Marijuana withdrawls/ insomnia

I started smoking weed the summer between 8th and 9th grade, I was 13. At first I would only smoke on weekends with friends, usually just a hit or two and that was that. I made it a point not to over indulge and always be with friends. It was fun and very exciting every time. Smoking was like this amazing life changing experience that i couldn't resist sharing with anyone who would listen. Id wear the stoner propaganda and try to convert friends and all that stupid kid sh*t.By the end of 9th grade I was smoking at least once a day, usually right when I got home from school and again before bed. By this time I could no longer achieve that same mind blowing awesome feeling that I could get the year before but the change happened so gradually I didn't really notice and still loved getting high.By the end of 10th grade I was just staying high, all day every day. Not that I smoked a huge amount by most measures (only about 1/8 a week). Id take a hit or two before school to get my high going, then another at lunch etc, just whenever i felt the urge. I felt kind of shitty about it at this point, like I knew it was a becoming a problem but lacked the drive to care.When I graduated high school I was just a burn out straight up. I was high all the time. Priding myself on smoking the most. Doing gravity bong hits and smoking blunts with my buddies all day long, sometimes smoking 1/2oz or more in a single session (such a stupid waste of bud by the way). My mind was a constant haze like thoughts were never as clear as they once had been. Everyone around except myself could see me slipping away. I would often go days without showering and wear the same clothes for days in a row because I was too burnt and lazy to give a damn. I was late for work all the time, got fired for being stoned, etc. I knew I had a problem but denied that it was affecting my life as badly as it was.I was around 18 when I quit smoking for the first time. I tried at first to slowly ween myself down, like maybe only get high once throughout the day and do that for a week, then once every other day, etc. That failed, I just didn't have the raw willpower to have the weed on hand and crave it but not smoke it. So my next strategy (that same year) was cold turkey, I intentionally separated myself from my source and all my smoking buddies by going to stay with my father two states over. That strategy actually worked and I stayed clean, it was tough, i was thinking about it all the time, but I toughed through it (mostly only because I knew I no longer had a source, though I did somehow manage to resist the desire to search for a new one). My mind fog cleared away for the most part, I felt sharp and alert for the first time in years, and I loved it, but I still couldn't get the urge to smoke again out of my head. At the time I didn't really take notice of the withdrawal symptoms (or at least I didn't connect them with the withdrawal anyway) but looking back they were all there for at least a couple of months (insomnia, cold sweats, anxiety, lack of appetite, very vivid and lucid dreams, sweaty palms, etc).After about 6 months sober a buddy from work smoked me up one day on the ride home and it was absolute bliss again just like the first time. All hope lost, back to buying a bag every week. Though that state of bliss that I'm referring to was only good that first high after several months without. Smoking again the next day I got high and all, no problem, but its never the same as that first time.So 9 more years down the road, age 27, still smoking all day every day, though never the crazy amounts that I had been smoking in my teens. I would consciously try to keep it to a minimum while still being high. Id smoke just enough to get high (couple hits maybe) and not again until I no longer felt high from it.At age 28 I decided to kick it again, this time for good. Not enough time or money to keep up this addiction and maintain some semblance of an actual life. I knew it was going to be hell because this time I had a life and job and couldn't exactly just pack up and move away to separate myself. Drawing from my past experiences I decided to just go cold turkey again. I failed, I tried again, I failed again, and so on for months. I could go a few days or even a week but I would always smoke again. Eventually I decided to fall back on proven tactics and came up with a strategy to separate myself from my source the only way I knew how, by burning bridges. I literally broke off my relationships with everyone around me who smoked or could get me smoke. I told them straight up how I'm seriously trying to quit and will do whatever it takes to get there so don't call anymore, don't come around, don't answer if I call you, etc. And that was that, it turns out I had enough self respect/restraint to never try to contact anyone and rescind my request. So I lost touch with some friends, but I gained sobriety and a clear mind, I don't regret it.Age 31, I've been clean and free for a couple years now and can say for sure it does get easier. 17 years of smoking all day every day and I quit cold turkey. Withdrawal symptoms eventually faded, though not all at once. Cold sweats and sweaty palms were the fastest to go, lasting only a week or so, while most other symptoms just faded away gradually over a few months. I still occasionally get an urge to smoke (when I see other people smoking, or if I smell it). I can avoid engaging an opportunity to smoke, and I can avoid seeking it out, but I'm still not sure Id be able to resist if directly offered some smoke. Id like to think I could just turn it down no problem, but my finding this thread and writing this years after I quit shows just how much the psychological aspect of addiction still weighs on my mind. In my opinion the psychological side is hundreds of times harder than enduring the physical symptoms.Anyway one thing that helped me endure the physical symptoms was the realization that it was just my body re-adjusting to natural conditions. For example cannabis has a sedative affect and if you smoke all day long every day like i did your brain over time begins to compensate for this constant sedation by producing more of the chemicals that keep you awake and it balances out. Then you quit smoking so you no longer have that sedation but your body continues producing increased amounts of those chemicals for some time resulting in insomnia. Same idea with most other symptoms. Im sure its different for everyone, but through the course of enough time things do eventually level out again.

wow, ok, I had that all nicely formatted before I pressed reply. Now just a wall of text, sorry bout that..

Bubba. Im a habitual pot smoker. Started smoking when I was 12. Started every day when I got my first job at about 16. SInce then I was stoned all day. I would wake and back and smoke a few bowls every hour or so. Its been pure hell for me since quitting 25 days ago. My anxiety and blood pressure is through the roof. For the first week I would wake up in a pool of sweat and lost my appetite. Those withdrawal symptoms are gone but I cant sleep at all still. Max is about 2 hours when I first lay down then I toss and turn the rest of the night. Its gotta be the worst part by far. Im going to stick this out cause its probably going to take up to two months for me to clean my system totally. Hopefully I will get a good night sleep soon because Im starting to feel depressed and wanna light up pretty bad so I can sleep.

Hi All,

this is my first post i have ever done in my life and sorry if i have made any mistake during this post, i have decided to quit smoking pot after reading this post, it really inspires me to quit after reading what others are experiencing and how they have overcome their problem. i hope i may also help other people who a deciding to quit by posting what i will go through while quitting.

i thought it would also be helpful to let everyone know the experience i  had with pot and how it has lead me to this site

i started smoking pot since i was 18,19? and have been on it full time for the pass 3 years, i was never a fan a first i guess because i started smoking bongs instead of joints and have pretty much stuck with having "cones", i have tried to quit many times and have been succesful for at most 6 months? i always find myself back at weed but it has come to a point in my life where weed is the only thing stopping me from my dream and killing my career. quitting weed for me has gotten definately alot harder now as just thinking of quitting weed makes me feel the anxiety. i can deal with the non eating and non sleeping but the sweaty palms and cold sweat kills me on top of that my temper goes off the roof i get this heat burn in my chest and sometimes just get angry for stupid reasons. 

i need to quit to progress further in career and i cant even study or remember sh*t when my head is numb as hell i have definately become slow with eveyrthing i do and sometimes i get completely lost with the person im having a converstaion with, i dont even rememer how it feels to be normal...

i have just had my last fat smoke and wrote this first post to remember why i am doing this, i hope this will help me on my journey to quit. i will keep this post updated with how i am quitting and if i dont return then i have once again failed.

hope me the best.

sorry if this post dosent make sense.

I'm glad I'm not alone. Been smoking quality herb non stop for 10 years. I thought I was losing my mind. I went 72 hours without ANY sleep, at all. Like everyone else, I have all the anxiety issues.... Although I could deal with them if I could just sleep. Alcohol just makes it worse. Can't function well at work, feels kinda like I'm Tyler Durden... Maybe I should just make soap during the night hours.. Eventually went to the doc and he set me up with Rx for seroquel and diazapam. They kinda help, but the seroquel is strange, especially since it's an anti psychotic of sorts. It just feels like I'm trading one set of drugs for another now. Been working on my sleep hygiene and whatnot, but it's hit or miss. Relaxing is hard, especially as I get closer to bedtime - the fear on insomnia is a self fulfilling prophecy. I've since started smoking again and poof, all these problems went away. Ugh, whoever said marijuana is purely harmless and nonaddictive are clueless m****s.

I noticed some of the same symptoms but I also noticed how the body wanted to get rid of it through sweat so I sped up the process. Hot baths with Epson salt draw out toxins and I know from experience that apple cider vinegar helps remove toxins and I would do this every day and after each bath I felt so much better, iwas able to sleep better than the previous times that I quit. Praying to the Lord most importantly because we can't do it on our own.

Welp I'm pretty sure four of my teachers passed me in "high" school (no child left behind).That in itself was part of the reason started smoking...well that and the fact I graduated Lol (No College). On a more somber note, I did a bid for an 8 year contract in the Army Reserves(a weekend warrior).I popped hot once in '11 (they retained me), I popped hot again in '12 (they separated me).. Since then I've been arrested twice for possession, been a job vagabond failing multiple urinanalysis (5)also failed 2 probation UA's lost an amazing wife whose now married to an NBA player and they have triplets. Sadly instead of opening my true eyes, these things made me smoke alot harder. Even with all of the above occurring I still manage to hold a clean record.A t some point( unless you have college degrees and work in corporate America and/ or are rich) you're gonna have to stop smoking to get a dessent paying job)Long story short don't go in circles in life, know what you want get it done and be sober so you can accomplish your goals in life and feel good about them or else find yourself with a cardboard box in your hand.

Oh and yes the withdrawals are the truth, but they let you know you're a human not a machine you're just putting gas in take it in stride homie

It's all entirely normal what you're describing. It's really horrible yes but it is just par for the course. Stick to your guns. You'll come out the other side. I'm 2 weeks into withdrawal and its tough. I suggest knowledge is power so read up online there are thousands of articles on it and its somewhat comforting to know you're not alone in suffering! Good luck.

Absolutely right. I smoked for 7 years and was hitting around 7-8 bong hits a night. My tolerance went up so high. I would not get high from a joint and would need to smoke in 30 mins. I also used it to fall asleep. I was working long hours and it was kinda my reward for a long day of work. Than I realized my social skills were lacking when I smoked and i did not have a gf in 3 years. All my friends were either potheads or dealers. I was working the same job for years and my life was not improving. I decided to stop after 7 years of almost everyday use. One of the hardest things I've ever done. Could not sleep or eat for days. I actually relapsed a few times trying to stop cause of lack of sleep. Everything was boring. Movies were not the same, video games etc. Than life happened. I got offered a job that required a drug test and it was huge opportunity for me. I still could not stop and that's when I realized I hit rock bottom when I did not go for an interview cause of my pot addiction. I decided against try to stop and by melatonin and try that. The first 5 days I slept maybe 4 hours a night but kept forcing myself not to buy it. I excercise and did whatever I could to distract myself. After maybe 10 days of taking extra strength 10 mg melatonin I was exhausted of sleeping so little. I slept that night without taking it but woke up really early. I was tired the entire day til night when again I went to bed exhausted without taking anything. After a while I started going to bed at a certain time and waking up early so it became a habit. It was one of the hardest things on my life to stop I know what your going through. I lost all my friends who I used to smoke with but that's life. People change.