Sleep deprivation due to cannabis withdrawal

Excellent site - thank you to the owners for providing it !

"The past is dead" the only way is forward.

From reliable looking sources I've come across expect at least 3 months to clear fat stored thc if you have smoked for 10 years or more. To anyone finding it near impossible to give up book yourself a decent holiday to somewhere like thialand where having pot results in the death penalty and be away from friends that are the usual trigger for starting again so easily cause you are not usually ready to say no, put yourself first - friends ofthen transient in peoples lifes anyway, when most look back how many friends from 10 years ago are in your life today ? Giving up pot was not the reason for going to Thialand recently but the 14 day timeout from temptation helped, sure had some sleepness nights. Came back home and abstained for 3 more weeks till visited friends and hooved up, bought 5 grams and then decided to have another crack from absitence (smoked for 10 years everyday) been 6 weeks now and had 1/4 of a joint since. Lot easier this time round with the previous 5 week break, its even harvest time with many around me but the clearer head is now more of a drawcard, for now want togo three months without and evaluate how I feel, think problems accur when body gets overloaded with thc with it getting stored in your fat glands and blood - never getting a chance to rid itself. Apparently only 4 to 5 days if an occasional toker - starting to think is the short term high really worth the after effects even if occassionally - like Einstein said "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". Plenty of cycling, and vitamin c when feeling low seems to help. Hang in there peeps - the time sure to pass.

I know this was 2007 but I hope that you people who wanted to quit have done so and if so you deserve a massive round of applause. I started smoking it 12 years ago and for the last 8 ive only had one joint a night, I only ever smoke good crispy dry blow your head off stuff and I quit 5 days ago, in them 4 days ive slept 10 hours. Day 1 I didnt go to sleep at all, Day 2 I was that tired that i fell asleep for 7 hours till 6am, day 3 I stayed awake till 5.30am into day 4 and I woke up at 8am. I just want to have a decent sleep, please dont say it lasts too long cause i'm thinking about buying one for tonight!! Im so tired

Oh yeah I forgot to say Im getting funky dreams too, not nightmares, but last night (more like this morning) I had a sexy fling with Tyler Moon from eastenders!! All I can say is wow!! Best of it is I didnt find him remotely attractive, just not my type!! But I now see him in a new light!! Happy dreamin :-)

Oh boy - thankyou to everyone for this thread. I thought it was just me - 54 years old, regular after-work resin smoker. Gave up three weeks ago - i know about the dreams, actually enjoy the full-on baroque technicolor experience - but the sleep trouble is a bastard.
After a week, waking every fifteen minutes from around 4 a.m. gives me around half the sleep I need with consequent ill-temper and poor concentration and it's not tapering off yet! Not tempted to go back as I stopped smoking roll-ups as well (tbh, the only reason I used tobacco was because I smoked spliffs).
This has been a real eye-opener and the experiences related here are invaluable. Still, I'm only doing this once and it'll eventually get better. It's just a shame that it's the one genuine condition I can't really let on to at work!

The sleep deprivation effects everyone different, for some it can disappear after a week for others it can take longer. I have smoked weed pretty much every day for about 16 years (since I was about 15). However, about 3 years ago I decided to quit as it was becoming a boring habit instead of an enjoyable past time, and I managed to stop for just under 3 months. The first week was horrific in terms of sleep but it gradually got better, after about 10 days my sleep pattern improved. I was however, smoking about 5 cigarettes a day to compensate.

Sounds like you are just a very, very bitter person just because your life did not work out the way you planned. Now I am not saying that you are wrong by any stretch of the imagination but I can tell that you really just don't know how to communicate and motivate in the slightest. In fact, maybe you're just so bitter because you are a f**k up, plain and simple.

Oh dear, that's somewhat mean-spirited, isn't it. I'm sure most of us can relate to the pressures the contributor related. It's the sort of experience that cigarette quitters always tell about, and it ends on an upbeat - good luck with it.
I'm the guest (54) from two above - it's got much better; I don't now seem to need as much sleep as previously and that's a bonus. I recognised early that I would stay up later just to have a last spliff and feared that I would never get to sleep without one. Self-delusion; or simply an excuse for another one. In other words, I was a slave to the stuff.
I really did think that there were some chores or tasks at home that passed much more easily with a smoke (painting walls, ironing, whatever) and pastimes (playing guitar, kite flying); I truly believed that I wouldn't "get into" stuff the same way if I wasn't stoned. I think this is a central point about how people see their use - it's not true. I enjoy my guitar playing more and I am getting better at it.
We all fall into this trap of thinking that getting high somehow improves our experiences and faculties. I think that's possible in early and occasional use but it soon becomes a rut where we simply associate certain things with getting high.
Look, I don't want to come across as a zealous convert - there's still part of me that thinks it's pretty cool to smoke dope (I was an adolescent in the 70's) and I'd never ban it but...we don't realise how much it can become a crutch and a hard habit to break.

I hope all is well. I type this on the eve of day 11 of no cannabis. I got maybe 4 hours of sleep last night and had to work a full day. I planned on going to be early so that I could catch up on all the sleep debt I have but have been tossing and turning for hours. The strange thing is last week it wasnt very difficult (first 10 days). I'm thinking its because I havent exercised in a few days.

To fill you in I have been a daily smoker for just over 10 years (Im 28 now). I quit about 7 months ago for 45 days so I know how this goes. The emotions (anxiety, depression, racing thoughts) seem very real right now even though I know they will pass with time, Its hard because my girlfriend of 9 years is a straight up pothead. Although function. She just finished receiving her masters degree seemingly without even trying. She supports me quitting though. Honestly, Im not even sure why I am quitting. I have the feeling that it has been holding me back as all I do now (or have for the past 5 years) is stay at home by myself. Ive decided that I dont like the way Im living and quitting weed is the first step to that. The anxiety comes in when I feel like I dont have any direction. HAHA. How can one expect to have direction when you dont know where you want to go. So anyway, I really just wanted to vent a little because I just broke down crying like a little b***h saying to myself "Why cant I just be happy???". My life really isnt that bad. I just feel like Im missing something. Cant put my finger on it.

I know these feeling will pass and really all I need is a good friggin night sleep. You can only go so many days with quality sleep before you feel like you losing it for real.

For anyone who is reading this. Take my advice. Even though I still advocate mary jane above all other substances it cannot be abused. That is what I have done with it. Used it to mask and cover up my emotions and sooner or later they need to come out. When you stop masking they start pouring out. I figure the rest of this week will probably suck a little but again I am just sleep deprived and frustrated that I cannot fall asleep even though I am so utterly exhausted.

Tomorrow I will get back to my regimen that does work folks (i stopped taking my own advice hence the pity party here).

1. Exercise (do anything, just move your damn body) I like to run (especially in the morning before work, that is the best to start the day), lift weights. Again just move and kick your own ass so to speak.
2. Fish Oil pills and small doses of 5-HTP to help regulate your mood a little bit. Do you own research.
3. Drink lots of water. Drink tea, Green tea is the best from what I have read.
4. Talk to someone. Even if that someone is a dog or a shoe. LOL Let your thoughts be expressed and articulated though speech.

When I say kick you own ass that is metaphorically of course. The idea is to become so physically and mentally exhausted that your body has almost no choice but to crash and recharge. If you spend the whole say on a damn couch or a chair and wonder why you cant sleep after quitting. Think again.

Much love, in 1.5 hours it will be day 11. Gotta keep pushing. Life a garden, dig it.

magnesium powder drink and build it up in your system your body organsneed to relax natural relaxtion can be given by magnesium be careful how much you take be sure to ask doctor your levels>>take b complex yes i know it provides energy but it also provides the body to take stress on that you id to yourself..

I also gave up skunkweed 2 months ago after 16 years of growing and smoking. The first month was tough, I got through it by praying 5 times a day and smoking rolling tobacco. However sometimes I find it difficult to sleep. I have put this down to anxiety. I own my own business and when business is good I can sleep without a problem, however when business is bad I have trouble sleeping. (f*****g money). Good luck anyway and keep it up.

I forgot to mention bad dreams. Since quitting cannabis I have bad and scary dreams. I sometimes wake up shouting and yelling. WTF. I think the devil is pissed off at me for quitting cannabis and is trying to torment me with bad dreams. All I can say is Satan can kiss my ass!.

  It all sounds like a bunch of c**p to me. As we age our bodies change. If you have to be stoned all of the time you have a problem and it may not just be the weed. Some people get addicted to everything. I never blamed weed for any of my pit falls for a good reason, I never smoked very much. As far as being social or blaming being single on weed, I don't buy it. 18 years ago I quit drinking after getting sick of being in a bar full of crack heads and drunks. I felt like my life was wasting away while I watched the bartender keep taps on the losers around me. OK, I still do a couple of bats from time to time but it takes away the depression of living in a state full of lard asses. Everyone is fat around here. So the next time you are enjoying your buzz, enjoy it! It could be worse, you could being wondering how you are going to wipe your fat ass from the lack of exercise. Life is what you make it. Sure you are thinking this as****e is out of weed and you are right. I can't sleep because I took a nap earlier in the day. I can be a prick from time to time and things might get a little critical but I don't need a doctor to tell me it is the weed. I can still run 8 miles even with a buzz on. The last god dam thing I need is to warm up to a pair of alcoholic eyes with layers of whale fat.

What in hell is going on here! I danced with Maryjane daily for 32 years. Stopped about a month ago and the only symptom I had was a few nights of getting to sleep later than usual (hence my stumble upon this site). The dreams were spectacular and I couldn't wait to get to sleep to have more. That only lasted for a few nights and I dream like a normal person now. So what's going on. Well for one thing I am in great shape, good health makes everthing easier. Secondly we act and think as a result of our expectations, many of these posts in my opinion are giving people terrible expectations. It is what it is, don't let it be what others think it is.

thank you sooooooooo much this is exactly what i needed

Cannabis is NOT a withdrawal causing drug. Please inform yourselves as to it's true nature before you harm yourselves anymore.

 

The human body has a system of chemical messengers called the Endocannabinoid System which is regulated by endogenously produced cannabinoids, whose analogues are to be found in the cannabis plant. Any deficiency in the endocannabinoids will cause us to fall ill, and some people unfortunately have deficiencies. Many of these deficiencies become more obvious with age.

Now such a person smoking cannabis will of course experience none of the symptoms caused by endocannabinoid deficiency, since the plant is supplying the necessary cannabinoids and keeping the system healthy. So when they stop, they become noticeably less healthy and thus conclude that they're experiencing withdrawal.

Cannabis contains anywhere between 250 to 400 different substances depending on the strain. Out of these around 60 are cannabinoids, and cannabinoids make up most of the chemical profile of the plant by weight. Cannabinoids and endocannabinoids have a variety of beneficial functions in the body and are involved in practically every biological process.

THC is the most well known cannabinoid because it gets us high. But it's only one of many others. Cannabidiol(CBD) is the most abundant and useful one, although it is not at all psychoactive. CBD has been shown to cause apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancerous cells. So does THC, though THC is more effective against tumerous neurons than other tumours.

There are other cannabinoids like cannabichromene, tetrahydrocannabivarin and more who have a variety of beneficial effects. They are anti-nauseatic, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, bone stimulants, anticarcinogens and many more things.

 

Now any of these cannabinoids except cannabidiol will have negative effects in very high doses, but even then these effects are temporary. To illustrate, THC when ingested at 100% purity in the form of a pill caused anxiety, paranoia and even nausea. The presence of cannabidiol even in small amounts removed these negative effects. All cannabinoids' negative effects are cancelled out by another which is present in cannabis.

To be very clear, cannabinoids are receptor agonists, specifically, of the CB1 and CB2 receptors in the body. Any med student knows that overstimulation of a receptor by a particular agonist will cause abnormalities. But the catch with cannabis is that even if one consumes massive amounts, the ill effects of overstimulation by one type of cannabinoid is cancelled out by another and so on. So there is no way to OD on weed.

Another thing to note is that the anti cancer effect of cannabinoids is so powerful that pot smokers in fact face a reduced risk of lung or any other type of cancer. Unless the weed you smoke is so bad that it hardly has any cannabinoids.

Which is another thing I must point out. Bad weed exists due to prohibition. Weed if grown properly (like most produce!) is nothing short of awesome. But in the current scenario, weed is not sold by any food or medicine standards. They're sold by drug pushers who care nothing about the medical benefits but just see a way to make some fast cash. So they grow the weed any old how and lace it with really harmful poisons like PCP, speed and even meth to make it more potent. I once came across weed laced with industrial glue! That's probably the kind of thing causing you peoples' lungs to bleed and stuff.

 

I am extremely saddened by what has befallen so many of you. I know that some of you have suffered and 'wasted 15 years' to weed. Trust me, its not the weed, it's the c**p they lace it with. Weed is a plant which only provides us with essential cannabinoids which are even found in mother's milk. The negative propaganda and prohibition has hurt you people, not this benevolent plant which is nature's gift to us.

What if Cannabis Cured Cancer?

 

And finally, to help cure your ailments, use weed. It's effective against almost anything and each strain is particularly suited to certain diseases. should help you figure out which one to medicate yourself with.

  

Here's to your good health!

Cheers!

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