how long do marijuana withdrawal symptoms last

hey, i am 23 years old woman and i was smoking daily for about two years... i stopped, because i felt completely disconnected from reality... today is my fifth day without weed... i have a little trouble falling asleep, my mood changes fastly from angry to sad to normal, but any negative feelings are usually soon over... i'm trying to stay positive and proud that i quit and if i feel bad, i just cry and wait for it to pass, trying not to overthink it... i also do as much sport as i can, i eat healthy, listen to a lot of music, watch tv... and when it gets really bad, i masturbate... so far it's much easier than i expected, even though it's winter, i'm lonely, broke, still living with parents and can't find a job... good luck to you people!

I am basically the male version of the 23 year old woman who posted before me. I started smoking around 18 or 19 and the habit slowly grew overtime to the point where I'd find myself trying to see how much I could smoke before my brain shifted to neutral. Since I first started there have been periods where I would smoke once a day and there were periods where I would smoke five or six times a day, bowls upon bowls, bong rips, whatever, but I actually used to really take pride in the fact that I hadn't missed a day in years. I stopped this past summer for about a month and a half just because I had no say in the matter (relocated from Florida to New York every year for a summer job) and stopping then was honestly pretty easy. If you have no choice, quitting becomes a lot easier to handle. I was surrounded by some of my closest friends, most of whom smoked as well, so having others around who were going thru withdrawals with me definitely helped the cause, but lo and behold after a month we all discovered our boss was a pot head too, and soon after he was supplying us and life was wonderful again. That was last summer from May to August. When I returned home in the beginning of September I had to have knee surgery for a torn meniscus suffered in a basketball game and the doctor gave me a script for Percocet. Took one pill and about 45 minutes later I was orbiting Neptune. It was really kind of shocking how different the euphoria associated with weed was compared to that of a manufactured drug. After that experience, I took the rest of the bottle of pills and just traded my dealer for weed and used that as my pain meds. To try to make a long story short, I prefer weed over any kind of other substance, as most stoners do, and quitting is not "easy" but certainly not "impossible" but it is important for everyone who smoked to understand that the withdrawal process is definitely real and definitely lengthy. After years of consuming THC, my body was basically relying on the chemical to make me happy because it had blocked my body's natural production of endorphins, so if I went a few days without it, I would get depressed and would feel like nothing could make me naturally happy anymore. Of course, understanding the science behind THC, endorphins and withdrawals made it much easier to deal with. Not only that but I've been playing basketball competitively for the last 10 years and I can say that regardless of whether or not you smoke weed it is infinitely easier to live life in good health compared to living with unhealthy eating, excersize, and/or sleeping habits. I know it's easier said than done, but staying in good physical shape has made it much so easier for me to deal with any kind of withdrawal symptoms. I ran out of weed about 10 days ago and smoked resin for a few days after that just to avoid removing THC intake abruptly, and while I do experience mood swings, slight headaches, and a constant craving for weed, I'm well aware of what's going on inside my body and knowledge truly is power, so for me the battle has been more of a mental challenge of living day to day without just going and buying more weed because I have nothing better to do as opposed to fighting against an addiction. The only suggestions I can give is to not cut yourself off cold turkey, but instead taper it off over a week or so to ween yourself off of it; the more active you are, the quicker it gets out of your system, but beyond that, the more active you are in general, the better you will feel, whether you're a smoker or not; drink as much water as you can and as often as you can, water acts the same way as excersizing in that it speeds up the cleansing process and makes you feel better; and while I may not be an expert on the matter, I can only assume that playing with yourself every day is a lot better for your well-being than smoking weed everyday, and to take it a step further, for the people who experience issues falling asleep, nothing knocks a guy out more than a little tug on the meat weasel before bed. Might sound vulgar, but it's just reality. Of course, any of the suggestions I've just listed are all relative. Each person is different from the next. Some people have an incredibly hard time kicking habits from a mental standpoint. Others can just break it off no problem and deal with the withdrawal like it's nothing. The important thing is to try to really understand your mind and your body and figure out what's best for you in terms of quitting. Two of my closest friends started smoking the same time I did and their paths could not be any more opposite each other. One made straight A's all thru college, went to law school, got a job with State Farm and still smokes every day, used to smoke before leaving the house to go to class. The other lives like a hermit, rarely seeing the light of day, dropped out of a few different community colleges, survived off his parent's money, is unemployed, "dated" a girl he met playing xbox live, and has no semblence of a life. Each guy smoked the same amount for the same period of time, so it's important to understand that each person is different from the next. Just because one person can drop the habit like its nothing, that doesn't mean you can go about it the same way. Alternatively, after reading post upon post from people who say they throw up every morning or suffer from panic attacks, it's important to know that if you're considering quitting and you read testimonials like those, that doesn't mean the same thing is guaranteed to happen to you, so don't let another person's good or bad experiences with quitting affect your decision.

thanks so much - I have been staring the obvious in the face for a while too. inspired to try and quit again.cheers

I've smoked weed on a daily basis since I was 16. I'm 20 now nd havnt smoked for 3 days. First day I was definitely craving the smoke, couldn't eat, was extremely irritated and no sleep that night. 2 days later and im starting to regain my composure. Only problem I have is sleep. I lay in bed with lights off and just keep going in cirles in my head For hours. (Really annoying at 4am) last night I didn't sleep until the sunrise. Tonight I'm tempted to say f it and stay awake until tomorrow night. It's 4:32am right now so I think that's what I'll do

22 years old now, I started swaggin out with my marijuana use at the tender age of 16 and had been going hard (pretty much daily) until about three weeks ago, stopping completely. I wanted to face the reality I was supposed to be experiencing and get a better idea of how my mind operates and face my emotions as they're meant to be. The tipping point was when I saw my life through my wonderful girlfriend's perspective and empathized how she had been dating a false representation of how I really am.

I was excited to get my life back on track but the symptoms have been impossible to ignore. I've been experiencing drastic mood swings, fluctuating between anger and sadness with occasional bouts of happiness. I'm no longer numb to my emotions but do feel an overbearing sense of dullness. My irritability has also been out-of-control to the point where my girlfriend needed 'a break' ensuring monogomy and that she still loves me. Though a necessary adjustment, I get quite anxious, fearing this break is to pep-talk herself into ending the relationship altogether. My sex drive has also been extremely low which had her worrying that I'm not attracted to her anymore and that I only desire the idea of her; this is certainly not the case but it's tough to convince her otherwise as my depression is taking hold full force after laying off the ganj. I still crave it here and there but my logic comes into play knowing that there's more at stake now. It certainly doesn't help that I can score some nugget just by walking into a store and presenting my "doctor's recommendation." My dreams, when I finally do fall asleep at unreasonable hours, are wildly vivid and memorable. Though awfully intense at times, this is my one desirable aspect of withdrawal as it offers a deep peek at the inner-workings of my mind.

I just want to feel normal, whatever that even means. I want to feel love for myself and express my love to those close to me. I want to live up to my potential instead of waking up at age 40, a lonely stoner, wishing I had chased my dreams instead of my habit.

The addiction and withdrawal factors do exist and quitting is quite the shlep. The best advice I've found to speed up the process is through exercise and by staying plenty hydrated. I've been a victim of making myself a prisoner of my own room which can't be too beneficial. I'm going to try attending MA meetings to ease the psychological aspect and down some cranberry juice to assist the detox process.

Anyways...

I've smoked for 12 years daily except a few attempts at quitting or when there's been a drought.  I've now stopped for 5days and it's been okay.  I've tried before and been tearful, agitated and felt awful but this time so far hasn't been like that? I think it's mind over matter in some ways and this time I mean business?  I'm having night sweats, vivid dreams and today I'm finding it hard to concentrate but I know this will pass. I'm keeping a diary on how I feel and have urine testing kit so I can monitor when it's all out f my system. I don't smoke so nicotine withdrawal is a big part too. Fingers crossed I won't give in as I feel way more alert in the mornings. And good riddance to the blood shot eyes!!

ohhhh my gosh yea!!!!!!!!!!!! I GET THE EXACT SAME THING!!! gosh please tell me you will read this again,,,,, I mean by this time, you would have already had your baby and probably have gone back to smoking.. I mean it has been a while. but yea I feel like I HAVE FLEAS ALL OVER ME WHEN I SLEEP OR SIT STILL.................. HOLLA AT ME,,,, and I HOPE YOUR BABY ENDED UP WELL AND HEALTHY..... By the way I've been smoking everyday, about an 1/8th a week or more, (usually more) but I got through high school fine smoking every day and got through college fine. I partied even finer and smoked like a chimney,, I got laid a lot and I smoke all day every day

How do you feel after a year later??

Withdrawal symtoms depend on each body but I will share what a friend of ours do to get in line and avoid feeling bad.

Here is his recipe: 

*Cardio 3 days a week for 1 month.

*Natural fruit and veggies Juices google "detox natural juice recipe". You can add "homemade" to make clear to your search engine that you are into serious business. 

*Sauna & Steam 3 times a week for two weeks.

Suplements:

-B-Complex (injected is more potent, helps with the anxiety),

-Multivitamin dont pick a generic brand,

-5-htp pills (to help your brain get together with the serotonin part),-

-add some natural tea to aid sleep and digestion. Google that too, theres many options to get your sleep back to normal in a safe natural way. 

Hope this helps to yall worries and keep your business healthier with some periods of rest. 

Your welcome.

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I'm 23 years old and I first started smoking weed about 7 years ago I think. I didn't smoke daily but I did smoke weekly. What I got used to is smoking after a long week at work as well as smoking recreationally with others. My friends and I were using the vaporizer and I thought I was such a healthy smoker. A vaporizer is supposed to use less weed but we ended up smoking more in the vaporizer than we did using joints. I was at the movies with my girlfriend two weeks ago and I had to leave because of a huge panic attack. She started crying at home and I didn't know what was wrong with me. I breathed slowly and managed to calm down but I began to experience depression, anxiety, heart pain, racing heart, mood swings, my brain even tried to get me to quit with the love of my life. A week later I went out with friends and drank beer and smoked a lot of weed. Once again, I got anxiety, depression and now the chills. I didn't know what was wrong with me and I'm lucky my girlfriend has been extremely supportive. I went to my doctor and as I kept describing what had happened, he circled marijuana that was on my file and said I need to quit. I continued to experience symptoms and I cried a lot but I believe it helped me get closer to family and I'm not a family guy. Now that I've quit and am on week 2, I still experienced some symptoms and even got sick with a fever. I have no appetite but when I get hungry I just can't eat. It doesn't help that its been a long winter. But the sun is out and I see my academic counselor every day to talk about how I'm feeling and things are getting better. My girlfriend also got sick after she hasn't smoked in a while so we both got rid of grinders and other accessories. I thought I'd be depressed for the rest of my life but I'm getting better and I'm starting to feel great now that the sun is shining. Might have to move from Canada to Australia though. Anyhow, anxiety is a working progress and I take StressTabs which are vitamins and they e helped. Stay strong and know that your symptoms are trying to get all the sh*t out. In order to get some calories, eat ice cream that isn't high on sugar, banana milkshakes or get some fruits and vegetables and start juicing.

For those having issues with sleeping, try melatonin, especially for the first few days.

 

I have quit a couple times, (honestly I am a huge proponent of marijuana for various reasons, unfortunately the politics have ruined it, so I have to quit). 

Melatonin seems to work a lot of people, others it does not, definetly worth a try. I have slept a solid 8 hours every night since I quit (5 days).

Good Luck! I get terrible migraines (reason I was on medical in the first place) but other than that just mind over matter/not getting to angry.

You have no clue what you are talking about here. You probably smoked the weaker stuff. Withdrawals for higher grade medical marijuana are much stronger. I eat healthy, exercise, and don't ingest any other substances, and that includes caffeine, and I know exactly what the people here are talking about.

You’re joking right? I've smoked since I was 18 on a daily basis and am now 32. I have quit for over a month now and never got withdrawal effects. Sure I wanted to smoke mentally but Marijuana is none addictive physically. Anyone who says otherwise should look up the definition of 'Will Power'. It's all in your head. Any habit takes 30 days to break. I smoke cigarettes and know what addiction is. I can't make it through a day without buying a pack of smokes, that's withdrawals.

Just to all the people who think that Cannabis withdrawal is not real, or who compare withdrawal from Cannabis to harder drugs - WELL DONE YOU! You've given every struggling person in here a reason to give up quitting, and show how 'tough' you are and how 'pathetic' we are.

Yawn.......................................

So day 44 - Still the most vivid dreams I've ever had in my life. I started smoking when I was 13. Mild hash, to the finest of skunk. I've heard from a few neurologists and psychologists that Cannabis affects the GABA levels in your brain. These are the neurostransmitters that govern the relaxation mechanisms in your body. Therefore withdrawal WILL cause an increase in anxiety, depression and insomnia whatever your tipple.

Also, I've realised from years of abuse that smoking from a young age may actually stop you from 'growing up'. As in, not facing real problems full on, not dealing with emotions as you can hide behind your precious weed to get you through the day and will make everythink seem ok. (I know a few friends who are 30+, live with their parents and think that because they get stoned everyday, they are living a life of luxury).

Not everyone is the same. Some people are allergic to nuts and some to gluten. We are all different. We're not all making it up. We ARE going through a difficult journey and someday you might have to!!!!

Stay strong people. I'm now getting my appetite back, sweating is decreasing and I'm started to feel like a real person again who doesn't think that everyone is against me, and that a fat bag of weed, and a phat hip hop track will deminish all those insecurities. (Not dissing Hip Hop, it's my favourite genre, but don't let lyrcal influences tip you back to your smoking days..................)

For those with anxiety, I would recommend L-Theanine (particularly Sunteanine), Melatonin (natural sleep precursor) or a field full of B-Complex vitamins. Of course exercise and postitive thinking always comes first.

Keep your chin up. The best is to come :)

Dave

You are a complete id**t! I guess that is the result of chronic daily use for 5 yrs. and discounting other peoples experiences is nothiong short of irresponsible.
I am 52yrs old, started using recreationally at 14 and I knew then that the stuff was dangerous and had the potential for addiction for "me" and I didn't want to become one of the goofy types that were distributing the stuff to kids. Initally, I would get the worst anxiety to the point that I would hide from people when high. I used a bit in High School but I couldn't get past the anxiety so I used it minimally. It was not until I was diagnosed with inoperable and incurable Cancer in 1997 and it was after 3 relapses in 3 yrs that I started to use pot again in 2000 and it has been a downward slope ever since. My physical health when I started to use was good, no pain whatsoever but I lied and pretended to be in chronic pain because lieing helped me access the pot and I used it primarily to alleviate my anxiety but it only intensified it. After about 3 months of daily chronic use and in social isolation, the initially anxiety from the first toke finally started to disapate or I just learned to ride it out. I also have arthritis (AS) and the pot does absolutely nothing to alleviate the pain with the exception of maybe helping me just learn to accept the pain more when I am high. I strongly believe most of the health benefits of getting high are psycho-sematic and can be treated in healthier ways without risking addiction. Am I addicted, yes, absolutely but if I tell a pot head that they would infom that was impossible... just becasue it doesn't happen to you doesn't mean it can't or won't happen to others. I strongly feel the pot head industry is doing an incredible dis-service by their double standard promotion of health benefits to the sick, the benefits of it when used recreationally but offer no harm reduction and their mentality is absolutely no better than that of the big cigarette companies touting the benefits of tabacco back in the infancy of advertising. I used to be a strong advocate for pot but I am now a strong opponent because of my experiences with withdrawls that can last a couple of months (marijuana withdrawl can last longer than heroin withdrawl but not nearly as intense and I don't need arrogant or mis-informed pot head idiots discounting my symptoms or experience. When you potheads advocate something for all to benefit from, then discount anyone negative experience, then you lose credibility!

You are correct on one issue, a persons withdrawl "may" be the result of underlying physical or even mental health issues (generally the reason why many turn to pot in the first place) but that does not mean their withdrawl experience is any less real or warrant assistance or discussion when looking for help in trying quit and to alleviate those symptoms. It is well known that people with mental health issues (many may not be aware they have issues and go undiagnosed) should not use the "drug" as their mental state can and often will exaserbate the affect and cause dependancy and anytime we are chronically dependant on any artificial stimulation (pot, alcohol, cigarettes, caffine, ect...), their are going to be consequences when the brain is stoped being fed the stimuli. It really irks the hell out me when I see these arrogant potheads discounting other peoples experience just because they think they can fool themselves into thinking they are completely OK... remember, the first sign of addiction is denial!