I am on day 4, I smoked for about 18 years. I just found this webpage and it is very helpful. I'm thinking I will be on this webpage quite a bit for the next couple of months. In the last year I have had bad anxiety and depression, does anyone know if marijuana can cause those problems? I hope I am doing the right thing to make my life better.
Hello there to everyone.
I've been smoking weed for 12 years now. Up until last 6 months it was something I could call weekend fun, never smoked at home, never smoked alone, only when I would go out and not every weekend. But 6 months ago new dealer came to town, we started to hang out (he is/was my friend before starting dealing) and I started with smoking on daily basics. I've never experienced bad smokes before, but after 2 months of constant smoking I would experience panic attacks, crazy thoughs, would find myself thinking I was doing something bad to myself but then would just roll another one and forget about it.
Soon I started to plan my days around weed/skunk, or better say everything I would do had to have stuff with me. If I went out I had to have at least 1g with me, if we played playstation there must have been weed, if I would go to visit some friend then we would get stoned, everything around me had to have weed connection. Next 3 months I've spent constantly smoking, for 5,6 days a week, sometimes even 10,11 days in a row then 1 day without out the stuff (which I would spend planning on getting high as sooner as possible) etc. My panic attacks started to become more frequent, I though I had every pshyosics avalaible, had crazy though, didn't sleep well, felt depressed then suddenly euphoric then depressed againg etc. Then 2 weeks ago I realised that evertyhing that's happening to me is only because of weed and decided to quit cold turkey (hope that's expression, english isn't my first language).
Since then I didn't touch the stuff and neither I plan to, ever again, but I've experienced few problems that I find hard dealing with. Had few episodes of derealisation, depersonalisation, anxiety, panic attacks and one that's been biggest problem of all, brain fog. While this first symptomes are starting to fade away, brain fog or light headed feeling is almost constant, like 6hours out of 10 during the day, sometimes even more. What I would like to know is when I can expect it to start fade away, I feel like high without any that's the feeling I want to never experience again. Just want to back to being normal. Hope someone has positive news for me...
Hth.
Reading yoga! it will come back! if not some suggest a glass of wine or a beer but you dont want to replaceone thing by another! good luck :)(im on week 7 andmy sleeping is getting much better!)
Thank you for your post. It's been validating as I go through the same thing only from a whole different life perspective. I'm an old guy (almost 60) who as been smoking daily for over 10 years. I smoked in college, quit for a decade, became an alcoholic, recovered from the alcoholism but started smoking to replace the booze. Smoked for 10 years, started drinking again, got sober again, started smoking again, blah, blah, blah a few more cycles. So, here I am - off the booze for 12 years and good with that but I had to quit smoking because I needed to do a drug test for a new job. I'm a successful and accomplished professional and never thought that MJ could be a problem. WRONG! After 3 days of abstinence, I started to get anxious. I'm very familiar with anxiety/depression and can recognize it pretty quickly. I've been taking a teeny bit of Paxil for a lot of years to keep it at bay, but it's generally not a big deal for me. Knowing what it is, however, doesn't make it any less real. You can't will it away - it is a real biochemical thing in the brain. So here comes the anxiety and within 24 hours it's morphed into full blown panic attacks. Overwhelming waves of impending doom, fear, terror, hyperventilating, fast heart beat. I know the drill. Sit quietly, try to calm the mind (yeah, right), slow deep breaths, it will pass. Sort of. The panic attacks evolved into a constant panic state which is very unusual for me. This I don't like at all. It was debilitating. I couldn't DO anything, not eat, not do the dishes, not read, not walk the dogs, not answer the phone. (Depression gets stirred into this pot of sh*t, too.) Understanding that this may be a symptom of MJ withdrawal, I knew I needed to medicate myself. Long story short, I used vodka off and on for 4 days to medicate myself, to put myself out - I slept mostly - figuring that I would be a little better when I sobered up. And it was OK. I know the sobering up routine like a champ. It's a b***h but I can do it. It took another 3 days to get the booze out of my system but the panic state was gone. Now they were just panic attacks again. Back into panic attack mode. Sit quiety. Breathe deeply, try to calm and understand that these were biochemical processes in my brain. I would not die from them, I would not end up on the street homeless, my family and friends would not abandon me, I wasn't really a worthless loser schmuck with no future. I upped the Paxil, but anti-anxiety-depression meds take up to 2 weeks to become effective. I didn't want to call the doc for quick acting meds (valium, xanax, ativan - the benzos) because they, too, will show up in the piss test. Intellectually, I knew that this would get better - it was just going to take time. That makes it a little less painful, but it's been rough. Easily as bad as coming off booze but without the physical nervous system symtoms (I've done the DTs twice :) I found this forum and it has been extremely validating. Now I get it. All of this sh*t I've been going through for the past 4 weeks is, indeed, MJ withdrawal. Amazing and enlightening. I'm an educated guy and a longtime proponent of how great MJ is (and it is - sort of)- but not for me any more) but I was totally unaware that coming off the stuff would be so debilitating. There's very little in the medical literature that documents MJ withdrawal other than saying patients may experience anxiety, depression, etc. Thanks, that's right but man, it's BIG TIME sh*t. I'm at about 4 weeks now. My pattern is morning anxiety attacks which I know how to deal with. Breathing, meditating, exercise, knowing that they will pass. They're a little less intense each morning. As the day goes on they hit now and then but by evening I'm usually OK. I was able to get out of my vodka-induced sleep after 5 days and slowly began to be able to eat somthing - little bits of healhy food like fruit, cheese, lots and lots of fluids. As my energy levels perked up I could force myself to wash a dish or two, do a load of laundry, answer my emails, and finally - big jump - to walk the dog. Yesterday I was able to get in the car and go to my volunteer job and get a pretty good day's work in. I'm walking the dog 3 times a day and we're up to about 3 miles again. My appetite has returned and I'm back on solid foods and, actually, hungry as hell. Still, keeping it fresh and healthy, lots of fluids, vitamin supplements, the Paxil back to normal doses. Little waves of anorexia pass through me during the day, but they're short-lived. As a pro at this recovery stuff, I do know that it will get better. 3-6 months is very realistic and I'm good with that. The plan is to 1) NOT SMOKE or use cannabis products in any form; 2) not drink - it makes me sick anyway; 3) keep the diet light and healthy with fluids and vits; 4) continue the exercise; 5) get off my ass and do what I need to do even if it requires force; and 6) start working the spiritual and mental angle of recovery which is the long term and most beneficial solution. Frankly, after going through this sh*t, I have no desire to smoke again and I'm blessed that I'm not jonesing for a joint. The prize at the end of these life-changing processes is personal growth, an enhanced understanding of one's self, and a greater level of maturity and wisdom in this sojourn we call life. And that, actually, is a little exciting. The "no pain, no gain" thing. My personal experience validates that and I know that life is going to be better in some way - I don't know exactly how but that's part of the excitement. And once again, I'm free. My mind and body will be clearer, and I'll experience life in a purer form. It ain't over yet, but the first phase of recovery always sucks big time. And this MJ recovery is no different. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
PS. I failed the piss test. Didn't want that damn job anyway ")
You'll feel better at different stages, not just the fatigue and mood changes will go away, but also you will find you think much better, feel much lighter, etc.
How long does it take for my focus and concentration get back to normal? I also feel slightly apathetic. Plz reply :)
Ru
Hey Darren... I'm going through thos same thing right now!! Headaches and all. How long did it take you to recover fully??
please reply