Hey everyone, this forum has been really helpful. Just wanted to talk about my story. I'm 30, been a heavy daily user for about 14 years, although the amount ebbs and flows, I have generally been increasing to the point of smoking a bit over 2g of VERY potent weed, usually in a pipe. I wrote a big exam (career change) earlier in the month and did much worse than I anticipated, as this exam strongly emphasized short term memory. I also had major anxiety during the exam. Well after years of spending far too much money and wasting time on this c**p, I decided enough was enough. I'm rewriting my exam in a couple of months, and smoked for the last time the day after the exam. I did hit the resin in my pipe for about 4-5 days after, just to minimize the withdrawals. The first week was characterized by EXTREME insomnia, getting 2-3 hours per night, at completely bizarre times. My concentration has been absolutely shot; I tried studying for my exam but there's almost no point as I'm so shaky and and out of it. I attributed most of this to the sleep. However, about 3-4 days ago, I started getting the opposite problem with extreme lethargy, to the point I'm sleeping 12-16 hours per day, never more than 3 hours at a time (~one sleep cycle). Night sweats for the first few days, which seem to be going away, right as the intense dreaming started. All of this appears par for the course I guess. I started using valerian root and melatonin to aid in sleep (I did use etoh for the first few days, but didn't want to replace an addiction), but I don't think I need it anymore, unless it will help maintain sleep ( which it does not appear to). I WANT to go to the gym, but I'm so shaky and out of it; I went last week and almost fell on the treadmill so many times, and I don't want to injure myself. One thing that I don't seem to have right now is ANY desire to smoke pot, I mean absolutely none. I truly think that if there was weed in front me right now, I'd flush it down the toilet. However, I had quit for about 3 weeks before, and the second I smoked it, I was back at it daily. I made the choice to quit for life at this point, as my new career will be way to demanding for this. 

 

Here's my problem. I NEED to be on my best performance in about 6 weeks from now, yet I still feel like absolute garbage. I know if I were to write it today I would do significantly worse than before, which is so damn frustrating. This is my last chance to write the exam for this years admission cycle, making it sort of do or die. I'm just hoping that this finally clears up in the next two weeks so that I can get a solid 4 weeks of clear headed studying.

 

The exam I'm writing is the LSAT, and although I am fairly strong in most categories, my reading compression is INCREDIBLY poor compared to the rest of the sections. To put this in perspective, I am getting about the same questions wrong on that section then the other 3 sections combined, which is absolutely not normal at all. Short term memory is probably the biggest factor in reading comp, and it's clearly showing. When I was attending university before, I always got straight A's and never felt pot affecting me as these courses tested long term memory, and I have this unusually accurate long term memory. 

 

I'm reading a lot on this forum that corroborates what I've been experiencing, which is much more than I can say I have found in the scientific literature that's available. I'm hoping that this extreme fatigue is mostly a function of about 10 days of extreme insomnia, and that I will be able to start going to the gym and getting rid of the toxins ASAP. Any other way to facilitate this would be greatly appreciated.

 

I realized that this is a lot of rambling, but it's the best I can do right now. Thanks everyone, and I really appreciate this site!