects my personal and proffessional life progress... I've smoked a lot of strong weed each day and at one point you just have to smoke in order to think rationally(as possible with smoking)... I thought I had some mental illnes at one time but now I am quite certain that it is just a really heavy withdrawal.
I have support for all of you fighting this sh*t, because this is not just a battle against addiction! It's a battle with yourself, which is one of the hardest! Good Luck to all fighting, it won't be easy, but don't stop and keep going! There are far more better things in life than some joint! I know I've missed a lot of it(the good things in life) and I surely will do anything in my power from missing more!! Just be strong and remember that ''just this once and I won't afer'' just doesn't work!
Could you be more specific for how long and how much you have smoked becouse you have to destinguish abstinency from coping with life problems. You have got a really strong thesis and I agree with that, but I have experienced heavy withdrawal symptoms and had to stop with certain medication taken for one week or so prescripted to me by a psychiatrist, who also said that this is a really heavy withdrawal, so you are right but only after the actual withdrawal symptoms last, which is up to 3 months... http://alcoholism.about.com/od/pot/a/Marijuana-Withdrawal-Symptoms.htm
I just write this because people that are coping with this (like myself) may believe that they are week and should continue to smoke! Again I repeat: there is a strong border between abstinency coping and problem coping, so in your post you are right, but not quite!
Hey man! I've smoked for over twenty years, non-stop, and i've given it up quite easily......, ok not easily!..but if you really want to stop ....it's possible with a bit of willpower, you also need an escape from the weed, like a new focus, or new hobby....i know it sounds boring, even unatainable, but you have to try, it's not meant to be easy, you have to take some grief, and be big enough to deal with it, and when you deal with it, you feel much more powerful, and in control of your mind, nothing can substitute that!
I will preface my reply with the following statement: I have quit LOTS of things in my life. I have kicked cocaine, alcohol, cigarettes, pain killers, anti-depressants, psychedelics, meat and dairy....you name it, I've been addicted to it and quit it...successfully. This being said, and pay very close attention to this next bit: NOTHING has been harder than giving up smoking weed. Nothing. The tricky thing is, it's different for different people. I've had friends that smoked heavily every day for many years, quit cold turkey and were fine, no sweat....they complained of slight irritability and somewhat decreased appetite for a few days. It depends on YOUR RELATIONSHIP with the substance. As a lifelong musician, I've used pot for years as a tool to help me focus and to enhance my ear (which it does). I can't sit down and play for 8 hours straight without pot, at least not enjoyably. Thus, my rationalization has always been that almost every human being is a drug addict of some kind, and at least my drug is natural and comparatively harmless. I still believe that...as far as I'm concerned you're better off smoking pot every morning than drinking caffeine every morning. 2000+ Americans die from caffeine related deaths (including overdoses) every year. Pot has literally never killed anyone...but I digress. When I don't smoke pot, I feel (and act, according to my girlfriend) like a completely different human being. I feel restless, it's impossible for me to focus on playing music or reading, and I can't sleep. I talk a mile a minute and I feel jittery and on edge all the time. When I do smoke pot, I am relaxed, focused and self-aware, and nothing gets me down. Even if I give it up for an extended period of time, lets say 2 months, I still miss it terribly...
The fact is that ANYTHING can be psychologically addictive. The mind is a strange thing. People get helplessly addicted to the most bizarre things, like porn and television and cheeseburgers. I firmly believe that pot can enhance someone's life. I know objectively that it is a positive substance. It has more medicinal properties than any plant known to mankind....FACT. It has been clinically proven to inhibit cancer cell growth for christ's sake. I've always been perfectly fine with being addicted to it, as long as I have regular access to it. But a funny thing happened to me last night. My girlfriend and I were arguing (which quite literally ONLY happens when I don't have pot) and I made her cry. A realization instantly hit me, and this was that I am an absolute fool. Being dependent on a substance to that extent is never good, regardless of how beneficial the substance is. I've always been aware that I have an addictive personality, and for a while now I've been using weed to temper that...that is, to keep me content. I still think pot is awesome, but I've realized finally that I've been misusing it. EVERYTHING is better in moderation, even if you can get away with overindulging. After all, if you drink too much water it will kill you. So here it is. Day 1, no pot. Wish me luck.
Good read, you had me there for a minute! I thought you were going to tell us all to start smoking it again!
In the past week now I've now decided to give up alcohol, I wasn't addicted to it, but I kind of over-indulge in it sometimes and say stupid stuff, but now I'm going to try and stay off it for good, before it becomes a problem, so far so good, no real issues there!
So far in 18 months, i gave up 1. Cigarettes 2. Weed now 3. Alcohol, and I thought I never would, I'm really feeling much better in myself, jittery sometimes, but that will pass.
Good Luck!
Good luck man - You can do it just remember why your doing it when temptation comes.
I said i'd give up for 3 months which I have done and then just smoke pot once a week. I have missed it like crazy, it chills me out, i can relax and I sleep well. Been through all sorts since giving up, not sleeping, irritable etc but came out the other side. After the 3 months I had a smoke at the weekend and it was lovely. However I'm struggling a bit again now so not sure if moderation will work for me. Good luck!