marijuana withdrawal and severe stomach pain

MARIJUANA is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm 19 and I've been smoking weed since I was 13. The past year and a half it has been daily. Over the last 4-5 months I have noticed that foods appeal has gone down and so has my appetite when I'm not high. This has got me extremely worried, and I have decided to quit for a period of time to see if this is the problem. Many times when I am sober I will feel hungry only to try to eat and feel unappealed. It seems like a lot of you here have had similiar withdrawals, and I just can't take this anymore. I still plan on smoking weed (except for the period I plan on quitting for), but only if I can do so without f*****g my bodies natural chemistry (and by not smoking daily...).

I am currently helping my boyfriend quit smoking pot. he is 22 and has been smoking for nearly 10 years. He's in his first week of recovery. Could someone please tell me if a loss of libido is a withdrawal symptom?

All i can say is, god damn, what a sigh of relief that i found this site. I'm 23, and have been smoking since i was 15. Over the course of the last 8 years, I've been a fairly heavy smoker, i would wake and bake in the morning, and have another 6-10 joints over the course of the day, and then another to pass out before i went to bed. As the new year approached, I convinced myself that quitting would be in my best interest, so as a new years resolution, i decided to stop. Of course i never really believed that i could do it cold turkey, because i have an addictive personality, i also smoke cigarettes and drink coffee. I convinced myself that i would only smoke socially, because it got to the point where i would actually suffer from social anxiety, or agoraphobia, or whatever, although i have never actually consulted a physician, so this diagnosis is purely what I've gathered from my research. It came down to the point where i would stop going out, aside from going to work. I would stay home all the time, ignore my friends and my family, all i really wanted to do was smoke more weed. Anyways, back to my point... I'm on day 8 now, and i first noticed something was up about 3 days ago. I woke up with severe stomach pain, accompanied by nausea. I disregarded anything was wrong because the night before I've been out drinking with some buddies - i simply thought i was hungover. As I'm writing this, I'm sweating profusely, my stomach feels like there's a rat inside, my appetite is totally gone (this one puzzled me because when i smoked, i used to eat massive amounts of food), and over the course of the last 3-4 months, I've experienced some pretty bad anxiety/panic attacks that would last hours at a time. I was ready to go the clinic and see a doctor, but then i found this site. I'm extremely relieved that I'm in fact, not dying, and its merely my body trying to adjust to the absence of marijuana. I would like to ask what you guys did to help with the stomach issues, and the insomnia, as they are the most prevalent symptoms I'm experiencing. Thank you in advance for any information.

Hi All, Well after a little over two months of complete abstinence I relasped. A very stressful event hit my family and I needed to escape. I hate to admit it but smoking helped me through it. But now I am ready to quit again. I'm on day 4 and the withdrawl is tough but not nearly as hard as before. Some tools that I have learned from my experience and reading these threads are: 1) Keep in mind that it does get better every day after about a week and after 3 weeks its almost completely over. 2) Eat salads, drink water to flush your system and drink a lactose-free shake everyday to help your stomach from shrinking. 3) Drink coffee in moderatation, helps with the headaches and foggyness but increases insomnia 4) Exercise and sweat (followed by water and vitamines) whenever I feel a craving. 5) Accept the fact my sleeping patterns are going to take a while to return to normal and dreaming is something I just have to get used to again. 6) Work everyday on anger issues and recognize the fact that my rising anger and shortness is a direct result of using the soothing effects of herb smoking in place of developing proper, mature anger management. 7) And my libido is different....my ability to fantasize is greatly disminished. When partaking I could get an erection at will and could have sex 3-4 times a day (once with my wife, if lucky...2-3 times with the guy in the mirror). Now, sometimes it is almost impossible for me to get hard but when I can, the chemical rush of an orgasm helps me with my withdrawl and makes sleeping easier. From my experience, my libido will improve almost to where it was before I quit but will require more external imaginative stimulation. Frustrating nonetheless.
Hang in there..and if you relapse its ok..just try again as soon as possible and it will be easier.
JB

I am coming to the end of day 2 of quitting. Let me tell you how much I dont like it. Fiding these posts have been a godesnd to me. Just knowing that there are all of these ppl out there going through the exact same thing as me makes me feel not so alone. I have read about studies done o the withdrawal effects of MJ and the ppl who say its all in your head are right, it does all come from your head. They are the neurotransmitters that receive the THC. Where they are wrong is that we are imagining it. I wasnt sure what the stomach pains I had were. I thought they were hunger pains but that didnt make sense because i Had eaten. Ive had a headache sice I even thought about quitting, let alone that act itself. Its encouraging and discouraging at the same time to know that the symptons will -pass eventually. Its that time in between that sucks BIG TIME. Good luck to everyone, I know I need it.

Hey all,

Just wanted to share my experiences quitting weed (and restarting ad infitum). I usually smoke for something like 3 months straight before I quit. Maybe not every day, but most of the weekend and some weekdays (4 days a week on average). So I wouldn't say I'm mega heavy, but definitely heavy enough to feel the bite of the withdrawals. I now know them like the back of my hand, or bong, whichever. There were some periods where I smoked every day though.

By smoking for a period, and then quitting for another period I get to experience both sides of life, the straight and the stoned life, which gives me a nice balance, and I've learned how to cope with the withdrawals (to some degree).

First of all, don't panic. They're really not that bad. The fact that you're withdrawing and feeling anxiety is probably making you stress more about the withdrawals so it's like a self perpetuating anxiety<->pain loop.

These are the stages I experience when I quit.

First few days come the cravings. Everything is boring. Movies, Music, Socialising, all of it is dull... damn I miss the weed. What I wouldn't do for a joint.

Secondly comes the excess energy and euphoria (although some people experience depression during this period based on anecdotal evidence from friends and acquaintances). Because weed kept me relaxed and chilled, now suddenly I feel excessively energetic. I can't sit still. I can't sleep. I do sleep sometimes but its generally a very uncomfortable, eventful sleep where I wake up several times during the night and in the morning don't feel like I slept. I feel a bit manic. Also I sweat a lot, especially at night. Very often I have digestive problems and lack of appetite. This lasts about 3-4 days.

Thirdly... finally the anxiety/stress/excess of energy is slowly dying down.
I feel a bit more like myself now. I can finally sleep again... and when I sleep I have really strange and vivid dreams. Sometimes happy, sometimes nightmarish, but always interesting. I'm slowly coming back to the normal world now. I kinda miss the stoned world where you can chill, listen to music, sit back and allow yourself to dream, but at the same time I kinda enjoy feeling normal again. I don't feel as paranoid, Socialising and organising social stuff is easier, noticing the opposite sex more again, plan to get back to weed eventually, but not for a while.


Anyway, thats just my experience and it'll be interesting to see if others have gone through similar stages as well.

By the way, the stomach pain/anxiety/stress can be maintained. Eat some probiotics (yoghurt) but they also come in pill form, ask your local drug store or health food store. If you think you have an ulcer (quite possible, I got one at one stage) just go to your doctor, they're not hard to get rid of. Don't eat too much fatty/sugary foods during the withdrawals, eat few small meals throughout the day rather than 2-3 big ones. Avoid milk as well.

Anyway, I'm not a doctor or anything, this is just anecdotal based on my experiences, it might be slightly different for others or maybe even completely different. But just in case it is similar for you hope it helps.

I am actually typing in a hostpital bed right now as i just had a beatiful bubby boy! i feel pretty damn pitifull and selfish because i smoked marri.j through out my whole unplanned pregnancy....& now i am recovering in hostpital and havn't had a billi for 4 friken days!.i used morning sickness as an excuse for using it.im pretty confused as i dont have the urge to use it at the moment but i reckon im still going to crave it on the outside.IT SUX!!! hardcore.i dont want it but i do.....any advise?...ohh & i just had a c/section 2 any advise on if it could efect my recovery.i get out 2mo so advise is urgently urgent i urge some1 please fellaz.....from I.H8.THC xx

I would disregard nearly everything that everyone is saying. Pot is not addictive. It is about as addictive as chocolate. Nicotine, Alcohol, Heroin, Cocaine, Meth and Opium are examples of addictive drugs. Most people smoke pot because it makes them feel good. It does not damage your brain or lead to long-term memory loss. However, it is important that you use marijuana responsibly. You can NOT smoke pot morning, noon and night. That is just plain dumb. When you smoke pot, you get high. Period. It is very difficult to live your live when you are always high. However, using pot casually is no cause for concern.

I'd like to talk a little about these "withdrawal side effects" that everyone is talking about.

First, discontinuing marijuana use does not cause withdrawal. If it does, it is extremely minor. Stomach pains are not associated with marijuana withdrawal. I would suggest that the original poster check his diet and observe how it has changed since quitting pot. One thing that marijuana does do is this: it increases your appetite - therefore potentially changing your eating habits. Quitting pot will decrease your appetite and possibly change your eating habits again. Stress is also a huge cause of stomach pains. You may be a little stressed because your routine of smoking pot is disrupted but it has nothing to do with a physical withrdrawal.

So, I say that it IS in your head and you should not listen to the majority of posters here. There is nothing wrong with smoking pot. It does not make you stupid, sterile or cause cancer. The most dangerous side effect of smoking pot is getting arrested. If you choose to smoke pot, you should be responsible and refrain from smoking it constantly.

http://www.researchmatters.harvard.edu/story.php?article_id=260

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pnih/is_199904/ai_1990930849

There are several studies on the effects of Marijuana withdrawal and they all conclude that it is REAL. I have seen one which emphasized the stomach pains the people report. They all find increased aggression and anxiety.

I had a friend who smoked very frequently who, upon quitting, literally shook like he had Parkinson's when he would try to drive because his anxiety became so bad.

When I stopped smoking I became very aggressive, especially in the beginning. I remember waking up one morning in almost a psychotic rage. My girlfriend asked me something like "How are you doing, baby" and I yelled at her to "SHUT UP!". I then started yelling about how I couldn't sleep and it was somehow HER fault because she hadn't bought a space heater for the room we slept it. I remember being completely irrational and out of my mind with rage but I could not stop myself; this lasted about 20 minutes, tops.

Also, I want to note that for some people, Pot is a potent sexual stimulant. As a guy, I remember it always made me much hornier than otherwise, and I recall that when I quit I stopped desiring sex altogether. I don't know if this applies to all pot heads, but I know of others, even in my own family, who use pot as a sexual stimulant.

Having been a cocaine and opiate user in the past I can compare my different withdrawal experiences. Pot IS on par with cocaine and heavy opiate use. All three caused major depression/anxiety for me for a short period after I quit. Also, I felt that my mind remained clouded after stopping pot, the same way I felt after stopping cocaine and opiates. I remember a few times that smoking pot had given me a severe headache and there are reports of pot causing brain injury due to vascular changes in the brain so perhaps my symptoms were also a product of some insult to my brain from smoking the really chronic bud we sometimes get out here in California.

Maybe pot doesn't stimulate dopamine the same way a drug like cocaine does, but it is at least VERY habit forming in a large number of individuals, and does cause symptoms of withdrawal during abstinence from heavy use.

Why is it, when I looked a couple of years ago for symptoms of marijuana addiction, I couldn't find anything, but now it's everywhere?

Who was the person that said marijuana doesn't cause any physical symptoms? Obviously he/she was not smoking enough.

I never had a problem with marijuana, until 5 or 6 years ago. I got addicted during my last semester of college. At first I used it because it kept me from sleeping, and made me hyper. School ended, and I never stopped. I've estimated I spent about $4500 a year... That's $27,000! Do you know how many platinum diamond earrings I could have bought??!! About 9 pairs. Then I started to think , what about all those idiots that spend that much on alcohol? Keeping that in mind, has kept me from feeling too much regret...

Once upon a time (well, actually I quit three times; last time I swore I would never do it again..) I drank lattes everyday. Only one, in the morning. I quit the first time... and my life was never quite the same. I didn't drink coffee for a long time, until one day I drank it again. All of a sudden my head was clear, the world was bright and I became much perkier. I was addicted again. Who says caffiene is non-addictive? A lot of people; they're all idiots. There are definite physical symptoms of withdrawl from caffiene. Keep in mind, I only drank one cup a day. The last time I "quit" was about 6 or 7 years ago. It was the most excruciating experience; it lasted 3 days. The third day I went to sleep at 7 pm, because my head felt as if I had a nail being driven through it. I woke up the next day, and the awful symptoms finally subsided.

Where am I going with this, you might wonder. I learned something the last time I quit. For caffiene , it takes three days to quit, and three sequential days of drinking to become addicted. Wasn't there a time, when you didn't have a problem with pot?: When you could just have an eighth sitting around for a month or two? When you weren't compelled to smoke it, just because you had it? I vaguely remember those days.

Here's my theory; with caffeine at least, but I'm sure there's a pot parallel. I drink coffee, but not three days in a row. I'll have it two days in a row, (if I'm having a bad week) but I will always skip the third day. If you skip the third day, you can have it on the fourth day however. Where did I come up with this crazy idea? Well, once I got my wisdom teeth pulled. It hurt... almost worse then the nail through the head. The vicadent worked the first day... it even sord of worked the second day. The third or fourth day, it no longer worked as it was supposed to, but I couldn't function without it.

I can tell you for certain, if you're a chronic user of chronic, 3 days of quitting ain't going to do nothin'. I think my most recent attempt was 3 weeks ago, and I lasted 7 days. About a year ago, I think I managed to quit for 17 days, before I started hallucinating, freaked out and started smoking again. I'm going to have to go with the medical professionals on this one and say 28 days. So, Jan 20th is day one. Febuary 18th is the Chinese New Year. Completely coincidental, as I let myself run out of pot the other day.

The most recent episode of quitting last month, during Christmas and New Year's no less, did make me notice a couple of things. After a week of having clear lungs, when I did succumb, I realized how harsh the smoke actually was on said lungs. That harshness disappeared however after... 3 days, or so of constant usage. This can't be good for your skin and teeth.

In the end, the real reason I've decided to quit is because it no longer does for me what it used to. True, the abstract & conceptual make so much sense and thoughts you have are amazing, however you are forever in fantasy with zero reality. It doesn't mean it won't be those things again. I just realize that I have to quit, before i can start again. I think if you get it out of your system completely, and follow the "three-day rule", thereafter, marijuana is perfectly fine. Getting through the 28 days though.... And honestly, I wonder if after some time passes, and you smoke again, will your THC brain-receptors freak out and get re-addicted? There's not enough studies done on this. I suppose this is why there's forums such as these.

hello people/ fellow addicts i could go on for hours about this subject but i won't. I started smoking pot when i 10 years old meth when i was 18 and coke probably about 19 and i have tried LSD a couple times i am 23 now. my thought is.....if pot isnt addictive then why is that it is the hardest thing i ever quit doing and i know by working a 12 step program that im NOT the only who has experianced that. I'm not trying to sound like a prick or anything its just a thought. If anyone can relate i would love to hear steel420@hotmail.com.

After reading just about every post on this thread, I'd like to join the chorus of those thanking everyone for posting. What I have to say isn't that different from anyone else, but I think that the writing is as helpful as the reading.

I graduated from an Ivy League college in 2005, and over the last year and a half I smoked almost every morning before class. I thought it made things more interesting, and my grades over my stoned semesters were actually better than those from semesters when I used only casually.

A hard thing for me to accept was that marijuana was different for me than it was for my friends. There are people who can smoke every weekend, and there are people like us, for whom that weekend smoke quickly turns into that daily smoke, and then second daily smoke... It's frustrating to me now (on day 17 of being clean) to think that I'll never be able to have that casual smoke with friends again, but I've accepted that that's the way. They can have their once-in-a-while puff; I can't. Fine.

After graduation I took a job as a high school teacher at an elite school, and in my time there have found nothing but success. Pretty soon into my first year I started smoking every morning, and teaching most of my classes high, or whatever you could call it--at a certain point I was so functional while stoned that it almost wasn't any fun anymore. One day I was especially blazed first period when the principal showed up for an evaluation that she had scheduled weeks ahead of time, that I had forgotten about. Despite the fact that I was high, I taught a lesson that she called "brilliant" and raved about to me in our subsequent conference. I am not saying this to boast; I am saying this to say that it's hard to quit when it's not affecting your professional life in the least, something a few people have already noted in previous posts. It's hard to recognize that you have a problem.

I eventually grew tired of keeping this secret from people, especially my girlfriend who had no idea that I still blazed. She stopped about a year and a half ago and I think expected that I did the same at the time. When I confessed to her that I had spent the better part of our relationship high on marijuana, she was quite mad, but when she recognized how sorry I was (and how sick I had been), she became a bit more forgiving.

Has anyone else had this sensation? I was stoned, really stoned, walking through Central Park with some friends, on a really cold December day. I already had some dry-mouth and the cold wind seemed to take every last molecule of liquid from my mouth. I still haven't been able to figure out whether this was the real thing or just a freaky panic attack, but I freaked out that I couldn't swallow, and suddenly had to sprint to the nearest convenience store to get some water. After that one afternoon, I would start to get panicky symptoms when I got high, similar things that were only relieved when I could make myself burp, or when I blew my nose really, really hard. Weird stuff--such are panic attacks, I suppose.

I quit weed after a ridiculous bender involving brownies and a lot of joints in the week around New Year's. It was my resolution to quit on New Year's but I had the following week off from work and some of my friends were in town for this bender.

I spent last summer off but didn't have any withdrawal symptoms--probably because I was in Europe for two months and knew that I would have my weed when I got back here. Also I was drinking liters of red wine each day, which might have compensated for the lack of THC.

However, this time when I quit, when I got stoned, and then threw my bag out the window, along with the number of my dealer, I felt a different sense of finality, as if that phase of my life were for sure totally behind me. However...

... the next day on the subway I became convinced that I could not breathe, managed to make it to a friend's apartment, left ten minutes later sweating and still having a hard time breathing, hailed a cab and checked myself into the hospital, convinced that I had pneumonia or something like it. Needless to say all tests were negative and I had the awkward situation of having the ER doctors tell me that I looked completely fine.

Since then, and like I said above, the main symptoms I have been having are insomnia, and horrible, horrible panic attacks--the sensation that my breathing apparatus isn't working, that there's something blocking the intake of air. I get worried that if I'm not focussed on my breathing, I will somehow forget how to breathe. I never had panic attacks until last December, and I hate hate hate them. I pray every night that this is just part of the withdrawal and will cease being part of my life soon.

I have told my story in some detail--though I could have told more--in part because quitting marijuana had a lot to do with the realization that I wasn't living my dream, that of becoming a writer. Sure, there are writers that smoke pot, no doubt, but I've come to the conclusion that they're of the lucky sort that can smoke occasionally without being an addict, like me. I have friends who will have a bag in their desk drawer for weeks, hitting it up only when their friends are over, or on a special occasion. That's not me, and I have to deal with that. When I was addicted, I wasn't working on my writing; I was puttering around on the Internet, or running to the store to buy vitamin water. Now that I'm off, and as soon as these panic attacks subside, I am looking forward to writing, and I hope that everyone here as they quit are able to live out their own forgotten dreams as well. Thank you.

Cannabis is not a Narcotic, do your research.

Firstly, what a great thread...Thanks to everyone for posting. It's been super-helpful to confirm that my withdrawl symptoms are pretty common.

I'm on day 25 now (like most on this thread I was smoking weed morning, noon, and night) and seem to be over my bitchiness/aggresiveness, but I'm still getting very little sleep. I am frequently tempted to light-up just so I can get a solid night's sleep, but I know this is a BAD idea and will ultimately put me back at where I started. I realize that everyone is different, but based on the previous posts it seems like the majority of folks are over the sleep issues by this point (just over three weeks). Does anyone else have longer-term sleep issues? Anyone have any additional suggestions on dealing with withdrawl-related insomnia?