Been a weed smoker for 10 years here too, anywhere from 2 joints to 7 per day. The joints were usually zig-zags or RAW brand, slightly under 0.5 g and usually had rolled up filter tips. Never smoked any cigarettes (I can count the amount of spliffs I have smoked in my life with just the fingers from one of my hands). At the beginning of October I got a flu that lasted for 3 days and developed bronchitis-like symptoms afterwards that was so bad that I couldn't breathe, was coughing literally nonstop day and night, and got winded whenever I tried to walk up a flight of stairs. I never experienced anything like it before, even with past colds and flus. Sleep was impossible because I was wheezing heavily both in and out and would stop breathing in the middle of the night, choking for air. I was coughing up ridiculous amounts of phlegm (yellow, brown, green, pink, white and dark grey)... about maybe a pint per day!!! The coughing was so bad that there was blood and muscles being torn in my throat, neck and sides. Aside from seasonal allergies, I never had gotten this sick before.
This went on for a week until I got an appointment with the doctor, who prescribed me prednisone, antibiotics (doxy) and salbutanol inhalers. My oxygen level was 93% and the doctor believes I may have COPD. No stomach pain around my lungs, so she didn't think it was pneumonia.
I stopped smoking on Oct 7th (4 days prior to the doctor) and its now the 16th. I've had the following happen:
1. Crazy dreams. I never dreamed when I started smoking and now each time that I sleep I get very vivid, easy to remember dreams that are very bizarre and abstract.
2. Breathing is still bogged down but I don't get winded anymore. I'm suspecting the anti-inflammatories have had a lot to do with this, however. I'll make another post on this if I am still having to use an inhaler. Today is the first day I haven't felt the necessity to use it.
3. Better mood - Ironically I feel more happier and motivated.
4. The first three days after quitting I was coughing VERY heavily and long, day and night with no sleep (maybe an hour at most) for 4 days straight, with the last day being the worst. My phlegm started as brown coloured lumps and congealed strings, ranging from the size of a pea to the size of a quarter. After a week, the coughing was limited to waking up and I found myself able to function normally except with deep breaths.
5. I lost about 10 lbs. over the course of about two weeks, from the beginning of the illness. I also found food to be more bland.
6. I found that my speech and social skills improved. Being a heavy user, I always spoke slower, had pauses in my speech and found difficulty in trying to find the right word to say.
7. My memory has felt a lot better. I would forget all sorts of short-term things, like where I put my car keys or articles in the paper. These happen far less frequently.
I'm going to be switching to a dry-herb vapourizer from now on. Honestly, if you are smoking more than 2 joints a day habitually you should switch to a vapourizer and save your lungs. I'll make another progress note at the end of the month and let users know how things are going.
Returning after a month to say that I was diagnosed with mild COPD. My lung capacity was slightly above 80%. I ended up switching to a vapourizer, my lungs feel much better now. I was still coughing up black specks and brown gunk for a good month, as well as having a couple more asthmatic like episodes early on into vaping. After learning how to properly vape, I still get as high as I would with combustion.
Go for vaping, waterbong or edibles. Don't kill your lungs off like I almost did!
Emotions are there to help guide us through life (yes, even the negative ones). They let you know if you're are going in a positive or negative direction in YOUR life, i.e. they are a kind of map. The fun part of weed can be the escape or distortion of everyday reality, however when the state of high is the norm, it is just a new norm... This new norm is one that allows to more easily ignore those emotions, but doesn't physically remove us from or change the reality. When the weed is removed, all of the emotions that you were feeling, or could have felt if not high, are still there and have likely collected into a bigger pile than before. Hence the loss of control or heightened state of anger? I highly doubt that weed will cause you to loose your mind. (Observe that feeling/emotion of "loosing your mind" and ask what is that condition telling you.) Weed does have psychoactive compound(s) that allows for a distortion of perceptions. (I suggest observing how perception and reality are related.) I think that weed/psychoactive compounds are a tool that aids in the release of perception/beliefs that are no longer helping in one's life and can help us grow and mature. On the flip-side, too much weed can prevent that growth! As far as quitting permanently? I would suggest listen to yourself/body/mind over time (not a hour, day, or week); give some time to collect data on whether weed is beneficial or a hindrance in living your life to its fullest. To collect this data and have a clear mind for making a decision....well my experience says a break or severely reduced intake to allow for the body and mind to readjust to "reality or even perceived reality" since that is where life happens. Write some thoughts down on paper or type them on a computer to help process this data and what you might be trying to "escape". Be honest with yourself, but not a tyrant. Congrats on stopping cigarettes and alcohol, especially if they were a hindrance in living life! Take that as a confidence booster proving that you are not "trapped" in your life. Making progress in increments, instead of sprints, appears to be easier and longer lasting. Small changes build momentum, are less arduous, and do accumulate into significant change or progress. If you decide that Mary is beneficial, fine, great! Own that sh*t. It is your life; find your balance.
Day 1-3
Strong cravings and feeling like not myself. Smoking was part of my rutine so feeling lots. Th voice of the cravings in my head like dark fingers stroking my thoughts with messages of: Just reduce you don’t have to quit, you will not have fun any more, This is boring, your getting old just have fun, this is who you are, how about on date nights...
Sore throat especially in the morning
Congested
Noxious
Loss of food taste
Tired
No motivation
On the lazy boy all day binge watching
Stopp3d working
Day 4- 8
all the above
Lost voice for 3 days
Cough
Fever 100
Eyes dry and Itchy
Dry itchy face
Body ache
Vivid dreams
Heart burn the Tums didn’t help much so nights were really bad
Day 8 - 16
All the above
No sex drive
Anxious
Sad
Angry
Just want to be alone
Got voice back
Day 16 - 21
All the above
Cravings less
Less Angry
Day 21 - 27
Flu symptoms only in the morning but still sore throat all day
Have more engery but not constant
Not angry and less sad
Trembling at times
Pressure in chestl
I’m starting to work and cooking
Still don’t want to go out and want to be alone
Before I was a smoker I was very sociable and loved to go out exploring new places and doing new things...I feel that person is still there. I know she will come back. I’m so glad I finally quit cold turkey after 30 years of smoking most days often several times a day.
That is an excuse. Take it if you want it, but don't lie to yourself like that. Look, you were wee once, you didn't need weed then, you MADE yourself need it. IV said the same thing toyself and it's BS. What I can say to anyone reading this later (as it's old now, a year or older, how did you get on by the way?) Is get yourself some probiotics. They are making my detox much easier so far (five days in CHRONIC smoker for 11 years, as in forty quid a day sort of chronic). No one NEEDS anything but air food water and love.
Also, I have definitely noticed that I remember my dreams more vividly. This seems to be a common trend. I find this interesting, since I would never really remember my dreams before I ever started smoking in the first place. Then, when I did smoke, I still didn't remember. But now that I smoked for 4 years daily and have stopped, I do remember almost every night. Strange how my marijuana use has affected my brain chemistry....